RealSurf Surfers' Forum

I struggle with this too.

Worst thing seems to be when you commit to a wave and then realise you can't make it... trying to pull out sometimes leads to the board going over the falls with me right behind it. Too easy to come together with the board.

Seems like it might be better to go anyway and then try to fall cleanly. What's the best way to handle it?

When a grom, I once tried to pull back by sitting up on board. Over I went with it. 2 points of swallow tail either side of knackers. Lucky not a pin.

Brukuns, question for you? Solid 8 footers Iggy Scale? Fcuk me. If that's the case, you might be offering, rather than asking for advice.

Hmm your English is very good for a Portugese speaker me thinks......are you Paul Brown...where the f8ck is Paul Brown...who the f*ck is Paul Brown.

good thread
i feel i am stuck at the same situation
want to learn how to take off under the lip
I try, and then when I see the set approaching, I am scared to start to paddle because I think "if I paddle now I'll get too far in and get the lip into my head". So I start to paddle too late and I end up in the steepest part of the wave instead of being a bit further down where the takeoff is easier

and to be fully honest, I never understood what Breaking the Ledge means...

lorcar wrote:and to be fully honest, I never understood what Breaking the Ledge means...

I think it is breaking wind extra loud.

Seriously though, good thread. I have some boards that are good for mush but bad for steep take-offs, very flat rockers and full noses are not a joy to paddle into steep hollow waves.

i think something that hasnt been mentioned is taking off at an angle and placement of your hands. Sometimes taking off at an angle can reduce the steepness of the drop. And, also providing down the line speed. But if you bog a rail maybe try and change the placement of your hands because ur hands can throw your board out of rail if you push too hard on either side. I had this problem for literally months maybe years....several times a session. But its a good way to get into late drops or fast waves if you can get it dialed. Have a look at where the pros put their hands. Also u can experiment by putting ur left hand (if regular) in the centre on the deck of the board. It worked for me surprisingly well... Just my 2c

swvic wrote:When a grom, I once tried to pull back by sitting up on board. Over I went with it. 2 points of swallow tail either side of knackers. Lucky not a pin.

Brukuns, question for you? Solid 8 footers Iggy Scale? Fcuk me. If that's the case, you might be offering, rather than asking for advice.

it did say brazilian, i thought brazilian scale was even less than seppo scale.

BTW what exactly is Iggy Scale??

pirate_agenda wrote:

swvic wrote:When a grom, I once tried to pull back by sitting up on board. Over I went with it. 2 points of swallow tail either side of knackers. Lucky not a pin.

Brukuns, question for you? Solid 8 footers Iggy Scale? Fcuk me. If that's the case, you might be offering, rather than asking for advice.

it did say brazilian, i thought brazilian scale was even less than seppo scale.

BTW what exactly is Iggy Scale??

Uh OH!

Being very old and learning to surf in the early 60's when 6' was 6' not head high being 3' as per an oft quoted scale posted by Iggy some time ago, I started referring to wave sizes as "iggy scale" to clarify for others on here most of whom agree with Iggs.
My argument is if the wave is head high or head high and a bit when you take off, that's a 6' wave. Sure it's jacked up from maybe a 3' swell but if you get hit by a lip from above your head, I fail to see how that can be 3' (unless your a booger - or coops )
Anyway, we've long ago all agreed to disagree and now "head high", "chest high" or "double overhead" seems to have become more useful descriptions.

Now, let's see who bites.

The best way to circumvent being left behind on takeoff is to arrive at the airport early ... nothing sucks quite so much as missing a plane.

..... yeah the iggy scale ..... I'm comfortable in overhead waves and up to double overhead depending on the set up ..... but it upsets me to realise that after 40 years surfing I'm stoked with 2-3 ft waves !!!!!! - ie. head height on this bloody Iggy scale . It's degrading .


However , I think things have changed ...... has anyone else noticed

Sort of 1-2 years ago the iggy scale was in full swing . Missed a few good surfs thinking it was not worth the "semi surf" (ie.thinking 2 ft = ankle slappers- knee high ) going on reports ....only to see photo's posted later of "overhead" " 2 ft" waves later in the day ! (and they're not photo's of midgets or groms )

Recently been getting excited to wake up and read 3 ft on the Hurley phone app . (cant see much properly on the short vid when it's shooting direct into the sun) .
Anyway trusting the "3ft = headheight take offs , I get down there only to find ankle slappers with the odd knee high set !!!!!!
And thats after checking both north and south swell magnets

So , .......
1) has anyone else noticed , that perhaps the Iggy scale is being wound back
2) Is it an " approaching summer 'phenomenon (and I dont mean the "swell period" explanation - height is height , power is power
3) Is Hurley liable for the confusion , or are Iggy and others like him responsible for this confusion

PS. We're in Sydney surfing mostly beachbreak ..... not based in Teahupoo , so maybe the the "body parts "scale is most appropriate ......

...

I remember reading the thread on this and came out confused. That said, I go for the body parts size, but call it 'the face'; as in " surfed some nice head high faces, some chest high ones too". That way I avoid the "fark orf, its was 2ft ya wanker" calls. Then again, maybe it was and I'm really short. See, confused. On topic: paddle down the face under the lip, get up quick.

Its a tough one because need to throw in the shape of the wave...e.g. 3 foot hollow waves seem higher at the trough to peak than fat rolling 4ft waves...well to me they do, maybe thats why measure from the back...god I dont know...does it matter. How about small, medium, large, Xlarge

yep the coastal watch app uses "seppo scale" for sure.

they have been overestimating for ages now. cant remember last time they under called a swell.

Magic Seaweed use the Seppo scale too.

JUST DON'T SURF