Hey Seabreezers,

I would like to be less of a kook at positioning myself in the right spot to catch left hand waves and I am a goofy footer, I have developed the habit of always paddling to the right to turn around to catch the wave in order to not get be caught in too deep and taken out by a wall of white water which I call being caught north of the wall (Game of Thrones analogy). Where I surf the natural footers seem to be able to catch them with greater ease using this approach. I am wondering how other goofy footers catch left handers? Prepared to do some retraining/training to improve this.

Shared thoughts and advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

cantSUPenough said..
I am not a goofy (but catch lots of lefts when rights aren't on offer), but can you paddle well on your left hand side, or are you strongest on the right?

Hi cant SUPenough, I am strongest on my left side so paddling on my right feels more awkward catching a wave and I feel the need to change my paddle to the left.

Tardy said..
I'm a goofy foot ,i turn left onto the wave and paddle on the left side

Thanks Tardy. I have been thinking that this is the most simple solution as I ponder on it today

stevehicks63 said..
I start by facing the wave, paddle on the left bringing the board around in a tight arc. That way you're always watching the wave approaching.

Thanks. it sounds like I need to change my approach to this.

Souwester said..
Going backhand wether you are natural or goofy is tricky IMO. I have found paddling towards and away from the wave depends on the crowd, the nature of the wave and just generally where you are when the wave comes. Have had wins and losses both ways just takes practice and trial and error. I had a session on my backhand today where paddling towards the peak and swinging it around worked well, I know the same wave when bigger and more crowded would mean it's best to position myself a little deeper, be further out and paddle away from the peak.

Thanks Souwester. You have given me a few things for me to think about when assessing what might be the best approach.