Perspectives: Prepping for a Big Swell

Bodysurfers around the world take on challenging waves. Each of them risk life and limb to experience the Ocean in a way few people even dream of. A few bodysurfers have offered an inside perspective on how they get ready when big swell is headed their way.

IMG_6984-2

Nick Menas

The one thing I do to get ready for a BIG SWELL, like on the North Shore, in town at Panics, or on the Westside, is check and make sure my Handboards are in good shape the night before. They require constant repair and I believe you’re only as good as you’re prepared, but you have to know your limits, and the tide matters! I mentally envision GOING BIG at home on the computer with all the forecasts and cam views, but getting “Eyes On” the break provides me all the information I need before heading out to the line-up. Seeing where the rips, rocks, and peaks are located help me understand the conditions that will put me in the right place, at the right time, for a great ride. It doesn’t matter if the surf is big or small, just catching waves makes me happy.

10676181_834065413319441_7078534914142189422_n

Kalani Lattanzi

For tell the truth I didn’t train for that, I live at Itacoatiara beach the heaviest wave in the world in my opinion, so it’s already a big surf training there. The most important thing is mentally, I use to say ” it’s only water.”

 IMG_0538

Daniel Williams

I‘ve been a part of the old guy crowd for a while now. This means I’ve lost a step or two and what used to be muscle mass is now more or less jelly donut density. This of course means that when it comes to big waves I have come to rely on accumulated wave knowledge over time and muscle memory. Muscle memory being the one thing I work on before a proper swell shows. Putting in my water time the day(s) before the arrival of large surf allows me to tap into that muscle memory so hopefully when I hit the surf I’ll have developed a flow and rhythm that might just help keep me from getting my ass handed to me…sometimes it seems to work.

 

IMG_3958-2

Chris Ford

I just get extremely amped when I know it’s gonna get big, then immediately find center and begin to visualize. I may visualize the source of the power and it’s relationship with the Earth. I might visualize my relationship with the swell, the when and where possibilities/probabilities, my current ability and getting barreled, making sections, body positioning etc. This all happens very quickly. When I’m on the beach I am calm. I may imagine myself as an old man on the beach watching the raw ocean and all my surfing ability dried up. I become thankful, focus on charging and making it to the beach safely for my family. I think of my grandpa.

 

may152014ronpringle-laguna

Ron Pringle

Besides the obvious wind and tides check and how it will affect the best times to get in the water, I like to drink a couple of quarts of coconut water to really hydrate – If I can I get on the Pulsed ElectroMagnectic Frequency device available to us at WaveBalance Wellness in Dana Point ( John John and Kelly among many others have been known to make great use of this astoundingly rad technology there with Dr. Burton Lucich) and I take a product called master amino acid pattern at least 10 of them an hr or so before the sesh – for sure the power of positive thinking comes into play and only using the spoken words that pass my lips to talk only about what I want, and never about what I don’t want. Most of all seeing myself in the bowl laughing with my bros and the best possible outcome enjoying what Neptune and Nature delivers. Good Vibes!!

Photograph by Morgan Launer

Tim Barnes

I get much more focused and excited about a strong storm in the NPAC because they are much easier to predict.  I am studying models, tracking buoys – I even created my own forecast tool in a spreadsheet to calculate the exact arrival time at my favorite breaks.  I never get much sleep before a big swell due to the excitement and anticipation but I certainly make sure to eat very well the night before I expect the surf to show up.  The morning of I always put my wetsuit on first thing because there is no way in hell I am going to walk away if the conditions don’t look “perfect.”  Driving in the dark to the beach I am pumping music – “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” is a great song by Black Rebel Motorcycle Gang and a big-swell favorite.  Also – a little liquid courage goes a long way – I usually pack a tall-boy beer in my bag to drink while I measure up the swell.  Loosens me up for when I inevitably get my ass handed to me as I sync up with the rhythm of the new energy.

