New surfers use soft top boards because it gives them many advantages over hard boards. When learning the fundamentals of surfing, a beginner doesn’t want the board to be an issue. Learning the fundamentals is hard enough. The advantages of a soft top with high volume over a hard board shorter than 8′ is that…
Physical conditioning and surfing go well together. Surfing often is conditioning in itself. Surfing infrequently needs out of water maintenance. Conditioning before learning to surf is helpful for new students. Surfing is more physical than all students expect. It is the paddling that requires the most effort. Swimmers are pretrained. Triathletes have most of the…
Learning surfing without lessons is very difficult and maybe impossible. I watch beginners cart their surf boards into the ocean and make frustrating attempts. They make lots of errors. First they don’t know which waves to catch. The majority are jumping in front of waves close to shore that can’t push the surfboard. They jump…
Seniors take surfing lessons and usually perform well. Age is functional more than chronological. The secret to longevity and a quality life is keep moving. Those who do aerobics, stretch, and maintain some body strength are good surf candidates. Surf lessons begin in shallow water so there is little threat of big waves or drowning….
The right age to begin surfing maybe anytime from 7 to 70. Surfing is physical and age is more functional than chronological. My oldest student was 77 and he was great. He had been a helicopter ski guide all his life. The important factor with young kids is that they are not intimidated by the…
Surf timing for catching real waves is important for intermediates advancing from riding foam waves. Learning the timing of real waves requires practice, watching surfers and watching videos. Improving wave catching ability in surfing is a life time pursuit. Once a person learns to surf, mastering the art of catching all kinds of waves is…