Jan
22
How do I skimboard far enough into the ocean so that I catch a wave?
ByI’ve been skimboarding for about 5 years and I have become halfway decent. I can do shove its and 360’s and even get air off a wave and land on a skimboard. The only thing I can’t do is reach the waves before they break. I have a Zap Fiberglass Pro Board (about 4 ft. high) with a grip on the back of it. Any help would be appreciated!
2 Comments
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Well you have a good board. Zap pro models I think are 3/4″ thick if I’m not mistaken, so your board definitely isn’t too small to go out pretty far. So then it all depends on where you are skimboarding and how fast you’re going. If you are skimboarding at a place that doesn’t have good shorebreak, it will be really difficult to reach a wave even at a good speed. However if where you are does have good shorebreak, then it is all a matter of timing and how fast you’re going. The best time to go is when the water is rushing in torwards the shore. Then you should make it out to the wave you want to catch. It may seem weird at first but that’s how I catch a wave and it seems to work for me. I guess timing can vary from place to place but that’s my advice! Hope that helped!
January 22nd, 2010 at 6:17 pm
First, you need to make sure your timing is right. If you can deep water skim, then there isn’t too much you can mess up on your timing. Otherwise, make sure when you get on your board, an already-broken wave is coming at you. When you hit this wave you will instantly speed up. To maintain this speed and take your ride farther out, you have to do something called “side-slipping”. Side-slipping is when you turn your board sideways in deep water, so you are facing towards the wave you are about to turn/wrap. Try not to lean foward or back. The first few times you try this, you may even fall back because u gain so much speed. Make sure you skim at high tide if you want to wrap or turn successfully.
obviously you skim in the ocean, but here’s a video of a kid
side-slipping across a pond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9voxYG2Q0k
Hope this helped.