Etiquette

Dr Nic

Hi Guys,
I've read the sticky on etiquette and i have a q?
Quite a lot these days when surfing other surfers seem to pitch up 10m to 20m shoreside of me.
Now im a beginner, just starting to duck dive and turn
These people are usually day trippers - ultimate beginners.

Is there anything that can be done to avoid hurting someone and still catching waves. Today i nearly cried with frustration, when it seemed like 90% of the waves i caught were interrupted by some clown trying to inhale the nose of my board

Thanks - and sorry for the rant...
Signed - one frustrated puppy

rodento

Surf in a less busy spot

promethius

Dr Nic wrote: »

Hi Guys,
I've read the sticky on etiquette and i have a q?
Quite a lot these days when surfing other surfers seem to pitch up 10m to 20m shoreside of me.
Now im a beginner, just starting to duck dive and turn
These people are usually day trippers - ultimate beginners.

Is there anything that can be done to avoid hurting someone and still catching waves. Today i nearly cried with frustration, when it seemed like 90% of the waves i caught were interrupted by some clown trying to inhale the nose of my board

Thanks - and sorry for the rant...
Signed - one frustrated puppy

Dude it's not a rant lots of people feel the way you did/do.
What you're describing sounds like people sitting in the impact zone, incredibly stupid and dangerous thing to do. I see this all the time at the busy breaks and it is hugely frustrating. You're up and riding and someone with the look of fear in their eyes straight in front of you!

Rodento's on the money there, somewhere or time quieter is the thing.

I had two people drop in on me recently on the same wave, i had crystal clear priority and the second one def saw me but ploughed on regardless. I took it up with him afterwards and it's a pain, i don't want to be going round mouthing off at people it puts a bad vibe on the rest of the session.

We really need to have etiqutte rules posted up at the main breaks by councils for newcomers, otherwise they often don't really know about or understand these things.

rodento

Should clarify, head to a less busy peak, wave or break. You should be spoilt for choice and please don't blame day trippers it's not a local issue

loctite

c'mon not just beginners... you'll get more experienced surfers at it too.
many a time i've seen more experienced surfers snake beginners and end up being ridden over or impaled by a beginner dropping down the wave... just deserts....

A little respect and a little patience is all that is needed from all.
And surf quiter spots too...:)

keryl

Move down the beach if you can, not worth a collision. Also it's true regarding the signs, none where I go and its something they should put up. People don't realise where they are positioned and how dangerous it can be. Getting a fin from my own board is bad enough never mind someone elses.

spaceHopper

most of the time they went in well away from you and either you drifted in line with them or them with you.

A friendly word or move is all you can do, it's not worth having a bad day over.

Cecil Mor

You should be spoilt for choice and please don't blame day trippers it's not a local issue

Elaborate please Ratty?

Whats surprising about this Dr. Nic?
There's often an appalling lack of knowledge as regards etiquette, never mind ability.
What I find amazing is the total lack of Cop-On or common sense displayed by many beginners.
Anyone with sense wouldn't sit in the middle of the road or a cycle track yet they seem not to be worried about sitting in the way and risking getting clobbered by another person and their board.

I don't see the sense of always spending more time and money heading to somewhere quiet to avoid these kooks and they don't always go hand in hand with crowds either.
Sometimes these hassles just have to be put up with though as you may not be able to travel that bit further than you'd like.

Personally I find that if they get a couple of close shaves they tend to wake up and get out'a the way but only after they've realised that the gormless gawking they give you as you speed towards them doe's not invoke an invisible protective shield.
Dragging a 10" flex fin 'cross a few heels guarantees you speed-bump free runs for the rest of the day.
I've given up worrying about them as they plainly don't care about me or my safety.

ratticus

Yeah Cecil, you are obviously an asshole.
Beginners may not have the experience to know that were they are in a dangerous spot, but i suppose you were born knowing everything, right?
Try using me as a speedbump sometime and see how long you last.

