Duckdiving
The humble duck dive can make or break a surfers enjoyment of surfing quality waves breaking further out.
It's no fun staying 'inside' or in the 'impact zone' where waves constantly break on you in shallower water.
I've always thought of it as a kind of 'natural selection'.
Until you reach a certain skill level and can duckdive successfully you won't make it 'out the back' or 'outside' to surf the better waves.
If you can't duckdive then strictly speaking, you're not ready and shouldn't be out there. A duckdive basically involves a surfer doing a glorified press up on a surfboard.
Paddle hard towards the breaking water and holding both your rails mid way up the board, push hard, downwards.
Have your arms extended for this as you need your body weight and downward pushing action to sink the board properly.
At the same time, dig one knee into the board (which one is an individual preference) whilst sinking the board. Whilst underwater, angle your board upwards and with any luck, you'll re-surface on the other side of the wave!
It sounds easy in theory but the practical side is a little more difficult. As a rule the key to duckdiving can be summarised in a few points.
Paddle as hard as you can at the incoming white water or wave. Even if you mess up your duck dive, your speed will invariably get you far enough into the wave to make some sort of progress.
Most good duckdivers will dig one knee into their board as they push downwards with both hands on the rails.
An extra downwards thrust can be be achieved by placing one of your feet on the tail of your board and pushing at the same time to push you a little deeper.
You'll notice when people duckdive, one of their feet sticks up going into the white water. This is due to the pushing motion and knee being forced into the board.
I normally reserve the foot push for bigger waves - you'll know when to use it! It's trickier with a pin tail though as your foot has nothing to keep it from sliding off the tail.
If you duck dive too early, the chances of coming up and getting trounced by the wave you were originally trying to avoid are high!
Obviously this depends on the wave, size and how quickly it's moving towards you. This will all come with experience but the general rule of thumb is about 2m away.
You will already be paddling fast at this point so it's here that you do your actual downwards push. Try and coardinate everything so that you push with your arms and knee at the same time.
A lot of people concentrate so hard on getting the rest of their body underwater that they forget about their head.
If your head is sticking up then it makes an easy target for a hungry wave to grab and pull you backwards. Keep your head pointing downwards at all times until you're safely under the wave.
Don't flounder around after a wave has hit you! Get back on your board asap and keep paddling quickly!
If you sit there pondering life, you'll get gradually washed into the impact zone and have to do it all again so aim to get out the back in one hit or at least in stages but try not to lose any ground.
This is the worst thing you can do!
It's not only dangerous but you will also look like a complete kook amongst your surfing peers.
Sometimes it's unavoidable but we're talking 6ft+ surf when you're feeling a near death experience coming on and not a 3 to 4 foot wave! Hang on to your board and take the punishment.
Bailing, is when you throw your board away from you and hope for the best. This can result in a few things:
1. You can snap your leash and board very easily which means you're swimming home.
2. You can seriously injure/kill someone paddling out behind you, particularly if you ride a bigger board. Imagine the force and energy of a wave projecting a pointed surfboard at speed towards someone's head behind you. It's not a pretty picture.
3. You can increase your own chances of drowning especially if your board is dragging you around by your leash and a big set lands on you.
The board will float you to the surface so think twice before ditching it. If you're ever underwater and your board is
tombstoning i.e. standing upright in the surf as you lie under the water.
You can find your leash on your ankle and then work your way up it like a rope to the surface as your board will always float.
A totally different technique for duckdiving can be can be used for bigger boards. This isn't to say smaller longboards can't be duckdived as they can but it's not easy!
The alternative is the turtle roll. Paddle normally towards the incoming wave and instead of duckdiving, grab your rails and roll the board over so your fins are on top of the surface.
You'll be underneath your board at this point! A few kicks with your feet will give you an extra push as the wave breaks over you. Once it has passed over you, flip yourself and the board over, right side up and continue paddling.
One of the main things to remember using this technique is not to do it too early.
You don't even need waves for this! It's also good exercise in speed paddling as you need extra speed for flat days in order to sink your board.
One tip though - Try and get your whole body under the water and angled downwards or you'll look like you're snorkelling badly!
Words by wounded gull
