How to Do A Midlength Duckdive

Duckdiving made clear for people riding 7'6"s and below. Here I'm duckdiving a 7'6" and a 6'6" respectively. Legs over the tail. Legs over the tail. Legs over the tail. It's a misconception that you push the board down with your arms. This is, at the end of the day, a lower body move.

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[retribution]

People make duck diving look easy but ive never mastered it. I always ditch the board and swim under the wave. It works every time. This video is very helpful and i will try your techniques next time. Thx

[enoksrd]

Really appreciate your "slow motion + commentary" content. When I watch videos of people surfing at regular speed, I miss a lot of the fine points, that I don't have time to notice and that the narrator doesn't have time to mention.

[jimmccarley]

I have had some success diving my Takayama egg, but not too deep. Now, I will practice lower body control while waiting. This is a very cool insight. Thanks.

[MikeStrip]

Great video! Another thing I’ve noticed from years of surfing is the longer the board the more time it takes to get the board down. Great suggestion on the knee thing never thought about that. My favorite board is a 5”0 26L, I’m 167 lbs. For some reason my 28L epoxy 5”10 board just feels very hard on diving deep consistently.

[troynichols]

Great vid - slo mo & commentary. Well done. I debate on whether the dive or turtle roll is better for me personally - but since the roll is guaranteed to kill the forward momentum (and takes so much damn energy to get back up and on the board) I'm going with the dive for now and trying to get really goo at it, so I appreciate the vid. I'm 5'9", 165 lbs and ride a 7'6" CI Mid @ 52L so it's not easy getting it deep enoughf but I found a little trick that works for me and just wanted to share. I find a kind of '2 stage' dive works pretty good -- it's obviously not a John-John level 2 stage dive, but I focus heavily on the nose and sinking it just a tad more during the stab forward. So, after initially sinking the nose like normal, when I press down the tail instead of 'leveling the board' and stabbing it forward like a normal dive, I stab the nose down just a tad again, like a 2nd dive, and obviously not as steep of an angle like the first time, but NOT level ... just a tad below the level plane. It seems to help get me just that tab bit further under the wave's energy into cleaner water which is really needed b/c I wasn't deep to begin with. Then, when the wave's white water / cylinder / energy inevitably rolls over me and pushes the tail of the board down it's as though it's leveling the board for me b/c the board was slightly pointed down from the 2nd stage of the dive. As the wave's main energy vortex has now rolled over me, I'm leveled out, I'm deeper than I would have been w/out this little trick and I typically get a little boost "kick out" from the wave's cylinder and slightly pushes me out farther as I come back up. The key is taking a little more time in the beginning to sink the nose as far as possible, so I have to start the dive earlier than normal. But, if I can time the initial dive right, then that 2nd little dive/stab makes a world of difference. When it works, it works fantastic.

[theeskatelife]

A duck dive like that would probably only work for waves 3 ft and below

[a.f.m.]

This is great content - much appreciation for these insights

[reubenmcvey]

This is pretty unrelated but I recently bought a second hand board, it’s a 6’11 x 20 inches and has a pretty thin pointed nose and a fish tail, is this considered a midlength or a gun surfboard and will it surf in smaller waves??

[aussiert]

Duck diving will work if you are using a board that for every litre x 2kg of body weight, 80kg person can duck dive a 40 litres board no problem, my fish is 39.7 litres, I am 90kg and duck dive it no problems on any size I am brave enough to go out on 👍🏻 don’t forget that buoyancy is different in a pool than in the ocean. So you may be able to duck dive in a pool but not as effectively in the ocean.

[reubenmcvey]

What was the dimensions of the first board? Can you use it in smaller waves?

[DJ_JMIZZEL]

Never thought about shifting my weight back to my feet during the duck dive. Something new to work on.

[elliotmartinat]

Exited to try this whith my 5, 4 foam bozrd

[w.coast_piano]

My excuse is always I’m 140lb and I ride a 7, 8 with 41 liters. I don’t have a excuse anymore ):

[davide]

Hi, thank you for this video, indeed very helpful. What volumes are your two boards?

[reubenmcvey]

This is pretty unrelated but I really want an answer, I have a 6’11 x 20 inches with a pretty thin pointed nose and a fish tail, is this considered
A midlength or more of a gun, and could I surf it in smaller waves?

[rdance]

I just bought a 7'8" Aipa Big Boy. It has 71L of volume. Do you think you can duck dive this? I'm 59 and tried to paddle out during Hurrican Ernesto and decided it was too much for me.

[gregn]

I’m goofy footed, so obviously my leash is on my left. However, when duck diving it feels natural to push the board down with my right knee/foot, and kick left leg (with the leash) up. Is this incorrect? Like will the wave catch the leash and pull me back?

[sweet-sinner]

hey! would you duckdive with that7'6 in big white waters?

[brian]

How many litres in that 6'6"? We're similar weights.

[centralfloridafishingsourc]

Or, you weigh 230 lbs and just simply duck dive it like you would any short board