The day has finally come. With much anticipation, you’re about to go to your first surfing lesson. The lesson opens another dimension of enjoyment of the ocean. The instructor, from his or her years of experience surfing the waves, will talk about surfing and how great it is to paddle, stand, then cruise along the top of waves. First-timers at surfing, like the pros, dress accordingly for the singular experience of surfing.
So, what should you wear to your first surf lesson? Women wear a bathing suit, and men wear board shorts and a t-shirt. Everyone brings a towel and wetsuit to the first lesson in case the water temperature is cold. Bring a bag for storage
Is It Okay For Me To Wear My Necklace Or Rings?
Don’t bring any jewelry, because you don’t know what will happen once you are in the water. You can lose items that are precious to you, like jewelry, so just don’t wear it to your first surf lesson.
Here are some other items men and women should leave at home before their first surf lesson.
- Goggles. You won’t be doing underwater swimming or deep-sea diving. You will only misplace them, or they will be a nuisance to carry around
- Action Cameras. A surfing lesson isn’t the time to film yourself or others on the surf, even if you think it’s a great idea. Save any filming until you’ve got more experience. Don’t bring your phone to take pictures either.
- Glasses. Expect to take a few tumbles in the ocean when you wipeout off the surfboard. Even if you have a wraparound band for your glasses, don’t take the chance. If you have poor vision without your glasses, don’t worry. You will be able to see well enough to surf out on the ocean. Wear them when you’re on the sand, practicing paddling and pop ups. Put them in a bag before you take your board out and get in the water.
- Watches. There’s no need to keep track of time in the lesson. The instructors have other things to do, too. He or she likely will stick to the time reserved, and maybe stay later to answer questions.
What’s The Best Surfing Clothes For Women To Wear?
Women are advised to wear one-piece bathing suits or board shorts, rather than a 2-piece bathing suit, bikini, or thongs. You’ll want to learn how to surf first, without the embarrassment of having your bikini fall off when you crash under an unexpected wave. Make sure the bathing suit has solid straps to keep everything in place.
If you have a bikini top that keeps you snug and tight, you can wear it with a pair of board shorts. These are perfect when the weather is warm, and you want to be comfortable in the water. Women’s board shorts come in a front tie and side-tie designs.
Women can now wear surf leggings instead of shorts if they wish. The leggings are made of neoprene rubber, just like a wetsuit is, so they even have more functions. You can wear the leggings with a wetsuit vest or jacket instead of the complete wetsuit. They come in several attractive designs.
Women also have the option to buy surf suits that come complete with elbow rash guards. A guard is a critical item to wear, especially over the elbows and knees, to prevent scrapes when you slide on the sand after a wave deposits you on the beach.
Women should also bring bottled water, contact lenses if you have very poor vision, sunscreen lotion, and a towel. If you can forego the contacts, then leave them behind with your glasses.
How Should A Man Dress For The First Surf Lesson?
Men should come prepared by bringing a towel, sunscreen, bottled water, contact lenses, and a beach bag to put all these items in. As mentioned earlier, if you can surf without perfect vision, and your eyes aren’t so bad you need your lens size minimized, then leave the contacts behind as well. There’s a chance you can lose them, as many surfers have done.
Men typically wear board shorts. They’re like a bathing suit with the support weaving inside, but you should also wear briefs or something like a speedo to keep you snug. Baggy surfing trunks bunch up under a wetsuit. You can expect to have a decent workout, so it’s best not to get injured in places that are extra sensitive to pain.
What Can I Expect To Happen At The First Surfing Lesson?
In many ways, you’ll find surfing is a lot easier than you thought. Once you’re out in the water, your instructor will have you practice riding on whitewater, which is smaller, foaming waves that will teach you how to stay balanced on the board.
Surfing instructors, in general, want to create in you a love for surfing. It won’t be like a military drill. Surfing is a sport, yes, and a tough sport in many ways since it is challenging and sometimes hard. But surfing is all about being out in the water, in your zone, allowing you to forget the stresses of life. Even better, surfing will help you find a new way to cope with stress and anxiety. If you suffer from mild depressions, there is no better remedy than taking your board out into the sea and feeling the ocean surround you and lift your spirits.
You will learn how to paddle, one of the most important things you do when surfing. Most of the time you spend surfing is taken up with paddling. As a wave approaches, you’re paddling towards it. You’re paddling and kicking and getting ready to stand up and ride. It takes a while, beyond your first lesson, to get your timing down, and to know exactly when to pop up and let the wave pull the nose of your board into it.
After paddling, you’ll learn how to pop up off the surfboard. Pop ups are when you thrust off the board from a lying down, paddling position, to standing up on the board. You’ll learn mostly, where to place your feet when you stand up, something that’s critically important that prevents you from falling off to the side. Here you’ll develop muscle memory so after a few tries, you can rely on your body to know how to stand on the board the right way.
The sequence you will learn is paddling followed by pushing off the board, and finally standing in place on the board with the correct stance and position of the feet.
If this sounds like intense physical activity, you’d be right. Surfing is physically challenging. Anyone can learn to surf at any age, but you should be in a physically fit condition to do it. Surfing takes a lot of stamina more than anything else, so it’
S not a bad idea to swim, run, or ride a bike in the days preceding your first lesson. Most physical activities require some time for your mind and body to adjust to make the precision movements surfing requires and to get the timing down. Surfing is all about timing when a quarter of a second can make the difference between riding the wave and letting it pass by you.
Know that you will be physically aching the day after your lesson. Surfing involves more muscles than you realized – until they start to ache the next day. You’ll be sore but energized. Because surfing causes the brain to release endorphins and adrenaline at such elevated levels that it can become a healthy, life-fulfilling addiction.
What body parts can get rashes from surfing?
For the first time, you’ll be paddling and jumping up on a surfboard. Surfboards are waxed before you go out into the water. Surf wax, by design, is sticky, meant to keep your feet in place when standing, and prevent you from slipping off the board when paddling or kneeling.
Our bellies are covered in sensitive skin to begin with, and it often happens that rashes develop on the abdomen, and the knees and arms.
Sunblock is key to prevent the sunburn that occurs in a combination of water and the sun’s UV rays. The water magnified the UV rays, so you can get a deeper sunburn in the water than you can by sunbathing on the beach. Make sure to bring your sunblock, even if it looks overcast. UV rays still get through the cloud cover.
Related Questions
Is It Hard To Learn To Surf?
Surfing has a comparatively smooth learning curve when compared to learning to play baseball or basketball. Within a short period, you’ll be out in the water on your own. This is the time to learn your timing, and the best way is trial and error.
How Long Does It Take To Become A Great Surfer?
It doesn’t take long to start to surf and balance yourself on the surfboard. But the learning curve flattens somewhere between knowing how to ride and knowing how to be the best at riding. Like learning the guitar, at first, you can play chords, but with practice and determination, you can play melodies and know how to make the guitar sing.
What’s The Best Advice About Learning To Surf?
The best way to get the knack of surfing is to get up and ride every wave you catch. More riding means better muscle memory. This is why it seems second nature when you watch the pros surf. The skill is completely in the body to the point where they barely have to think about what to do.