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For me I've got them listed as following:

#1. get out of this cycle of 1-2 sessions then injury and 2-3 weeks out. I plan to do that by working out regularly and getting on a stretching/yoga regime. Sucks gettin' old and I'm really starting to feel it.

#2. work on getting my back foot leash plug back. This is where all the gangsta chit comes from. Having my foot leash plug back when turning and surfing more top to bottom is one of the keys to HP surfing. which brings me to...

#3. surf more top to bottom and none of this race to the shoulder and cutback chit. drop in, come off the bottom into that first turn and the next one. surf the wave section by section vs a more lateral approach.

#4. roundhouse cutbacks all the way back into the foam. none of this stopping before the foam stuff. get back into the power source w/ a high rebound.

#5. Frontside fins out re-entries. Besides with my wife, the frontside re-entry where I feel the fins break free (only on 2 occasions this year) is the best thing I've got in my life right now. Very elusive but one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Feel the fins break free and then reconnect in the flats. so bada$$ I wanna be able to do these off my 1st turn vs the inside end section. getting these consistently would make my year. heck, being able to hit the lip consistently would make my year, which brings me to....

#6. Hit that lip yo! Surf more vertically and see a cutback as a linking maneuver to let me smack that lip yo! The ultimate goal is a vertical attack since that chit is super fun for me. So goal is to tag the lip on every wave at least once.


That's it for now. Been on injured reserve so gonna start w/ #1 and surfing more consistently. Hopefully I'll hit all the rest before 2013 knock on wood, err I mean foam and fiberglass. (BTW for 2013 I wanna be able to punt like Heavyfooted)


Havoc

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I like these goals. I too like to and try to surf more vertical (top to bottom) but you also need to have waves that can be surfed top to bottom!

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I like these goals. I too like to and try to surf more vertical (top to bottom) but you also need to have waves that can be surfed top to bottom!

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For me, start eating better. Less fried food, more crunches and light running. The rest will follow.

Also, Start waking up EVERYDAY at 6am.

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+1

Wake up at 545am though. Surf a lot more.

Main goal is to not suck at surfing. That may be a surfing goal for 2012 - 2022 though. Also, surf better than everyone on the erBB, including pros like retodd.

Have fun, but I always have fun.

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To have fun? I go surfing for recreation. This isn't tennis.

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To have fun? I go surfing for recreation. This isn't tennis.

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IMO the better you surf, more fun can be had.

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1. Get back into shape/strengthen my shoulder and core (just started P90X again).
2. Surf more patiently/top to bottom.
3. Just go man.
4. Round tail Driver or a MiniDriver.
5. Cut back on the beers.

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cutback "and " beers

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I lived in Santa Cruz for 8 years and after living here for 2 I still can't go left

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are you derek zoolander?

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Faster reaction time.
More barrels.
More sessions.
Surf new spots.

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I lived in Santa Cruz for 8 years and after living here for 2 I still can't go left

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are you derek zoolander?

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#3. surf more top to bottom and none of this race to the shoulder and cutback chit. drop in, come off the bottom into that first turn and the next one. surf the wave section by section vs a more lateral approach.
Havoc

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#3. surf more top to bottom and none of this race to the shoulder and cutback chit. drop in, come off the bottom into that first turn and the next one. surf the wave section by section vs a more lateral approach.
Havoc

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This ^^^ and, legitimate big waves.

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so I can start buying sublime's boards for cheap

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his board aint cheap

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#3. surf more top to bottom and none of this race to the shoulder and cutback chit. drop in, come off the bottom into that first turn and the next one. surf the wave section by section vs a more lateral approach.
Havoc

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This ^^^ and, legitimate big waves.

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Watch pretty much any Slater section before you surf.

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simply... to shed the end of 2011 holiday weight gain so i can go back to enjoying my seshes as i did in 2011 and to avoid dimming up on boards. frickin worked too hard to get on smaller boards.

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add more lurking/paddling around the line up vs paddle-sit-paddlealittlebit-sit-hopeapeakcomestome-andrepeat. seem to accidently end up in the priority spot frequently when lurking. wave count is way less when sitting around like a poor slob.

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I want to grab the outside rail of the next person that drops in on me and flip him into the wave while continuing to ride down the line. I've imagined doing that for years.

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I want to grab the outside rail of the next person that drops in on me and flip him into the wave while continuing to ride down the line. I've imagined doing that for years.

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theres a vid out there of mason ho at alamo and he does it soo smoothly. pulling in backside underneath some guy and flips him over the falls while making this crazy pigdog drop...

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I want to grab the outside rail of the next person that drops in on me and flip him into the wave while continuing to ride down the line. I've imagined doing that for years.

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theres a vid out there of mason ho at alamo and he does it soo smoothly. pulling in backside underneath some guy and flips him over the falls while making this crazy pigdog drop...

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I want to grab the outside rail of the next person that drops in on me and flip him into the wave while continuing to ride down the line. I've imagined doing that for years.

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theres a vid out there of mason ho at alamo and he does it soo smoothly. pulling in backside underneath some guy and flips him over the falls while making this crazy pigdog drop...

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Or in Fletcher's "Lavese" video where Danny Fuller gets dropped in on on a long left, grabs the guy's rail and yanks the board then goes on to a double or triple barrel wave.

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One of my favorite scenes from that vid!

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Another great thread by Havoc.

I've been surfing since 2000 and I'll say I'm an intermediate surfer at 33 years of age. My goal in 2012 is to go from intermediate to advanced.

