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Surfline's Nick Carroll cuts to the chase:

There's something about the way you've written this question that presses WK's alarm buttons.

Nobody just "starts big wave surfing". For most people who've developed their surfing skills in waves over 15 feet (WK's arbitrary definition of "big"), these skills grow organically out of their experiences in smaller waves of all kinds; very few of 'em would split their surfing lives into times when they've been "small wave surfers" and "big wave surfers".

Rather, they'd consider themselves simply surfers who've gained experience in small and large waves, and they see surprisingly little difference between the two forms.

The fact that you've consciously separated "big wave surfing" from surfing in general suggests to WK that you've still got some ways to go before charging off into Big Wave Land.

This leads us to a training suggestion: get out there and surf your brains out for a few years in any kind of surf you can find, and see where it takes you.

Truly, that's the best advice we can provide.

See the Who Knows Archive for more specific technique answers.