leggyblonde – I never used to be a fan of big waves and would stay on the beach whenever it got over 4ft. Yes, I am just a scummy bodyboarder…the lowest of the low (so stop reading now if that bothers you 😛 )
I found a great way to deal with it would be to paddle out in bigger surf and just sit and watch the waves as they broke, not paddling for any at all. I found it was actually less scary to be out at the back where the waves werent breaking then eventually confidence grew and I started to paddle into the bigger stuff, then again taking a few on the head and experiencing a few harsh hold downs might have had something to do with it 😆
Now I actively enjoy riding bigger waves and am just as happy in 8ft surf as I am in 2ft surf.
Try paddling out in increasingly big surf, find something just outside your comfort zone and then next time a little bigger and so on. It might be worth a try.