The Perils of Pearling

Pearling sucks, let's face it. You put all this effort into paddling only to find yourself heading face-first in to a beat down. It's frustrating and it can be discouraging. For a beginning surfer, there are couple of things you can concentrate on to help reduce your pearling frequency:

If you pearl while getting to your feet you either waited too long to catch the wave (you're late) or your feet are positioned too far forward on your board. The latter is easy enough to figure out - make a conscious effort to stand further back on your board. You stand a better chance of keeping that nose from going south. If that doesn't work, then you're probably catching the wave too late for the size/capability of your board. You should try paddling out a bit further and catch it before the wave gets too steep. Maybe try laying a bit further forward on your board and giving the wave a try. By laying further forward on your board, you may notice a difference in how much further and faster your paddles get you. This is offset with the increased chance of pearling (since you're already more forward), however, you're trying to catch the wave further out so you'll hopefully be up and surfing prior to the wave becoming too steep and causing you to pearl.

Sometimes, you can pearl before you even attempt to get to your feet - you do it while you're still paddling. Most likely, you're waaaay too late. However, it could be that you're too far forward on your board as you paddle. Does the nose of your board go under? If so, back up a bit. You can also offset that problem by really arching your back and neck up so your chest is slightly off the board. That decreased weight on the front will allow the front of the board to come up a bit. Remember, if you're going to move forward on your board you need to be trying to catch the wave further out [sooner]. Otherwise, you could be setting yourself up for a pearl. It a feel thing, I guess.

"OK, the nose of my board isn't digging in to the wave...it's more me going over the front of the board and in to the blissful arms of a breaking wave." Well, you're just not getting that board moving fast enough. Concentrate on your paddling, make your strokes deliberate and also realize when it looks like you're missing that window of opportunity to make a smooth drop, sit back on your board and let the wave go under you - you missed it. No big deal.

Although I'm the last person that should be preaching this...pay attention to your surroundings. Little bits of information you gather as you experience wave and wipeout after wave and wipeout will build up in to a healthy knowledge base over time.