GOALS:
By the end of this year I'd like to be able to:
- TAKEOFF - Pop up fast & get into the wave correctly: Subconsciously arching the back and pushing off at waist level to set feet correctly (watch Kelly) back foot at tail, crouched. This became a bigger issue after I had my back surgery a couple of years ago and I find myself pushing off at shoulder level which leads to incorrect feet placement and, a lot of times blowing the takeoff
- BACKSIDE: Pretty happy with my backside surfing - I'd like to make it more consistent though - bend more and push hard off backfoot, hit the lip vertically & link more maneuvers. I've been too complacent getting satisfied with 1 good turn.
- FRONTSIDE: Looking at my surfing honestly, I've been trying to complete front side turns for over a decade w/o real success. I usually take off and go down the line w/o thinking and attempt to do a weak top turn which leads a fall off the top. The goal is to concentrate on getting low and pushing hard off the backfoot to force a hard bottom turn to have enough speed to complete the top turn w/o falling down. Once I get the bottom turn/top turn combo down I'll focus on cutting back. Watching the pros - they dig their backfoot deep in the direction they want to turn w/o the board sliding off

How will these goals be accomplished?
- Mental exercise: I spend time at night imagining myself going through the maneuvers. On some level, being in the same situation from memory, creates a response you created in your head for that moment. Well, not exactly, otherwise I'd be Taj Burrow, but it does help
- Carvestik - The carvestik was invaluable for improving my backside surfing. It forces you to generate speed and work on carving. Not as helpful for frontside.
- Surfcoach.com: From researching Martin Dunn's free material - he is a great coach for intermediate levels. When I have money, I'll be buying his power moves package http://www.surfingaustralia.com/surfcoach/online-training/training-packages/all-power-moves-info/ to see if that helps.

Just like anything in life - work, girls, working out - improvement happens in stages. I've been practicing fixing my pop-up and will be working on bottom turning properly next.

Surfing is all about fun - but if you are good at it - your fun goes to the next level. Being a better surfer gives you confidence to put yourself in better waves in CA and surf better in crowds

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- FRONTSIDE: Looking at my surfing honestly, I've been trying to complete front side turns for over a decade w/o real success. I usually take off and go down the line w/o thinking and attempt to do a weak top turn which leads a fall off the top. The goal is to concentrate on getting low and pushing hard off the backfoot to force a hard bottom turn to have enough speed to complete the top turn w/o falling down. Once I get the bottom turn/top turn combo down I'll focus on cutting back. Watching the pros - they dig their backfoot deep in the direction they want to turn w/o the board sliding off

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I've shared your struggles with frontside surfing nearly my entire surfing career until about 8 months ago. What caused the swtich for me was surfing a variety of boards (4 of em for me) with double concave or double concave + vee in the back half of the board. I don't think it helped me much going vertically but it really opened up some doors when it came to hard cutbacks and roundhouses.

Also, if you're struggling to go vertical you may want to try a board with more single concave or single to flat. I rode those kinds of boards for 90% of my ~10yrs surfing and going vertical was one of my favorite things b/c the boards seemed to WANT to go straight up.

Obviously I'm simplifying a lot here but I do think training / learning in surfing can be accomplished by buying different boards w/ diff designs and I personally have found concaves to be the most useful design element to play with. So yeah go get some boards which are designed to do what it is your trying to learn and I'll bet you'll be way more successful than just blaming it on the "archer not the arrow" all the time.

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- FRONTSIDE: Looking at my surfing honestly, I've been trying to complete front side turns for over a decade w/o real success. I usually take off and go down the line w/o thinking and attempt to do a weak top turn which leads a fall off the top. The goal is to concentrate on getting low and pushing hard off the backfoot to force a hard bottom turn to have enough speed to complete the top turn w/o falling down. Once I get the bottom turn/top turn combo down I'll focus on cutting back. Watching the pros - they dig their backfoot deep in the direction they want to turn w/o the board sliding off

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I've shared your struggles with frontside surfing nearly my entire surfing career until about 8 months ago. What caused the swtich for me was surfing a variety of boards (4 of em for me) with double concave or double concave + vee in the back half of the board. I don't think it helped me much going vertically but it really opened up some doors when it came to hard cutbacks and roundhouses.

Also, if you're struggling to go vertical you may want to try a board with more single concave or single to flat. I rode those kinds of boards for 90% of my ~10yrs surfing and going vertical was one of my favorite things b/c the boards seemed to WANT to go straight up.

Obviously I'm simplifying a lot here but I do think training / learning in surfing can be accomplished by buying different boards w/ diff designs and I personally have found concaves to be the most useful design element to play with. So yeah go get some boards which are designed to do what it is your trying to learn and I'll bet you'll be way more successful than just blaming it on the "archer not the arrow" all the time.

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Totally agree and also think nothing will help w/ a good front side bottom turn then a good 9'+ nose rider log w/ a least a 6 x 2 x 6 glass job. Nothing makes me more then hearing people say they can't long board because it messes up there shortboarding Variety is the spice of life and at 42 my six board quiver keeps things interesting always but I could use a small wave groveler besides a long board

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Recovering from a broken jaw right now waiting for that to heal and then get some new teeth my 2012 goal is just to get back in the water by mid August and hopefully keep my paddling strength as good as I can while out of the water. Been lifting light weights but still not allowed to swim or do any heavy impact exercises. Pilates and spin class start next week and should help with core and cardio

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