Okay, I don’t know about anyone else, but for quite a while when I was learning I thought I had perfected my bottom turn. I would paddle on at an angle, get up and would do the most ridiculous large bottom turn, I would basically pull off a U-shaped turn, I thought I was killing it, but in reality, my waves lasted less than a second. After discovering that I was actually "kooking" and didn't fully understand how to read the wave. I did a little research on the type of waves and how to identify them, allowing me to stay in the sweet spot throughout my surfing session. I was able to stay on the wave and not turn off by correctly being able to read the wave and locate the peaks of the wave and keeping my eyes on it.This is a lot easier on your backhand, as you’re able to keep your eyes on the peak and stay in the pocket.
Once you are positioned correctly you will know where to look and paddle over to in order to catch the waves. It is not as easy if your on your forehand I found on my forehand it was easier if I didn’t attempt to do a deep bottom turn. Instead, if you simply angle your board while paddling and don’t try to cut directly down the face of the wave, it’ll be easier for you to scoot down the line. After plenty of trial and error waves, you will get the knack of it as you identify what good waves are and it’ll turn out to be easier than you thought. Learning how to read the wave will allow you to catch better waves, have far less wipeouts and allow you to make the most of your time during a surfing session.