The Oreo Biscuit Take Off Technique - Catching Waves

Implement this one tiny change into your surfing.

The humble Oreo Biscuit can teach you how to effortlessly catch waves.

Here at Ombe, we're all about that high-performance gear...

Most surfers paddle into waves wrong, chin down, paddle hard, push the nose rocker down and hope gravity gives you a bit of speed to get up.

If I said this was fundamentally wrong, would you say I'm mad and close this?

What you need to know first

Firstly, we need to understand the power zones of the wave, where we can draw energy from the wave to generate speed. We have water moving up the wave as it hits the sand bar creating lift and at the top we have water being thrown back down from gravity, allowing us to create speed.

As a surfer, we want to tap into water that is moving up to create lift.
To do this, we need to tap into the bottom part of the wave. But how do we do this as we are paddling in to a wave? Simple, we lean on the back of the board and arching our backs. This puts pressure on the back half of the board which now opposes the water coming up the wave and this creates the lift.

Look at the oreo biscuit below as it's squeezed. By applying the weight at the back of the biscuit, all of the water is forced out the front and creates lift to the top biscuit. This is the same principle we are applying here.

So what do you think happens if we push the oreo biscuit from the front? All of the energy coming up the wave will pass us.

Putting it into effect

We've done a simple analysis of this effect with a board, small wave and weight thats on the back or the front. See if you can see the difference in effect.

What does it look like in reality?

Watch the comparison below between a learner and Clayton. Notice how little effort Clayton uses to catch the wave. Where as the learner is gung ho, head down, paddle hard but ultimately comes off.

How can you practice this?

There's two ways for you to practice.

Obviously, in the water, get out there, get wet and try it. Start just by doing what Clayton is doing, not even getting to his feet to feel the energy of the wave, understand that feeling. Long term, bring this into your land based training drills with your pop up. As you start to pop up, push up exactly as clayton does here before you move your feet.

👀 Read the full guide here -

[TheSchmuel]

I struggled for years until I was told to imagine myself as an Oreo biscuit.. I haven't missed a wave in 3 years since that moment.

[jackdoughty]

I am an intermediate longboard surfer, I experimented with this technique today in the surf. What I am feeling is that as soon as you feel the lift of the wave you lift up by arching back and focusing your weight into a single point on the board at your stomach/pelvic region. This sets up the glide and entry into the wave, a very nice feeling. I felt I had time to pop up. I had been trying to sink my board into the lift of the wave to get in front of it, as I was paddling. But this resulted in getting into the wave pretty late and having to quickly scramble to get into the side of the wave and down the line. Thanks for the tip. I think I am understanding what you are saying. Cheers from NZ.

[valeriejohnson]

Average "Joe" here (but female - a 66 year old frothing grom 😉) This technique may seem counterintuitive at first, but it really DOES work! Since learning it I have caught SO many more waves and even been able to ride shorter boards with lower volume. I struggle with my popup, the Oreo helps that too b/c it is much easier to get up from the arched back position than from weighting the front of your board with your chin down on the deck. 😉

[waldemarneto]

The technique works well but you need to position yourself like a pro surfer at the peak, as an intermediate surfer it's very hard for me to be exactly at the perfect spot all the time. Also I feel that this video shows a perfect wave as example but in real life we have to deal with many different waves which makes it much harder. It would be great to have more examples of this technique with different conditions and different people, like average joes, because experienced surfers make it seem easy. Love the content btw!

[MindSurf]

To reiterate what alot of people have said, it took me quite a while to get my head around this, but now i understand it it really has helped.

This only works in conjunction with positioning. You kind of want to be a bit further in, and take the wave a little steeper then you may be used to. You arch your back as it hits you and this both gives you lift lower down the face and also creates a stable platform to pop up on. So you're catching it later but can pop ealier.

If you find yourself too wide on the shoulder you will have to drop your head to the deck at the right time to get you in still.

[SandyMartinez]

i *always* keep my head down in my last 3 paddles, thinking that was the right technique, usually when I'm further on the shoulder of the wave, but I coudn't figure out why I'd nosedive in peaky-er sections, now I know why!!

[aussiert]

Lots of stressed people in the comments 🤣 and lots of experts with varying opinions, this technique is brilliant and that's how it should be done and most pros do it, not all I understand. It is a very efficient way to catch waves with little effort, whilst positioning is important, the technique is forgiving. Some people talking about mushy waves, same thing, it works just fine. Waves push you more efficiently from the back of the board and not under the board, gravity does the rest, is not just gravity like some experts in the comments are saying.

[victorm.]

I get it! It’s probably a more advanced technique. You have to have good wave energy sensitivity to understand.

[johnnymagee]

Longboarders have known about the back half of the board for years.

[michaelnissen]

Thanks that’s really helpful to understand!

[Dogface]

Never heard of an Oreo biscuit but I’m interested

[bobjohns]

Oh now I get it, biscuit is how you say cookie in britain

[mauifilms]

Brah… I’ve been surfing around the planet for decades and my home break is a world class outer island wave, but I’m not really sure if I understood any of that?

[AlexSwan]

This is basically a late takeoff in good conditions with good wave energy. The arching and shifting weight back is to put the brakes on. Yes it's efficient, very little paddling needed, but it certainly requires you to be in the perfect spot for it.

[BuzzLiteBeer]

Doesn't arching your back set your center of mass back on the board, leading to less speed? I've always caught more waves by putting my head down as the wave picks me up.

[Jllygiant]

How does that work for catching the bus then ?

[george]

How do you know when to lean back (by arching back like in the video) vs. forward (by kicking / pushing head down)?

[oliguayasebesteves]

My technique is more like a Doritos take off with a spicy flavour.

[calsurflance]

I just ruined a whole box of Oreos, and I still missed the wave. I must be doing it wrong!🤦‍♂️🏄‍♂️

[lovivelaverdure]

I don’t think you’re describing the physics accurately on this one brother. Although if you just like to catch waves late, then yeah you pretty much have to lean back and won’t have to paddle much. Maybe rename your video ‘how to not go over the handlebar when you’re positioned late’.