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In the last week I have done a lot of coaching. It has been an amazing experience

and I cannot believe all the great people I have met. Everyone I have coached

always asks to see me ride and one comment really stuck out to me “why do you

surf so far back in the wave?” boat companies have been working hard to produce

long clean waves to surf, but many people are still stuck surfing them right at the

swim platform, afraid they will fall if they ride further back.

Play around out there and try moving back a bit. Experiment and see how far back

you can go before you need to pump. Adjusting your over the toes of your front foot

or stepping your back foot forward a little can help you hold this spot further back.

If you start to loose the wave try to resist paddling, or leaning down and touching

the front of your board. This can work but isn’t the best technique because your

hips are still way out the back. You need to make sure you are at the bottom of the

wave and then try to think about rolling onto the inside of your back foot bringing

your back knee towards the board and your hips forward. This technique brings all

your weight forward while engaging the toe edge of the board and generates speed.

Another thing I noticed is many people do not use the whole face of the wave. They

do little mini carves from just at the bottom of the wave to about half way up. Try

to extend this motion to make big smooth aggressive carves. Starting right at the

bottom and slashing at the top of the wave. Think about the trick you would like

to do….Is it something that will slow you down? If yes, do try and do the trick closer

to the boat. For airs you need start further back in the wave so you can generate

speed. Ollie off the top of the wave about half way down. If you try to close to the

boat there is no lip to jump off.

Go out there and play around. Experiment and try something new and more

importantly, have fun!!

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