Once you start standing up all the way you will not have a problem! When I used to have tail deck pads on my short board I would always get a sore knee / rash from duck diving the first few surfs out of the full wettie. It will pass as your skin hardens up. Maybe go do a few paddles in the flat water (sounds boring I know) to get the hang of things. You will not be wasting yr time / efforts. It will also allow you to get the hang of yr stroke and will result in less paddle bangs on yr rails. 2 lots of 30 mins should have you in a much better space. You will also quickly learn where the sweet spot on yr board is. You should be able to paddle into almost any wave on a 9'5" - we have one and it catches almost anything with some effort!!!

hairybear01 said...

Is vasoline any good.

There are so many things that could be said!! My advice is try it and see - you might get a thrill out of just putting it on even if it doesn't help

my ye ol mum put me onto this crap called "SALVE" that is great for pain relief and the healing of your sand paper wounds

comes in a tin that looks like gumboot polish

it probably is just out of date gumboot polish that has just been relabeled

but it works

sounds like you need to do some more work in the flat water paying your dues to get your standing up balance and chops down

over time you'll build up some calais's and be shredding water not skin

rock on