Here’s a YouTube video of Hawaiian great Leleo Kinemaka, and there’s lots to learn from it.  What I want to point out today is where Leleo often stands on his board during his take offs.  For most of us, it’s typically in the middle; check out 4min17sec for an example of Leleo doing this.

  But sometimes the middle is too far back: there’s not enuf weight far enuf foward to get the board sliding down the face of the wave.  In those instances, as Leleo does in this vid a number of times, you’ve got to paddle into the wave almost standing on the nose.  And then once you catch it, you’ve got to back pedal fast to keep from pearling.  Here are some relevant time spots to watch: 1min40, 2min15, 2min35, and especially 5min30.  Great Stuff!