Swell Lines Magazine

Proning: Riding the Roots of Bodysurfing

Prone:

  1. likely to or liable to suffer from, do, or experience something, typically something regrettable or unwelcome.
  2. lying flat, especially face downward.
1912_Bodysurfers_Freshwater_Forbes_Myers_p1
Bodysurfers circa 1912

The Prone Form of bodysurfing is characterized by the rider leading with the head while aligning both arms parallel to the torso. Riding Prone, the bodysurfer experiences the Ocean nose-to-surface. This raw style puts the human processing center in full exposure to the elements. While riders still drop the wings and prone it from time to time, the prone position is the root of modern-day bodysurfing.

Postcard from Australia Circa 1911
Percy Spence : Surf Bathing – Shooting the Breakers, 1911.

If you were walking the beaches of Waikiki or in the 1900’s you would likely see Proning in action. The Prone position is the classical bodysurfing form. Riders would jump into waves before they had fins and ride straight as long as possible. To show style, a rider could hold up one foot and keep riding. It is unclear who was the first bodysurfer to break from Proning straight ahead to the beach. The break from prone form most likely developed concurrently with riding parallel to the shore with the breaking wave. There are many stories of people who began riding along the shore with one arm out the way surfers rode. Whether it was an early lifeguard on the California shores or native bodysurfing peoples of Polynesia or Hawaii it is clear our roots are in the belly-down, head-up position. As late as the 1960’s (footage below found on The Encyclopedia of Surfing), many bodysurfers around the world prefer the Prone position for wave gliding.

It could be argued that bodysurfing in the Prone position is a more intimate interaction. Bodysurfing on your belly leaves the rider eye to eye with the Ocean. The rider’s head is free from spray and the rest of the body is in full contact with the water as opposed to using a forward hand to plane. When riders use a forward hand to plane they naturally rotate their torso lifting one shoulder and some of the upper torso away from the water. This also causes a chain reaction pulling the head away from the surface of the Ocean. Many riders compensate for natural tendencies and force their face down the line, but in it’s most natural presentation Proning is the bodysurfer’s choice for feel.

The feeling may be multiplied by the vulnerability of the Prone Form. The most serious of injuries occur to a bodysurfer’s head, neck and back. There is no doubt that Proning, as the name implies, leaves the rider vulnerable to injury. Without a lead arm or arms, bodysurfers will make first impact on rock, reef and sand with their head. This is one of the many reasons the evolution of bodysurfing has moved beyond Proning.

Competitor Proning off the foamball
Mark Cunningham taking Prone Form to the beach at the end of his heat at WBC 14

When bodysurfers are in the layout position, leading with one arm, they are able to adjust to the changing steepness of the wave. This is mainly due to the great flexibility of the shoulder joint. If a wave suddenly turns from a mushy-spiller to a round barrel the rider can compensate with the lead hand to maintain planing surface. In the Prone position, bodysurfers are one-dimensional; therefore bodysurfers who ride Prone and ride it well are demonstrating expert ability. The Prone rider must be extremely observant of shifting wave movements, and then position him or herself with precision to ride out critical waves.

There are some riders who just like it. They may turn and Prone into the late barrel knowing there’s no hope of coming out the other side. His friends might even yell, “Canonball!” at the sight of such hopeless debauchery. Other bodysurfers look both ways and know the only way to feel this wave is to lock your arms to your side and launch straight for the sand. When the wave doesn’t give you left or right, you go straight simply because its fun.

Kyle and Kanea eyes up
The rider having the most fun…

There are variations of the Prone ride. In some old footage, you will see bodysurfers using one of their arms as a rudder to stall or change direction. When riding Prone, riders also vary the positioning of their head from down full speed ahead to chin fully extracted from the water and eyes at the sky. In all variations of this bodysurfing throwback, we share the thrilling sensations of wave pioneers long gone. We carry on the oldest wave riding tradition sliding on the surface with the purest joy.

-EJ

 

Sources:

No Lives Lost: The History of Surf Life Saving Club 1908-1958 via Surf Research

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Surf Research

Swell Lines Magazine