Professional surfer and coach Gui Fonseca provides five essential tips to help surfers perform better on small, weak waves. The core of the lesson is generating and maintaining speed and flow by using the high part of the wave face and correctly utilizing the body’s compression and extension.
Key Takeaways & Tips
Tip 1: High Line Pumping
To generate speed, you must pump in a higher line on the wave. You need to do the pump movement from the mid-face to the lip in the highest place of the wave because that is the zone where you can actually maximize your speed.
Tip 2: Maintain High Position
Always come back to a higher position on the wave. When finishing a turn (like a carve or a roundhouse cutback), do not end the turn too much down on the wave, as this causes you to lose all speed and flow when the wave is weak or flat.
Tip 3: Shorter Bottom Turns
Cut the bottom turn shorter and choose higher lines. Do not go too deep on the bottom of the wave, as this makes you lose speed when the wave is weak. Surfing small waves is all about maintaining higher lines.
Tip 4: Compression and Extension
Use the compression and extension of your body correctly. When going down the wave, you compress to use gravity and hold energy. When going up to the top of the wave, you release and extend your upper body. This constant transfer of energy (back foot to front foot) keeps you fast on the wave.
Tip 5: Use Sections to Project
Take advantage of sections by doing floaters to project your weight and arms forward. If you see a section ahead, do a little floater and project forward instead of just passing the section, as this helps generate much more speed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Pumping Too Low
Generating the pump movement at the bottom or middle of the wave instead of the higher line will prevent you from maximizing and generating sufficient speed.
Finishing Turns Low
Finishing a turn too close to the bottom of the wave in small conditions causes you to lose all your speed and flow.
Only Extending
Being extended all the time means you cannot release energy. Surfing requires constant energy release, which is only possible by compressing and extending.
Stagnant Surfing
The most important mistake to avoid is letting the board just stop. You must constantly be moving and pumping on a performance board in small waves to generate speed.