Learn to have safe fun in the surf | Coffs Coast News | Local News in Coffs Coast

Lee Winkler getting “shacked” in Tahiti, one the best places in the world to go surfing.

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THE most amazing thing in the world to me besides the joy of my family is barrel riding.

Being in the green room is incredible and I turn into a 10-year-old when the surf gets it on.

First of all there are all types of different barrels so there are loads to learn and way more than I have time to explain. To barrel ride well we want to surf or “set the line” to at least the top two thirds of the wave depending how steep a barrel we are about to ride – this is for speed.

At a place like Jeffery’s Bay (Jbay South Africa) I like to ride the barrel high as the shape of the wave is like an almond and not a square type open barrel.

The tighter the space in the barrel the higher we ride.

This is for two reasons, firstly, gravity will makes you go faster if you need to fall down the face a fraction to gain speed and come straight back up the wave face without hitting your head on the above lip when coming back up (this is called pumping).

Secondly, the impact of the lip at the bottom of the wave will hit underneath your board causing you to become unbalanced.

Okay we have set our line for the type of barrel we are about to enter.

The stance technique is a very unique and you will probably need correcting if you are having trouble now with your barrel riding. Let’s just call it the “tuck knees stance”. Imagine you are tucked into a ball-like shape with a star jump width in your feet placement.

The eyes never leave the top of centre of the barrel so you will follow this direction and if the wave drops water into your eyes never try to close them, just deal with the uncomfortable sensation.

Never lose focus or desire to get out of the barrel as most people jump off their board early.

If you need to slow down in the barrel use your closest hand to the wall of the wave to slow you down.

How deep you put your hand in will depend on how fast you need to slow down so you can become deeper and ride a barrel more critically.

If we fall off in the barrel there’s a chance of getting a head cut or “a fin chop” so put the palms of hand on the back of your head and elbows in front of eyes for protection.

Remember it takes 12 to 24 months of hard work, daily practise and coaching along the way to go from a beginner to a barrel rider.

IF you snap your leg rope and have to swim back to the beach, are you fit enough to take the pounding and educated enough to use the currents and rips to get in safely?

Always be more than sensible with decisions when surfing in any challenging waves for your skill level.

Fitness breathes confidence, so this is the most essential part in Big Wave Surfing. Get out there and train hard for a work out.

Big waves are obviously bigger and move a little faster... so we need to be very committed in the paddle for the entry in to the wave with a no hesitation approach.

If you hesitate or let your concentration drift into negative thoughts you will fall, crash and burn hard eventually.

The safety stance has the feet apart in a star jump width, knees bent at 90 degrees

(compressed), arms level and eyes focused in the direction you’re heading.

Always make sure this stance is applied at the top of the wave to avoid a free fall and then depending which blend of wave face you have chosen to surf you will then use the distribution of weight from front foot to back foot.

Obviously with a steep wave face we will apply a little more back foot pressure than front foot pressure to avoid a nose dive dismount.