About point 2, you can use a trigger word to feel calm under water after a whipeout. The same way you use "1,2,3, Go" to commit when paddling. When I fall on heavy water, I instantly tell my self "I'm seaweed", and that helps me relax my body and let the ocean drag me without exerting any resistance.
Couldn't agree more about getting the wipeout over with at the beginning of the session. It's so easy to sit on the outside and psyche yourself out or just timidly paddle in way off on the shoulder. Obviously not advocating throwing yourself of the ledge of some high consequence slab, but perfect for those slightly bigger days that give you a bit of anxiety.
Number 2 is the most important in my experience. I get a lot more confidence in situations I would otherwise panic in. The third tip sounds great, thanks Kale!
Thanks for the tips. I used the 3-2-1 method yesterday and caught so many more waves than in my previous two sessions. It really made all the difference! Can't wait for my next session!
@@KalesBroccoli I am absolutely loving the friendly, well founded advice. I think you have the whole thing nailed: having fun but showing others how to have fun too. Taking the journey and sharing what you learn along the way. You're doing it right. If I may add a sober piece of advice, with success often comes temptation, which leads to screwing up, and a hint of pride, which leads to being less than kind. Keep your humility, morality and kindness front and foremost at the start and end of your day to protect what you have here, and your students. This from an old man, hope it guides and doesn't hinder you.
GREAT TIPS !! The first tip is something I never thought about .. When I started a session with fear of big waves , I did think about "OK, worse case I will fall off" but doing it in purpose , like really paddling to fall takes one through the entire sections of the wave before its breaking on you.. love it ..
I think principle 1 is great advice for me at the moment. I recognise I have lost some of my 'edge' - overthinking things etc. I am catching less waves. Need to tackle it head on
Kale always enjoy your clips. First surf in Hawaii surfing big Sunset my mate wouldn't let me paddle out in the channel. Paddled from around the back getting smashed heavily by 15ft sets. Made the rest of the time in Hawaii pretty easy!
Some good advice. The problem for me is I over analyze everything so when I try things like the 3, 2, 1, strategy I deep down consciously know I'm bullshiting myself and won't go. haha. I go through ups and downs with it. I recently came out of a stage of too much passiveness from previously being pretty good at dropping in on tougher waves. What got me out of that little funk was honestly just the frustration of seeing other people getting good rides and saying to myself, what the hell is wrong with me. I was then like "screw this" and threw myself into the next wave that looked good. Using similar ideas to the first two points.
Hey Kale, what about confidence in managing tense social dynamics of crowded lineups? Holding your ground when paddling shoulder to shoulder with 4 guys on an a frame, not knowing who’s taking off which direction is a case here. I’m actually a cocky bastard so I don’t struggle with this per se but I’m sure some people do
Another similar thing I do is mimic what Kelly and the momentum guys would say to each other and say “you won’t go” when a big wave comes. Just makes you send it
The problem for me with that and the 3, 2, 1, strategy is that I rapidly overthink those kinds of things and know that I'm either bullshitting myself or don't care what other people think of what I do, so it ends up not working. In the end I just have to use my own will power to make myself do it.
I once nearly drowned bodysurfing 8 foot waves without any aids. I went over the falls and got drilled badly, and in my inexperience and fear I started swimming toward the surface as soon as I was under control. My only trouble was that there was a mysterious current that was pulling me down all the time... I was running out of air and got desperate and swam with all my last might towards the light, when my hands hit the sand above my head. What had happened was that I had gotten completely disoriented and was swimming down, against the upward drift of my buoyant body. From that day I decided to save my strength until I started floating up, so that I knew for certain which direction to swim in. And as Kale says, it worked helluva well. I'd just roll with the wave, my friend, over under sideways upside down it didn't matter, knowing I would have plenty of air because I was not using a single muscle. And when it passed, I'd simply swim, sometimes even just float, up to the surface again.
A good way to wipe out instantly is to drink a whiskey before you go out. This I tried at 18 as an experiment to see what surfing mildly drunk was like. Turns out you can't.
Do you think having the right surfboard when taking off on steep, intimidating waves makes a difference? Or is it more you can take off on any board just don’t look straight down but look down the line?
Got any suggestions for trying to figure out which way is up when just going with the wipeout? I’ve tried relaxing in wipeouts before and then found myself swimming to the bottom instead of the top . I’ve tried climbing my leg rope but when it’s pulling horizontally in white water it doesn’t give much indication to which way is up.
This time of year, I'm dealing with a closey shorebreak a lot. So this is pertinent Too far off the sandbar, and no catchy, too much over it and wipeout!
@@KalesBroccoli funny I actually was recommended that video by RU-vid after I commented this, checked it out. Looks like a super sick board. I’m riding a 5’4 soft Hypto Krypto and a 7’0 Ova by Skindog… trying to put something in between my groveler and my middy
I got SMASHED one time on my twin fin fish, a bit shallow, steep & dumpy. I forever since have had a phobia of shallow waves (in the realistic sense, let’s not be silly about it) all the banks in my home town have shifted & has turned to cake. So this is actually a good vid. Go out, take a smash. It’ll buff right out 😂
Bruh, idk, I already have enough kooks sneaking out to the peak because of summer lulls and then when sets roll they don’t have the skills and the people that do are getting hurt by their bails and boards flying. Kooks at my break are the number one reason people here get sent to hospital. The internet told them to come surf here cause lessons happen on the inside, but magically they end up outside taking slab sets that stand vertical on the reef on the head and send their lame ass longboard like spears at everyone else. It’s great people progress, but half these people don’t know that they’re in over their heads, have no athletic abilities, and are engaging in one of the most difficult sports there is cause it’s currently cool. I say, come committed, get a proper board, demonstrate some degree of etiquette competence and mastery over your board on inside waves out of the way (like not on the shoulder), and then slip out when everyone knows you and knows you’re ready. The everyone knowing you is key, cause if everyone doesn’t know you at a spot, it means you don’t know the spot either!
there's an episode of it's always sunny in philadelphia when frank sing-tells himself "go for it go for it" as he's preparing to indulge in a certain powdery white substance at his bar at 8 in the morning on a weekday. i also tell myself this as i turn around for a wave that scares me. the ridiculous image of frank and his voice in my head makes me laugh at myself a little and in turn makes the wave a bit less serious.
