Duckdiving....but on a mini mal?????

[malcontent]

Hey there everybody,

I am just getting back into surfing...I have only ever ridden a shortboard in the past and duckdiving was easy and what I did..but I have now bought myself a 7'6" mini mal...obviously I won't be duckdiving this...so what do you guys do...roll??? or????

Thanks.

[Danoz]

When using a mini mal - about 3 times in my life ( which was when i surfed with my uncle occasionally in small surf ) i found about the only thing to do was charge and hold on lol ~ thats just me, some people roll but i tended to find getting up some momentum and at the last minute just settling back a little on the board so the nose got lifted up by the whitewater was enough to get me through, saying that the times i used it the surf was never bigger than 3 foot or so ~ so in bigger surf i think there would be better approaches than that

[hunsta]

I have just got back into surfing, and bought myself a 7'6" mini. I had the same thoughs when I first took it out and although the surf was relatively small, my first instinct was to duckdive under waves. I personally found it wasnt any harder than using a smaller board to duckdive.

[markfrazer89]

hey guys, just started surfing for the first time, just after some tips..
Whenever i come up to a big wave that has just broken right in front of me, i dont know how to get past it without wiping out... i just have to let it smash me, because i dont know how to duck dive with the board..

Any tips on how to get past the white water easily would be great.. cheers.

[hunsta]

To duck dive, all you have to do is when the wave is just upon you, push the nose down with you weight then as the wave goes over you duck you head under it as well as then pushing the rear of you board down with your leg, making the nose then rise out of the otherside of the wave. other than that yyou can use the barrel roll method, by just holding the board firm and rolling over as the wave comes over you. However its much easier to duckdive.

[Grant]

I have a 6'2" shortboard and a 7'6" minimal and I do find the switch from duckdiving to turtle rolling, (not barrel roll... thats a bodyboarding manoeuvre) difficult sometimes but the wave catching ability in larger surf is often required. To turtle roll:

1. push up with both hands as if about to start the process of duck-diving or the "pop-up"
2. let off the pressure of the hand you are less coordinated with and apply extra pressure to your opposite hand to push the rail under the water
3. just go with the flow to roll and end up in the original starting position but instead, under the water
4. your momentum gained by the force of gravity will allow you to sink deeper in the water than if you didn't have that turning momentum so as you go down, pull the nose of the board closer to you so the wave that just went over you doesn't catch the nose of the board and ruin everything.
5. just turn over.. you can figure that part out.

its really simple just give it a try in your/your friends' pool...