Dr Nic

I dont think i'll say anything to anyone. Anything that you could say would more than likely come across wrong anyway, or else not be understood by a beginner...

Guess i'll just keep on practising my duck dives, get out the back more often, then there should be less idiots. I'll be the only idiot then lol

ratticus

It is odd how beginners are looked down upon so much, I realise that they (and by that I mean me :-) ) are a pain in the ass, we don't have the skill or knowledge yet to know exactly what to do but how do you expect us to learn if no one tells us? Surely all you experienced surfers were beginners at some point and someone must have helped you out just a little bit along the way?

Mickeroo

Lets try and keep it civil folks. And less bragging about trying to mortally wound people wouldn't go a miss either. Thanks.

promethius

not all beginners are the same, there are some who really make the effort, read up on how things work, ask questions, see what the better surfers are doing and do all of this themselves. they will f*ck up from time to time but that's always going to happen.

some of them however make no effort and rock up and just do whatever they want with no regard for anyone else. these are the people causing problems and the source of much of the angst on this thread

then there are good surfers who'd drop in on you anyways and just don't care!

everyone makes mistakes out there, i've dropped in plenty of times but always get off the wave and apologise afterwards. we all were beginners once.

but know that surfing injuries can be very very serious. eye injuries, bad gashes and concussions, be careful out there.

Cecil Mor

less bragging about trying to mortally wound people wouldn't go a miss either

Who's bragging?
And I've never inflicted a mortal wound upon another human being......YET!:p

not all beginners are the same, there are some who really make the effort, read up on how things work, ask questions, see what better surfers are doing and do all of this themselves. they will f*ck up from time to time but that's always going to happen.

some of them make no effort, rock up and do whatever they want with no regard for anyone else. these are the people causing problems

Agreed & agreed!!

A lot of this stems from crowds at various spots but especially crowds of people that don't have a clue how to behave, equally many of these are not really surfers but just folks on borrowed or rented boards/foamies.

However its those beginners or less skilled or possibility even idiots that head out to spots at which they clearly do not have the ability, knowledge or skill to handle themselves or the conditions.
I've no probs with beginners in the slightest but I am an adamant believer in Self Responsibility.
If someone puts themselves in a situation of danger, to themselves or to others, then it's their own fault not mine.

I ALWAYS try to surf 'round such people and have NEVER INTENTIONALLY ran anyone over.
Unfortunately I have accidentally busted one beginner on one occassion which is much to my regret.

If you look at many posts on this forum you'll see plenty of the "I've surfed six months on a foamie, can stand up so I'd rate myself as an intermediate yada yada...." equally, a standard response given to beginners with difficulty getting out the back is to try a reef instead.
This, and the promotion of many spots, contributes to having these guys in the way & out of their depth when they should be down the beach splashing in the white water learning the basics.

A friendly word or move is all you can do, it's not worth having a bad day over.

But try telling them that.... they're frickin' experts Brah!!:rolleyes:
I usually find it's ignored or greeted with silence for whatever reason...embarrassment, machismo, idiocy?? I don't know!
If they continue to sit there in the way ignoring or oblivious to me then I'll ignore them as best as I can but unfortunately I find that they'll take heed of the possibility of getting clobbered sooner than they will some friendly advice.

The best advice in dealing with obstacles, human or otherwise, in the way is to simply not look at them. This applies equally to surfing, mountain biking along trails or riding your motorcycle.
YOU WILL GO WHERE YOU LOOK!
Focus on an obstacle and that is where you'll end up heading, conversely if you focus upon the space/route between said obstacles then that's the route you'll go.

Yeah Cecil, you are obviously an asshole.
Beginners may not have the experience to know that were they are in a dangerous spot, but i suppose you were born knowing everything, right?
Try using me as a speedbump sometime and see how long you last.

