How do you pull into a barrel when surfing?

Question

I have been surfing now for about 6 years and comfortable in head high waves however am yet to get barrelled. I was wondering how easy it is to pull in to the green room and any tips when you are inside!!

Answer 1

Technical surfing questions usually get butchered in this site, because its hard to verbalize the steps necessary to accomplish a given maneuver.

First of all, you need a barrel. getting really tubed depends as much on the wave as it does on the surfer. If you get the right conditions, you have to slow down and make a clean line across the face of the wave. That's  easier riding forward than it is riding backside, but it can be done either way. Slowing down enough, and staying far enough away from the shoulder are key. However, there is no way I can TELL you how to do that. You have to be in the water and feeling it for yourself.

Answer 2

once you do it, you're not gonna want to stop, its the best feeling in the world, better than s*x. of course, you need to have good hollow waves, offshore winds. if the wave is decent, its not hard. you gotta make sure you know where you are on the wave pretty much the whole time. its hard to describe exactly how to do it.  watch a bunch of surfing videos, it helps. go to surfline.com, they have tons of videos.

Answer 3

Tom, you have been surfing for 6 years and your asking for tips to get barrelled. Wow. Mate, I think you should have been shacked by now or your not surfing the right waves.

Watch other people in the line up or dvd's - real close. Watch it in slow motion, rewind and watch it again, watch the take off and see how fast they are paddling for the wave, watch their feet positioning, look at their rail positioning, see if they drag their hand to slow down, watch if they take off straight into the pit or if they bottom turn and stall and when your getting in there keep your eye's as open as you can to negotiate a way out.

Barrells can be dangerous at any size so be carefull. Get used to getting smashed because a lot of barrells (unless surfing perfection) will out race you or close out - with you inside. Good barrells break in shallow water so make sure your well away from your board if you don't make it (and watch the reef too!!!)

A lot of variables to keep in mind. Many more than I've said. Watch, learn & do.

Answer 4

dropping into a barrel is very difficult, so often people get barreled by pulling into one. Pulling into a barrel involve stalling your speed either by turning, putting your hand in the wave or doing a wheelie/manual (sorry I don't know a better term).

Pulling in at just the right time involves great skill in "reading the wave". If you watch videos of Kelly Slater in France, you see that he is amazing at this. At just the right time, he will draw out a bottom turn and go right into a hollow spot. It takes great skill and experience to get to the level where you can just pull in like Kelly.

For staying in the barrel, you can see in videos of Damien Hobgood in Tahiti stalling with his hand in the wave. Damien has a unique way of shifting his weight in the barrel from his front to back foot to pump for speed. Also you may notice that good barrel riders pump with their ankles to maintain a steady position in a tight barrel while keeping and creating speed.

Ultimately, no one can tell you how to ride barrels, you have to just go out there and go for it. The hard part is finding the right conditions. Most perfect barrels are also very dangerous.