Following a suggestion from John Kuras, I invested in a set of Powell Peralta 64mm Dragon Wheels.

Even though they're 93a hardness, so technically softer than the Carver 95a Park Wheels I was using, I definitely found them faster and smoother! (Apparently it's something to do with the rebound on the urethane. Whatever...)

I wanted to try them out on the bowl I usually skate in, but unfortunately the drain was blocked and it was more like a paddling pool, so, instead, I tried them on the mini-metal half pipe.

Here's some video of my attempts, both frontside and backside https://youtu.be/MeBpABRdjqg

I'm a bit out of practice (been doing more surfing!), so I still need to work on the timing of the transitions, but John K also suggested adding a bit of "lift" from the back toe which I did find made a difference and I got further up the slope than I'd gone before.

Ok, so (yes, Clay, I know!) I still need to get my head lower, but I'm planning on getting to a different park with a better bowl hopefully next week, so maybe I'll be able to work on that there.

Anyone got a BIG back garden...? 😮

"I Built a Massive Wave Pool in my Own Backyard"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbYIP5lx0cc

🤙

Following my previous post about finding that I suddenly found I could actually do a pop up on dry land, I wanted to see if I could do it on water.

The conditions weren't great (small, messy, short-period windswell) but there were a few waves to catch and, thankfully, after a couple of false starts, I managed this:

https://youtu.be/2nUd4GUBNRs

Ok, it's not particularly fluid yet and I was doing it on my 8'2, so I was pushing up off the top of my foot, rather than the shin or knee, but it's a start 🙂

And there's a bit of knee-kissing and coffee cup passing too at the end!

I found this on YouTube and I think it will get a few wry chuckles (and winces!) from people 🤔

5 Things Surfers Don’t Tell You About Paddling Out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSzPF0T7S0

Excuse the length of this, but, for 21 years (yes, twenty one bl**dy years!), I've been surfing and, in all that time, getting to my feet has been an issue.

I could kneel on my back leg and stand up, I recently worked out how to push up on the front knee, get my back foot under me, step the front foot through and stand up and, of course, I can do a completely ungainly "scramble to my feet and hope I can keep my balance and not fall off...!" 😕

But, in all that time, I've only ever done multi-stage moves and, despite watching lots of videos and practising different techniques etc, I've never been able to do that smooth, single movement onto my feet and up. 

Recently, following my surfing holiday at Croyde where (once again) my back started acting up during sessions, I've been doing more back raises, pikes and knee-to-chest tucks on my Swiss Ball etc to try to get a bit more strength in my back and core.

Also, during the recent session at Bracklesham, I kept missing waves when trying to do the "front knee, back foot" walk up, because I ended up pushing down on the back of the board too much, so it was making the nose pitch up meaning I couldn't get the front foot through and the board would stall. 

So I was watching one of the old Zoom Lives today (and fell asleep half way through!) but when I woke up, I was thinking about the Bracklesham session again and wondering how I could get more forward to keep the nose down as I walked up, to let me get my foot through and stop me losing the wave.

I experimented with a few things, then tried just pushing up on my toes and lifting my hips, when something like this happened:

 https://youtu.be/MdRlbwrM8FA 

Ok, that's actually after already having done a few tries, but somehow I finally found out that I could actually Walk Up as a Pop Up, getting the back foot to land first, followed by the front, and get upright!!! 👍 

It's not perfect in the video (I know my head is moving around too much and drops at one point instead of staying looking up and forward) but I was concentrating more on just getting the basic feel of the technique and I'll work on the details later.

I don't know why I've never been able to get that before and I'm only currently doing it off my toes as I can't yet do it from my knees as if I was on a short board, but, hell, after 21 years, I'll take any win I can get!

So, take it from me, if you think you can't do something, just keep doing what you can and, one day, you might just surprise yourself! 🤙

The remains of Hurricane Erin were throwing some big swells towards the UK today, which looked promising.

Unfortunately it was also sending 20mph+ winds across too, meaning the big swells were turning into blown-out, close-out mush :( 

But I decided to go down to Bracklesham to get back on the Ombe Ambassador 6'11 board that Clay shaped for me a year or three ago and which I hadn't ridden for a while.

Firstly, in a fit of enthusiasm when I got there, I decided to try to get out the back, but the conditions were just hectic for me, however I did manage to (sort of) achieve a few duck dives (Yay!) but...

... Important technique note: If you lose control of the board in a duck dive, it's a really good idea not to try to catch it in your teeth!

Ouch :( 

One slightly split lip (but no damaged teeth later), I decided to stay on the inside in the foam.

I was hoping that my recent experience with doing a short-board walk-up on my 8'2 Torq would help, except I was having great difficulties even catching anything.

Despite my best attempts to do the Oreo technique, so often either I was too far back so the wave just didn't push me, or I was too far forward and nose-diving.

Even when I did catch something, I wasn't managing the walk-up because as I was pushing down with my front knee, the nose of the board would pitch up, causing me to either lose the wave or not be able to get the front foot through. 

I did catch a few eventually and was actually in the right position for the webcam, so I could do a video I've wanted to do for a while.

Ok, the walk up wasn't great on this one either, but I was getting stacked on the front foot and being a lot more relaxed and stable. 

https://youtu.be/hZbAJzT-RXk

So it wasn't a great day, but at least there were some positive benefits from it.