Stand Here, Stupid!

Believe it or not, that's what I think I'll have put on my next longboard. I was thinking I'd have the shaper paint an arrow on the front third of the board. The arrow would end at the nose. Underneath it would be the reminder to "Stand Here, Stupid!" For some reason, I forget to work on my cross-stepping when the time is right. When that good swell hit Sunset a few weeks ago, I caught so many beautiful waves. These were waves that held up and allowed me to stay perched at the top of the wave all the way down the line. What should I have been doing on at least one of them? Walking to the nose. But I forgot. I get so caught up in the moment, in the beauty of the ride, that my brain shuts down. Once the ride is done and I paddle back out, I remember that I could have probably walked right up to the nose and stood there . . . forever. I came close to hanging ten about a week ago at my home break with the shitty, dumpy, closed out waves. I caught a wave that was so weak that the board didn't want to drop into it. So, I took a step forward. Then another. And then another. Before I knew it, I was literally at the nose, with my toes at the edge of the board, jumping up and down in an effort to send the board into the wave. I was so preoccupied with trying to get the board to drop into the wave that I didn't notice I'd done a noseride. Therefore, that ride didn't count. It only counts if I plan to do it and then execute it (with or without perfection). Longboarding is no joke. It's hard. I still can't kick out. The breaks are usually so crowded that I'm hesitant to go leashless. And when I do go without a leash, I end up swimming a lot. Sometimes I want to find a break where I can surf with abandon. I feel like that's the only way I'll have the chance to learn to control the board at the end of the ride. I mean, you're only going to do so much swimming before you decide you've had enough. But out here, it's too crowded for that, even during the week. I want to get better, but not at the expense of someone getting hurt by my wayward log. So I'll just keep at it, trying to remind myself to go for the nose and to kick out at the right time.