At one time or another, most of us have wanted to try surfing. A wave is rolling in, barrel-shaped, majestic, a wonder of nature. We spy inside the wave tube and see a surfer there, his arm extended, balancing on his surfboard as time seems to stand still. Hundreds of thousands of people are flocking to beaches and lakes for their turn at being on top of a breaking wave. Read on if you have the calling to go to the ocean to surf. Here are 11 incredible tips on surfing for beginners. Try these!
1. Paddling Is The Key To Being A Great Surfer
What most people who’ve never surfed think about is a surfer riding a wave perfectly until the wave breaks. But people rarely think about what happens before the surfer catches the wave.
It is estimated that 90% of the time, surfers are paddling to and from waves. Paddling and kicking, pushing up off the surfboard when the time comes, are strenuous physical activities. Surfing is physically demanding and competitive. The competition is the ocean and its waves.
Surfers who enjoy surfing the most are those who have these qualities.
- Surfers are exceptionally good swimmers. When you paddle on a surfboard, you lie flat on the board and your arms plunge into the water like oars in a boat. Paddling is what enables you to catch a wave.
- Paddling uses the muscles in your arms, shoulders, chest, legs, and core.
Your whole body is involved in surfing and paddling. The arms move in the water to propel us forward, helped along by the kicking of the legs. This activity is almost identical to freestyle swimming. The ability to move quickly and with power is the key to becoming a great surfer.
2. Swim A Lot When You’re Not Surfing
Get to a pool and swim. Start a regimen of 10 laps in a pool 75 feet in length (Olympic size) or under. Swim at least 4 times per week. I cannot give you a better surfing preparation tip than this!
The fastest swimmers, those who end up competing in the Olympic games, try to make their bodies as “small” as possible. By keeping hips square and the entire torso in contact with the water, and with minimal kicking, they allow the water to give them a minimum of resistance.
Water molecules are so powerful that they carve into a rock. If you’ve ever been to Arches National Park in Utah, you’ll have seen wonderful, awe-inspiring rock formations. For millions of years, water broke through solid rocks and left behind the famous arches you see there.
The right mindset is to not resist the power of water; you should surrender to it instead. The fastest swimmers aren’t fighting water; they are finding a passage through it and done right, the water will grant that passage.
When you swim freestyle, keep your eyes looking forward. Bend your torso to the arm that is moving under the water to the left, then move your head in the direction of the arm on the right. It is a gentle, fluid motion.
Keep your kicking to a minimum. The more you kick when you swim (or paddle), the slower you will go, because you are allowing the water to have more resistance against you.
Take time to go to the beach often without your surfboard and swim horizontally to the shoreline. The ocean is not calm and steady like a pool, so a combination of pool swimming (to build up your freestyle technique), and ocean swimming to get in tune with the ocean and its currents, you can become an excellent paddler in a short time.
3. Lying Prone On The Surfboard
Knowing how to lie on a surfboard is the key to paddling with speed. But before assuming the prone position, you should learn first how to sit on the board.
Sit on the surfboard in the center of the board with your feet dangling by the sides in the water.
From sitting, you are now going to change into a prone position. Here is the best way to lie your body on a surfboard.
- Lie flat on the board with your feet on the board as near to the tail as you can while making sure your feet remain on the board. On a longboard, this means that a man who is 6 feet tall will likely find his head at the direct center of the board. This part of the board has the most volume, meaning it’s the least likely spot where you can lose balance.
- To check, lift your legs off the board and extend your arms in the air on either side. You will feel a small amount of pressure in your core area (abdomen, sides of the torso and upper thighs). Feeling it here on the body means you’re balanced properly in the prone position on the board. You’re ready now to paddle.
4. Paddle With Your Chest And Head Off The Board.
Lift your head up when paddling so you can see all around you. There are other people in the water either swimming or surfing and you want to make sure you stay a good distance from them.
Move your arms from in front to behind you, one arm at a time. Your arms are pushing the water behind you, allowing you to move forward.
Keep your hands cupped to get the most out of our strokes. Reach in deep and pull the water back. Don’t slap the water because you’re going to get a lot more resistance.
As you approach a wave, paddle with both hands in the water at the same time to “sprint” faster.
5. Paddle To the Wave Lineup
The wave lineup is the place in the water where the waves are breaking. Paddle out about 8 to 12 yards past this point. Let the sets of waves pass, then situate your surfboard in the lull between the sets of waves. This area is known as the lineup.
6. Popping Up As The Wave Approaches
There are a couple of ways to pop up or push up, your body off the surfboard. This is done so you can move from paddling with your body lying on the board to standing up quickly on the board at just the moment when the wave catches your surfboard.
Place your hands on either side of the surfboard, as if you’re about to do a push up. Push your upper body up, then swing your feet underneath your body.
After you pop us, your body is situated with one foot in the center of the board and your back foot behind on the other side, about a shoulder-width apart. Your hips are sunk, and your knees are bent.
Your toes are approximately perpendicular to the board on the pop up, but you are still facing somewhat in a forward direction on the board. You’re about 75 to 80 degrees to the side of the board from where the wave is approaching.
Use your hands and upper body above your hips for balance. Remember to keep your hips sunk low above your bent knees. ‘
8. Popping Up To Our Knees First
Popping up onto the knees first follows these steps.
- Place your hands on the sides of your chest along the rails of the surfboard.
- Bring up your knees and press them down on the surfboard. You are now on all fours, your hands still in the same position at the beginning of the pop up.
