Passing the Break

How to pass the break when surfing?

One of the most essential surfing techniques every surfer must master is to pass the break. Without passing the break, no surfing, at least no surfing of green waves, instead without successfully passing the break there is only frustration, danger, or white water waves for you to catch.

Duck Diving to pass the break

The best maneuver to pass the break is by duck diving below the turbulence of a wave. If done correctly, this will save you a lot of energy as you avoid getting hit by the wave’s energy from the opposite direction to paddling out. Going below the turbulence and kicking out behind the breaking wave also is essential for those bigger sets that almost in every session roll in on you every once in a while.

To be capable of duck diving successfully, you first must check if your surfboard is small enough to sink properly underwater. If you are surfing a surfboard that is too long/big and or has too much volume, duck diving might become challenging or even impossible. If the volume, and size of your surfboard are too much in relation to your body weight, you won’t be able to push it far enough under the wave and its turbulence. In addition, the nose of your surfboard design plays an important role. The rounder and wider, the more challenging to push it under the water and hence to duck dive successfully as the buoyancy it creates as an advantage when catching a wave can turn into a disadvantage for passing the break. For such boards too big and with too much volume, the turtle roll is the more suitable maneuver (read below).

How to pass the break on big surfboards?

Big boards are more impacted by crashing waves. For that reason, bigger boards require different techniques to get through the break with the right technique to get pushed back by a wave as less as possible.

Paddling out through a channel

In an ideal scenario, there is a channel (rip current) taking you out between breaking waves, which lets you paddle out without needing to perform any specific maneuver to pass the break. Unfortunately, in many real-world scenarios this is not possible or every time paddling a long way around breaking waves takes a lot of effort.

Push Through Technique

The Push Trough technique is the most efficient and easiest technique to pass through small broken or unbroken waves by pushing up your body of the board and letting the water run through in between your body and your surfboard.

The Turtle Roll

When the wave feels too big for the push-through technique, it is time for the turtle roll. Turn yourself and the board upside down, leave some space between you and your board, and make sure that your board is 90 degrees to the wave. If shifted, this might ruin your turtle roll and push your board out of your hands. When correctly positioned, let the wave run over you and you can push the nose of your board into the direction of the wave the moment it hits. Afterward, turn your board and get back up on it.

The Dive Under Technique

If none of the previous two maneuvers is an option because waves that are too big hit you, the last option left is the dive under technique, also known as bailing or ditching your board. Get off your board, dive under the wave, and let your board go. This option is basically no option in crowded lineups as it is a hazard to other surfers that are around you.