I have a somewhat embarrassing popup question.
I started surfing in the 80s, stopped in the 00s and then started prone/foildrive 18 months ago.
For all this time the keys that I knew to catching a wave were positioning and paddle speed. These days I’m generally riding small wind-slop in 20-30 knots so it’s pretty hideous and learning progress is slow.
A couple of weeks ago, after years of trawling through pop-up clips looking for inspiration, I found a video on using the cork-rebound for no-paddle takeoffs on longboards. Whaaaat?
I’ve since used it on my Amos Sultan Prone 55 litre/5’0”, and my Amundson 33 litre/4’8” and it works amazingly well. I’m squirted into wind-slop and small ground-swell ridiculously easily.
I’m amazed that I’ve never noticed it in the countless pop-up video clips.
I’m also surprised that i can’t identify it being used in videos by surfers who know what they’re doing. What I see them using is positioning and paddle speed, whether in good waves or not.
I feel like an idiot for having missed this. Does it have any application in decent waves or is it just a wind-slop thing?