How To: Chopes

It’s safe to say Teahupoo hasn’t showed its true colours throughout the duration of the Billabong Pro. In past years, the trials have turned on and scared the pants off most World Tour competitors but the main event kicks off though, the waves disappear and are nowhere to be found. This year is no different. A fair amount of heats have been won by head-dips followed by a handful of turns. Teahupoo actually looks playful and very distant from the evil monster that we have come to know and love. You reckon you could tackle playful Chopes? Well, over the last few days you probably could’ve. To give you a few handy pointers and help with improve your mind-surfing ability, we gave two-times trial contestant, Damian ‘Dom’ Wills a quick call.

Conditions – When Chopes reaches eight to ten feet, it really starts to come alive. Anything less is not real Chopes and things are too easy. If it’s your first couple of times out there, you certainly don’t want to surf it when it’s solid. When it reaches ten feet plus, you can really start to test yourself on how you think you can paddle into the wave. There’s a grey area where the swell can quickly turn into a tow swell. It’s almost impossible to paddle into 15-20 footers. Teahupoo breaks on all different kinds of swell but a south-west swell is the best. If there’s too much west in the swell, the end bowl closes out too quick and they are impossible to make.

Sit too deep and you won’t make the barrel. Sit too wide and you won’t catch a wave. Simple.

Pic: Courtesy of the ASP.

Equipment – Just like most big wave spots, you will want a bigger board. Sometimes it’s a give and take thing though, the longer board you have, the earlier you can catch the waves. With a smaller board, you can manoeuvre in the barrel a lot easier but have to get right underneath the lip for the late takeoff. I think taking off late and just pulling underneath the lip is way more fun than getting into them early. The biggest barrel I’ve ever caught out there was on 6’4 and it felt sick. The take off was still super scary though.

Sitting in the line-up – Finding your position isn’t too hard if the swell direction is consistent. There’s a really deep-water channel right next to the break so you can gauge how deep you are off that. It all depends on how deep you want to sit though. On a south swell, you can sit further up the point and get a long barrel, whereas you need to sit closer to the channel on a west swell.

Teahupoo looking easy. Add a few extra feet on top of this wave and it’s certainly not.

Pic: Courtesy of the ASP

Take off – The take-offs at Chopes can vary from really steep and scary to nice and easy. You’re best off always being prepared for a steep and almost slabby take off. You’ve got to really paddle hard and commit because if there’s that slight hesitation, it will catch you off guard and you can easily go for a trip over the falls.

Picking the right line – After you’ve dealt with making the take off, it’s now time to set up for the barrel. You want to set up your bottom turn, so you can pick the right line. The right line at Teahupoo is usually a high one. More often than not you’re going to be riding on the foam ball and tucking up high and holding on. You’ll need to pump through some sections depending on the direction of the swell. Once you spot the exit you need to negotiate the spit. It certainly can be pretty intense because of the power of the wave. To get ready for the spit, put wait on back foot to help you stay centred over your board. You’ll find it’ll push you forward and out into the channel. It’d be much easier if you were on your backhand holding your rail.

Falling off – If you do fall when it’s big it’s best to get washed into the lagoon in front of the wave, even if that means taking your legrope off to save yourself. You really don’t want to get stuck in the back and forth motion of getting sucked into the channel then back into the impact zone. It’s like a washing machine sometimes and you can get stuck in the one spot. The best way to dodge this is to take your leggie off and try body bash a smaller wave into the lagoon. The reef inside isn’t razor sharp like where the wave breaks. If you wall directly from the take off, you want to starfish, which means making your body as flat as possible in the shape of a star. It’s your best bet against hitting the bottom and getting cut up.

Tags: Damian Wills