S and I first meet up with newly-stoked newbie V and tardy L plus his friend J at Roosevelt Beach, but decent surf just wasn't happening there; it was decidedly uninspiring. So we caravanned up the road to the Jetty which showed some potential. In fact, it turned out to be quite fun on the fish, when I stayed close to the riprap jetty to catch waist-chest high waves that had decent shape. I got in a couple of pretty good rides and caught a handful more waves with varying success. L pulled off a really nice long glide on his longboard, while V got the feel of her new funshape.
J, a long-time Santa Cruz surfer, had elected to stay on the beach, filming L and critiquing. He offered some valuable observations on my surfing, the primary one being two Cs: Commitment and Confidence. It was good to hear that I'm picking waves wisely, and that I was right in the pocket on my rides, but he said I need to let go of thinking and feel the wave, just go for it without pulling back. Sometimes hard to do as an analytical-minded engineer, but I'll work at it. Be fearless!
When you've been surfing as long as those guys have (I am assuming) you won't have to think about it either. I reckon it does become automatic, but while you are still on the upward trajectory and trying to get better, there is a lot of thinking going on. I am as good as I will ever get (which isn't saying much) but I don't think about it much these days.
ReplyDeleteHi, just fyi, I swung by Roosevelt in the mid-afternoon and it was still uninspiring, but Dunes looked promising...
ReplyDeleteJ's been surfing for 20 years but he has a point. Thinking can cause hesitation, and she who hesitates looses the wave.
ReplyDeleteOTFs, did you go out at Dunes to see if it fulfilled the promise?
Nope I didn't, because I was on my way back from a session at the jetty. Dunes looks like it needed just a bit more swell. It bears further investigation!
ReplyDelete