(experienced body boarder/body surfer, novice actual surfer ;-) I think the point is that, regardless of which wave you decide to catch, whether it be the firs

(experienced body boarder/body surfer, novice actual surfer ;-) I think the point is that, regardless of which wave you decide to catch, whether it be the first or second one, at some point to need to sync-up. If you miss the first one, then you still have to speed up or you're going to miss the second one too. There's definitely an optimal timing that takes the minimum amount of energy to accelerate and synchronize with the "sweet spot" of the wave; beginners need to paddle early and paddle hard, whereas an expert has a better feel for it and will exploit his or her experience with the timing to expend less effort catching a wave. When you surf, paddling up to speed and the timing will make or break catching a particular wave - which is very important is the "good waves" are rarer. With an acoustic loop, it's may be more predictable, but you still probably want to get it right the first time, while you're still in the main accelerator section of the tube.