I know all you pro's will say that today was flat as but for a beginner it was pretty good to me (odd chest/waist high mixed with the smaller ones, made for a good morning to get back into surfing).

But my question is how do you become good enough to consistently catch these smaller waves (knee - waist high)? As I sat on my shortie, I watched 2 old guys on fishes I think catching almost every wave they went for and their paddling was just a couple strokes here and there.

I know that practice and the skill factor plays a big role but was I doing something wrong? I mean when the odd waist - chest high waves came in, I caught them easily but I was struggling with the smaller knee high stuff as they were easily caught by these old guys surfing the waves to the beach.

Cheers

Well, the old guys were using floatation and planing surface to their advantage. There's simply no way around it. The trade-off is performance when the waves get good - you can't bury a rail the same on a fat floaty thing.

Timing and positioning help too, and that's something you just have to develop over time. Small waves suck, because there's less margin for error. You've got to be in a tiny pocket to milk the energy from the wave. Bigger waves the size of the power zone is much larger, therefore you can get away with a lot more, it's more forgiving. In waves like you encountered, there might be a 1m^2 area where it's possible to takeoff on those small waves. In bigger waves it might be 10m^2 or more.

No, but I wouldn't mind a board for tiny waves in my quiver. I persevere on a regular HPSB. I used to have a board with not much floatation but heaps of surface area, something like 6'2" x 21" x 1 3/4". It was heaps of fun in small waves but difficult to paddle (not enough foam). But the thinness was its downfall and I snapped the wafer-thin nose in 1' waves by spearing the sand at Perth's favourite beachbreak. I'd like a dumpster diver type board, 5'10" x 20" x 2 3/4" or something for small waves.

Legion is spot on...

I'm 44yo, 110kg and have no problem with 1ft surf (knee to chest). It's definately about the board AND experience. I surf a 7"3" 'Super Fish' that's 3" thick and 22" wide that has very little rocker (nose curve), so there's tonnes of surface area on the water...

It's also about knowing how to read the wave to get into that 1-2m zone that Legion spoke of... and being able to snap to your feet quickly.

Ahhh now I understand. Yeah I've been riding a 6'6 x 18 7/8 x 2 7/16 (not sure if thats good for smaller waves).

And yeh I'd say the older blokes looked the equivalent of say ... Gandalf or Dumbledore off Harry Potter (not being insulting or anything but they did look like grand masters who knew their stuff ).

Hmmm as much as I'd be keen to get a smaller board, I'm gonna still persevere with what I got. Heck practice makes perfect don't it?

Cheers Doggie! Yeah mate, definitely keen ta learn from a master instead of me floundering about. Umm don't think I got ur number no more. Replaced my fone after buying that board off ya aye.

Jeepers at this rate I will have to start a surf school