Stance, and the face
instead of doin a full bottom turn start ur turn half way down the face and in a smooth action pump along the wave the bigger the wave the longer ur pumps are drawn out and the smmother they should be, hard to explain but like lifting ur front foot whilest leaning into the wave then slowly pushing down on ur front foot whilst leaning away from the wave, and u shud gradually build up speed and stay in the middle section that ur talkin about.
Cheers Sam
Hmm, could be your board is a little too buoyant if your finding this tricky, less buoyancy will enable you to 'sink'a little more where you wnt to be in the wave - what board you riding / whats your weight bro?
Thanks for the help fellas. Im about 67kg riding a semi gun 6"7, it goes nuts in the big surf and good in 3ft or so. Its only 15 and 2/3rds wide so its nice and thin. I've been surfing it lots for a few months but yesterday I downsized to a 6"1, slightly smaller and thiner than my old 6"2 which had a too massive concave for the types of waves at my local spot.
15''wide is way too narrow. try riding a more standard dimension shortboard i.e. a bit more width. Guns are not so maneouvorable about the face. with a shortboard (more rocker, more width, looser tail) you will more easily move about the face. Guns are more specialist boards and unless your riding significantly overhead size waves arent going to much use to you.
I agree with Mark, you are definitely on the wrong board.
I recently pulled the gun out, and hadn't ridden it for some time. I had forgotten how bad they are at turning. They're great in big waves for going straight down the line though.
Spend some time getting used to the smaller board, you should improve.
put the gun in the shed untill it gets big mate..should try a fish or something with a wider tail and wide point, give yourself more time to work on your style instead of trying to control the board. that or support a local surf coach, he will probably tel you the same thing though
Gudday, i've been surfing a lot for a couple of years and have noticed the most common difference between good surfers and bad surfers is the stance they take on the wave. I've noticed that good surfers sit higher up on the wave so they get good speed and momentum, while average and poor surfers seem to surf right in the pocket and are kind of glued there. How do I get up higher on the wave? Its something i find very tricky.