No rope surf struggles - newb

[BlacknBu]

Spent the past 3 days at the lake attempting a setup to surf ropeless. Most I got was about 5 seconds before being sucked out, with majority of my weight/lean on the front foot. 

07 VLX with 4 tank factory ballast + two 550 lb bags. Swell shaper. Have both a 48" skim and 56" surf style board. Skim seems to be very fast & not the issue. 

Tried the following setups. All which seemed to throw a clean wave not being washed. 

1. (Listing) All ballast filled except non surf side, 550 full in surf side rear drive locker + total of 600lbs up front. Wedge down and going ~10.7mph (adjusted both wedge amd speed at times to have clean wave face.

2. Stock ballast full all around, 550 lb rear surf side, addt'l 300lb non surf side. 225lb rider up front. Same messing with wedge. Image below is this setup.

Both bag setups I changed placement of riders. #2 seemed to have a very nice wave in the boat, so maybe its just me? 

I also have a 13.75 x 15 prop that came on the boat. Would the acme 1235 make a difference in this case or more just for the hole shoot (getting to speed & getting to plane doesn't seem to be an issue)

 

 

[asnowman]

Which version of the swell shaper? And where are you placing it? It van help to angle it just a little to create a little lift on the non surf side. 

What we found in our vtx was the weight needed to be more in the center/bow and less than you think in the rear. Wedge just a little up from full down position,  and speed up at 11-11.4  We would run 400's in the lockers, and an 800 in the walkway. And then people could be pretty much wherever.

Also, spend more time surfing, rope in hand, let it get all slack before you go to drop it. Practice keeping it slack a while. 

 

[cacsrx1]

I have our 08 VLX weighted almost exactly the same as asnowman, with the exception of a GSA system.  Our family just started surfing last year.  I weigh 215 and was riding a Liquid Force Rocket, tried everything and couldn’t drop the rope.  Bit the bullet and bought a Phase 5 X, rode it yesterday and about smashed into the back of the boat.  Night and day difference.....

[BlacknBu]

2 hours ago, asnowman said:

Which version of the swell shaper? And where are you placing it? It van help to angle it just a little to create a little lift on the non surf side. 

What we found in our vtx was the weight needed to be more in the center/bow and less than you think in the rear. Wedge just a little up from full down position,  and speed up at 11-11.4  We would run 400's in the lockers, and an 800 in the walkway. And then people could be pretty much wherever.

Also, spend more time surfing, rope in hand, let it get all slack before you go to drop it. Practice keeping it slack a while. 

 

Its the 2.0, placed at an angle as well. I'll definitely have to try more center weight here. Bow was about as low as it could go, wife took on a couple dips of water even circling back around for me 

I was surfing minutes at a time with no tension on the rope, and then the second I let go I fall out. Dropping. Throwing, etc...typing this out makes me feel even more it's me being a snowboarder & skater, so use to all back foot management. Maybes it's just in my head that the wave should push me that much more? 

@cacsrx1 the skim I was on nearly had me riding the platform too. It is shorter being 4beiso if i put too much forward i felt it was going to nose dive hard. Could also be my challenge. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Zippymbr]

A 1235 prop will improve your hole shot and it improves the speed at which you get on plane and the wave takes shape.  Thats what it did on my boat.  I have more weight in m rear lockers with the non surf side weighted about 60-80% full.  I also would play around with the placement of your shaper by moving it back toward the rear of the boat and lower in the water.

[drewski300]

I give this golf analogy to everyone who struggles surfing. You can buy the best clubs in the world but if you don't know how to swing them, the ball won't go straight. 

I started surfing in 2018 and for the 1st month, it was 50/50 getting up and staying up. Then attempting to drop the rope on our phase 5 Oogle 58” I would immediately fall out of the wave. So I gave up and started surfing the Happy Pill. The board helped me to stay on the wake without a rope. So a board can make a big difference. You need a board that can handle a lot of volume because it makes it more buoyant and faster. After a season of using the Happy Pill and getting better, I switched back to the Oogle and turned out to be the perfect board. It's an entry level board with a single 2" fin but I can carve and work back and forth fairly easy. I recently switched to a Hammerhead with a 1" fin. Talk about a difference! That board is squirrelly as S#$T! It took me a half dozen rides just to be able to carve without falling. I'm 5'10" 160lbs. So your weight also makes a board selection critical if you want to ride without falling out. The heavier you are, the more buoyant board you need to have.

Long story short, you just need to keep practicing. Anyone can surf any wave if you know what to do. Keep hanging on to the rope and try to ride without keeping tension. Use the rope on the farthest setting away from the boat and practice "gas" and "brake" with your weight. You have to brake before it's too late and you have to apply the gas before you fall out of the pocket. Too many people try to throw the rope right away the there is a lot to still learn with carving and your forward/back movement.

Enjoy the process!

[Paewraul]

I had the same issue when learning and it turned out I was in the wrong spot on the wave. I was always trying to ride half way up the curl. I found it much easier to ride longer after some advice from some veterans who happened to be in the boat that day corrected me to ride much lower on the wave. 

[BlacknBu]

10 hours ago, Paewraul said:

I had the same issue when learning and it turned out I was in the wrong spot on the wave. I was always trying to ride half way up the curl. I found it much easier to ride longer after some advice from some veterans who happened to be in the boat that day corrected me to ride much lower on the wave. 

good advice, thank you. My eldest son actually took a video of me trying to ride without a rope, which i found in my phone yesterday. I do look slightly further up the wave than when i see most people surfing, along with what looks to be more rearfoot weight than what I am feeling on the water. 

[BlacknBu]

 

Couple seconds my son got me and typical falling out the wave. Go ahead and lay into me with your knowledge. Please! 

 

 

 

[gahvey]

On 7/1/2020 at 9:00 AM, BlacknBu said:

good advice, thank you. My eldest son actually took a video of me trying to ride without a rope, which i found in my phone yesterday. I do look slightly further up the wave than when i see most people surfing, along with what looks to be more rearfoot weight than what I am feeling on the water. 

Another tip that might help you....I find it hard to keep speed with weight on my front foot, but when I put in my head to use my hips it helped a ton.  To go faster, mover your hips toward the boat (which then puts weight on the front foot).  To slow down, slide your hips away from the boat.

By the looks of that video, you have your weight on the front foot, but you seem really focused on doing that which is causing you to bend at the waist and your hips are way back.  Try standing tall and use your hips more.

Edited July 6, 2020 by gahvey
adding more info

[BlacknBu]

54 minutes ago, gahvey said:

Another tip that might help you....I find it hard to keep speed with weight on my front foot, but when I put in my head to use my hips it helped a ton.  To go faster, mover your hips toward the boat (which then puts weight on the front foot).  To slow down, slide your hips away from the boat.

By the looks of that video, you have your weight on the front foot, but you seem really focused on doing that which is causing you to bend at the waist and your hips are way back.  Try standing tall and use your hips more.

solid advice with the standing piece for sure! I wasn't thinking about how my low positioning was shifting weight, even though i was putting pressure on my front. Makes sense of why it wasn't working. Watched a few online videos to monitor body language and notice that looking down has to be another downfall. 

Appreciate the advice here and cant wait to try it out this weekend.