Emily Brooks

Vancouver, Canada

13 Sep 13:38

John Dennis as someone who formally had this issue for over a decade, I feel you!!

The bigger and stronger the wave, the faster you need to paddle to catch it - I beleive it’s mathematically impossible to paddle fast enough on a shorter board after quite small size (don’t quote me on this!)- hense why the Oreo and wave selection is so important! Not sure what you ride, but on a short board, gravity is my friend. If you’ve caught it, even if you aren’t standing yet, often you should be dropping down the wave! You could try body surfing on your board to test this!

Often, for me, it was less about my pop up, and more about my technique (Oreo) and position (deep enough!) and wave selection (steep enough), so I’m popping up lower down the face and letting gravity and the Oreo do the work, rather than leaning forward while stress paddling and being pulled up the wave over the falls by the time I pop up! Learning this was a game changer for me. Some smooth strokes is often all it needs then! There’s some tutorials on catch more waves and ocean IQ that are super duper helpful!

For me, there was a psychological component too as smaller waves felt easier to take risks but I’d end up over the falls hesitating or sitting out of position as size increased - which the surf psychology course is helpful for!

Jerry jealous of the reef access!!

I too had the same question on what “boxy” meant.

I find on thick, hollow, heavy, steep waves I always angle it if I make it, and I too struggle if my board goes straight - Keramas in Bali is my first thought which was amazing, but a challenge for me and I angled every wave I made quite a bit- but I found uluwatu, which was a thinner lip, I could go a little straighter. I was never sure if this was just me, my skill level and my fear with a heavy wave like that, making the shoulder look all the more tempting to me, or whether I had the right approach on the heavy waves I was making.

Usually, these are not the kind of waves I access mind- beach break is closer to me! 🤣

Now Im excited to find out!

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07 Sep 15:32

Haha- Smooth!

Almost looks like one of those old-school skate contest before Z-boys started pushing boundries and getting vertical in pools! Wild contests started out not too far off this kind of stuff 😂

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05 Sep 00:23

That’s looking good Scott Wagenblast - your opening them fully back to the foam!

02 Sep 12:18

45 min paddle out, yup, been there 🤣

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31 Aug 12:10

Looking super smooth, quick and landing on form! Nice 🤘

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That’s fun you met him! When I took up surf skating, I met a bunch of other surfers/surfskaters in Vancouver (not many surfers here!) and some of them follow OMBE too and one’s has been at a camp (who spoke super highly of Clayton Nienaber’s instruction!). Surf training with OMBE has given me a new fun hobby for when I can’t get to waves and let me meet other surfers near me to surf with! Pretty awesome! 🙂

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John Kuras bodyboarding is a good idea for getting comfort in bigger waves(sound like it came first for you!)! I too grew up by and love the ocean (I also scuba dive and body boarded in summer since I was 6yrs old), but there’s still a barrier for me past overhead or in storms which I was taught were dangerous- I love to watch big waves though…. Think bodysurfing/ bodyboarding is a good way to get used to them!Having that base comfort must help you get the skills to ride them! 🙂

Haha feel you with the scooter kids 😂. I’m scared of hitting someone and who know when they’ll drop in!

Good luck with the training!

26 Aug 14:44

Comfortable regardless of size! I’d love to be comfy in bigger, stormier seas, so that’s a win already! Good shout- sure daily practice makes a difference- even if on land only. Guess like some bowl set ups make surf-skating easier, some waves make learning to turn easier. You’re surf-skating looked solid so I reckon those turning skills are there waiting to be applied if the waves give you a chance!