- Bring your front foot forward. This will be the foot that, when you are fully standing, will be in front of the other foot. Keep your other knee on the surfboard.
- Remain in a compact position on the board with your body pressed into the leg of the front foot. It’s important to remain compact for balance so you won’t toss over into the water.
- Last, pull up the back knee and stand in the same [position as earlier when performing the complete pop up in one move.
- Your front foot is about at the center of the surfboard, your knees are bent, hips hanging low, and your arms extended however much they need to be to keep you balanced. Your back leg is behind the front, and front and back legs are shoulder width apart.
- Note that your front and back legs are straddling the board at about 60%. The front leg should be on the left of the board while the back leg is down and on the right.
8. How To Ride A Wave
Ride the peak of the wave, or, if someone is already there, ride far away from them on the shoulders of the wave. Remember that the person closest to the peak has the right of way. That means that the surfer at the peak can ride where he wishes on the wave all the way to the shore.
If you are riding the wave’s peak, the surfers on either side of you have to give way to you and follow you in. If you’re on the shoulder, wait and see what the peak surfer does before you make any moves.
When you ride waves, remember you’re not the only one out there, especially on days when the waves are hot. Surfing etiquette must be obeyed for everyone to have a good time.
9. Wipeouts Are Part Of Surfing
There is no way of getting around wipeouts, especially when you begin riding bigger waves that aren’t whitewater waves.
The important thing to remember is to remain calm. Panicking, like slapping the water when paddling, makes it a lot harder to get where you want to be.
You will be thrown under the water, even to the bottom of the sea. But don’t get anxious and try to remember these steps.
- Jump off the surfboard.
Remain calm, because when you do go under, you will have more available oxygen to get back safely to the surface.
As soon as you become aware you’re going to lose control of the surfboard, jump in the direction of the wave and away from your board. Jump as far away from your board as possible. Do not jump onto land; stay in the water and prevent serious injury.
- Try to Jump Butt First
Do a cannonball, the same as you would do in a swimming pool. When you bend your legs and draw them close to you, you’re preventing injury to not only your legs but your ankles too.
Remember that when you jump off, if you don’t go butt first, make sure you never go head first. Let another part of your body sustain the water’s impact. The last thing you want is to have a concussion and pass out under the surf.
- Always cover your head.
No matter what part of the body makes contact with the water first in a wipeout, make sure you cover your head. Wrap your arms around the sides of your head.
Let your body sink gracefully into the water. Recall we spoke about the strength of water molecules. Two phrases come to mind: “resistance is futile”, and “go with the flow.”
By letting your body go down in the depths as far as the thrust of the wave takes you will keep you safe. Don’t resist as you fall deeper your body’s sinking movement slows down dramatically.
Should you make contact with the ocean floor, it is going to be a soft landing. But it’s best to know the topography of the sea bed before you surf. All you need do is either ask the lifeguard on duty or other surfers. If neither is available, wade into the water and check it out for yourself. Common sense and knowing what you’re up against is the best way to surf.
- Be cautious when coming up from the bottom.
Come back up to the surface slowly and keep your head covered. It’s most important to remain calm. You are safer than you think even though you feel your lungs need oxygen.
But there may be surfers and swimmers above you, so you don’t want to collide and hurt yourself.
Rushing to the top causes more accidents than you may realize. Surfers on the water above don’t know and can’t see what is going on underneath them. Besides, they may be riding a wave and won’t be concentrating on what’s around them.
10. Surf In Whitewater First Before You Try Larger Barrel Waves
Whitewater waves are just what the name implies: they are waves that foam at the wave break and are generally smaller than other waves.
All beginner surfers start surfing on whitewater waves. When you are waiting for a whitewater eave break, make sure your board is perpendicular to the wave. If you don’t surf at 90 degrees to the wave, you’ll be pulled under and brought back to the shore.
11. Consider Investing In Surfing Lessons.
Surfing is never learned by watching videos. Surf how-to videos only speak in generalities, instead of being at the beach, like a surf instructor is.
Besides, there are so many variables that simply can’t be addressed in a video.
In a surfing lesson, the instructor will have you first practice your paddling technique on the sand. You’ll establish a rhythm that you can apply when you are in the water later on.
The instructor will also talk about the different kinds of waves, and you may experience those waves while you’re being instructed. Nothing is better than being told at the moment you’re there, how best to handle a wave.
Most surf instructors are experienced surfers themselves, and in places like Southern California, they’ll be a dearth of instructors, all with years of experience.
Get an instructor who you can communicate with well, who will listen to your questions with an open mind and can tailor the lesson to your individual needs.
Surfing is a transcendent experience. One moment you are paddling, then pushing up and riding along the crest of the wave at the slow or fast pace the wave determines for you.
Surfing releases endorphins which makes you feel emotions ranging from joy to deep inner peace. Adrenaline rushes occur all the time when you’re in a barrel wave and you accelerate just before tumbling into the sea.
We have a connection to the ocean; it is part of the natural environment. There is no better way to become as one with the sea, even if only for a short while. But the best part is that you can commune with the sea again and again.
Surfing takes the mind off troubles in life for a few hours. We are not bound to the land but on the water. There is nothing that quite compares to the release one feels when riding waves. We are just beginning to discover the true therapeutic value surfing gives us.
Starting is the hardest part. Get an instructor, stay in good health by swimming, biking, and running. Lift weights from time to time to build up your upper body. If you are in good physical shape then you’ll be able to tap into the full potential of the surfing experience.
