catch a wave

catch a wave (third-person singular simple present catches a wave, present participle catching a wave, simple past and past participle caught a wave)

1. (surfing) To mount one's surfboard at a distance from shore, turn it toward land, and control it for a successful, satisfying ride on inrushing water.
   • 1999 March 29, Nadya Labi, “Around the World in a Balloon in 20 Days”, in Time, retrieved 4 April 2020:

     Like surfers trying to catch a wave, balloonists try to ride jet streams.

   • 2015 May 10, Ondine Cohane, “A Small Child, a Big Board, on Oahu’s North Shore”, in New York Times, retrieved 4 April 2020:

     As anyone who has ever caught a wave on her own knows, surfing is a profound confidence booster.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) To derive benefit from a fortunate opportunity; to experience a sudden increase in energy or luck.
   • 1997 January 23, David Cay Johnston, “A Man Who Repaid His Debts”, in New York Times, retrieved 4 April 2020:

     The size of his fortune, he said, revealed only that "we caught a wave. We were lucky. We had more luck than we deserved."

   • 2015 November 8, Simon Briggs, “Andy Murray brushed aside by increasingly dominant Novak Djokovic in Paris Masters final”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 4 April 2020:

     He did have one brief spell in the second set when he seemed to catch a wave, pounding his backhand and winning 11 of 14 points.

• ride the wave