I'm sure that'd be the prevalent opinion on this forum, but fortunately I don't give a Ratticus' Ass what a keyboard warriors think.
Beginners may not have the experience but common sense should prevail but like I said this seems not to be the most common of attributes among some,
equally they've put themselves in that dangerous spot and so should accept responsibility for their actions.
No, I don't know everything just what I do know, what I've learned being a beginner for over ten years and still with a world to learn.

Lastly, I never said I use others as speedbumps, that'd defeat the purpose surely? Fair play for recognizing yourself as a beginner but you'll learn that if you get properly clobbered by a longboard you will not be fit to go dishing out any beatdowns to guys in the lineup for quite some time.

tedshredsonfire

Sun is shining, Ocean is big.
http://youtu.be/WJTBPdVpdMc?t=30s

rodento

Cecil Mor wrote: »

Elaborate please Ratty?

This is more of an problem faced with someone learning to surf, surf etipette doesn't really cover/cater for biginners, as there is no real priority in white water

If you look at surf schools, most groups seem to have everyone trying to catch the same white water wave at the same time. With foam boards, this isn't really an issue. But as you have mentioned when someone learning has a longboard or point custom, accidents happen if the surge is strong enough.

On most beach breaks you should find areas that are less busy, these place's are usually further from the car park/coffee shop.

If a beach is to busy it isn't that hard to find another one with less crowds.

I just hate folk complaining about crowds when they are not arsed doing anything about it.

Ronnie Beck

As your surfing improve they get further away...

killedsirius

as someone who was a beginner and who did read up on the rules and didn't break them i get annoyed. BUT i also notice that I've been snaked several times by 'good' surfers. i've had clear priority and a set comes in and they just paddle right into my line. I can genuinely say that most beginners (not all) but most will be a bit embarassed when you point out the rules to them. But the 'good' snakes piss me off. I assume it's that they see my NSP and go well feck that a chick on an NSP i'm taking ALL the waves no matter what

rant over

slimgsi

ive found myself sometimes 'snaking' someone but unintentially, if the waves are coming in peaks and the person beside you isnt going to the proper point of the wave then il paddle accross them, im not sure if im wrong to do this? anyone elaborate?

killedsirius

happens us all accidentally , especially when the person next to you has a low percentage of catching waves. What im talking about is very different to someone doing it once accidentally. Usually it lasts a good deal of the session and I give up and paddle elsewhere to a different part of the break. I genuinely think it's a combo of the snake being an ahole and also seeing that im a chick on an NSP.

Low Pockets

It's all about the ability bingo.

linnanea

Low Pockets wrote: »

It's all about the ability bingo.

Even the best surfer can lose when risking ability bingo! Only way to be guaranteed winning is to surf alone.

promethius

slimgsi wrote: »

ive found myself sometimes 'snaking' someone but unintentially, if the waves are coming in peaks and the person beside you isnt going to the proper point of the wave then il paddle accross them, im not sure if im wrong to do this? anyone elaborate?

i'd do this aswell but only on the seaward side of them, ie it's a longer route than going straight across them which is bad form. only if they're out of position, it's not to snake them.

if you're on a longboard and cleaning up on your wave count, you got to let a few nice ones you could catch roll through for anyone else there.

reality is, if you're surfing you're going to get snaked, subtle ways to let someone know you can see what they're at, eye contact etc, they mostly know they're doing it and will ease up when they know someone's watching them.

god, it's complicated sometimes

Ronnie Beck

If they're snaking you all the time just drop in on them. That will stop them. I go by the rule that if you clearly paddle for the wave first its yours

Low Pockets

While the rest of the world goes with 1st to his feet...

ThOnda

ratticus wrote: »

...Beginners may not have the experience to know that were they are in a dangerous spot...

Amen to that. I am always terrified by others when I am in the water. That's why I am spending most of the time on wide beach breaks, like Enniscrone or Strandhill. Well, not to much recently, but I am working on getting cold and wet a bit more often this year. Be aware