Mentally plan your paddle out. Sometimes there’s only one way, but other times, especially at beach breaks, you may have to penetrate the shore pound. In that case, relax your eyes on the water and determine where are the rip currents are. Rip currents are easily recognizable as foamy, choppy, or murky water forming a short river running from shore back out to sea. Waves usually break poorly or not at all as they cross the rip current. Try to ride the rip current out through the shore pound. Start your paddle at the end of an incoming set to provide maximum paddling time before the next set hits. Compare the direction of the long-shore current to the rip current, and then make sure to enter up the up-current side of the rip. If the paddle out is totally unfamiliar to you, wait and watch someone else paddle out. Anyone who proceeds with confidence presumably knows what he is doing (note: if that person’s paddle meets with catastrophe and rejection, try another route).
While you are absorbing all these factors and mentally visualizing some of your own waves, you should be stretching out. Slow, careful stretching in conjunction with deep breathing is what you need, especially in the morning, to get your body warmed up. Some jumping jacks or running in place is good to get your heart going. Or just jog back to your car and down to the water.
As you stretch and watch the waves, take careful note of the sets. Count the number of waves in each set and estimate the duration between the sets. These numbers should remain fairly consistent, and while they are not by any means concrete data, they do serve as a sort of general guideline that will aid you in the water.
All this seems like a lot of stuff, but it’s really very simple. Experienced surfers run through most of this checklist without even thinking about it. Experienced surfers are all amateur meteorologists, especially when it comes their local breaks.
It’s all part of tuning in to the totality of the surfing experience, achieving harmony with Nature by tapping into its rhythms. The first times you try to consider all these factors it will probably seem a little overwhelming, but more and more it will start to become second nature. Eventually it will be something more than second nature. It will just be the way you look at things. You’ll know what the tide is doing without even checking the tide book. You’ll know when the conditions are right before you even get to the beach. And you’ll see your perfect paddle out, and your perfect first wave, as soon as you look at the water.
While you are absorbing all these factors and mentally visualizing some of your own waves, you should be stretching out. Slow, careful stretching in conjunction with deep breathing is what you need, especially in the morning, to get your body warmed up. Some jumping jacks or running in place is good to get your heart going. Or just jog back to your car and down to the water.
As you stretch and watch the waves, take careful note of the sets. Count the number of waves in each set and estimate the duration between the sets. These numbers should remain fairly consistent, and while they are not by any means concrete data, they do serve as a sort of general guideline that will aid you in the water.
All this seems like a lot of stuff, but it’s really very simple. Experienced surfers run through most of this checklist without even thinking about it. Experienced surfers are all amateur meteorologists, especially when it comes their local breaks.
It’s all part of tuning in to the totality of the surfing experience, achieving harmony with Nature by tapping into its rhythms. The first times you try to consider all these factors it will probably seem a little overwhelming, but more and more it will start to become second nature. Eventually it will be something more than second nature. It will just be the way you look at things. You’ll know what the tide is doing without even checking the tide book. You’ll know when the conditions are right before you even get to the beach. And you’ll see your perfect paddle out, and your perfect first wave, as soon as you look at the water.
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