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We all remember our first wave, first tube and first proper cutback but do you remember the first time you trimmed along a wave? It’s possibly one of the most pivotal moments in everyone’s surfing. It’s the start of so many possibility’s to improvement yet so commonly overlooked in the progression stages of surfing.
We have progressed from the white water and are out the back catching unbroken waves but how do we trim across the green face of the wave? There are some really simple techniques that can be used to make trimming so much easier.
The most effective way to make trimming easier to paddle on a slight angle of the direction of where the wave is breaking, a common mistake we see in all level of surfers and that is paddling directly to the shoreline when catching a wave.
By paddling directly at the beach there is so much more effort and time taken to then get your board from straight at the beach to trimming down the line. By paddling on a slight angel to the beach (like the example of former CT Surfer Nathan Hedge below) in the direction the wave is breaking it then becomes so much easier to get up and trim.
This helps in multiple ways. You can read the wave better as you are not paddling blind with you back the wave meaning you can adjust to what the wave is doing. Also by being on the slight angle you are using the waves own momentum to propel yourself perpendicular with the wave.
The process of learning how much of an angle you need to paddle will be a trial and error process to much on an angle and you will find it hard to match the momentum of the wave and miss the wave. The more you practice this skill the easier it will become.
To learn more skill on surfing the green face head on over to Level Five of Surf Better Now.
Want more information to help you nail all of your take offs?
Perfecting the Pop Up – Part 1
Perfecting the Pop Up – Part 2
Perfecting the Pop Up – Part 3
Wave entry at URBNSURF is everything
How to paddle like a world champ
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