Getting barreled in bodyboarding: maximizing tube time is key to success | Photo: Jarvis Gray/Shutterstock

Getting barreled is probably the ultimate bodyboarder's dream. Just like surfing, tube riding is an advanced technique.

Although sometimes it seems easy and simple, finding the barrel and coming out of it requires training and wave knowledge.

If you're lucky enough, you may avoid the guillotine in the first few attempts.

Deep and heavy barrels are a huge challenge, even for professional riders. So, the best way to start is by catching those smaller waves that occasionally barrel in low tide conditions.

Unlike surfers, who need an open pipe, bodyboarders don't need much to get barreled and enjoy tube time.

You can start training in a few closeout waves before negotiating the fast and hollow tubes of your local surf break.

Getting Barreled 101

Here's how to become a barrel master and maximize tube time on a bodyboard:

  1. Find a barreling wave;
  2. Paddle hard to get into the wave;
  3. Use the nose of the board, legs, and fins to manage timings, i.e., to speed up or slow down;
  4. Use your inside hand to pull the board's rail into the face of the wave;
  5. Let the lip of the wave cover you up;
  6. Stay high on the face of the wave because if you ride on the lowest part of the wave, you will get pounded by the liquid chandeliers;
  7. Hold tight, and adjust the speed inside the barrel without getting caught by the foam ball;
  8. Keep your eyes on the exit;
  9. Move up on the face of the wave;
  10. Exit the barrel when the wave is closing out;

In the end, after being spat out of the pit, and if the wave permits, you can always finish your ride in grand style with an exquisite el rollo, backflip, or ARS.

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