There are a good 5 steps to improve surfing performance. Surfing is highly technical and highly physical. It is a beautiful mix of necessary physical and mental skills. A professional surfer has become a finely honed specimen that has created the perfect body and mind for this challenging sport.
Beginners immediately realize the sport is more technical and tiring than they expected. There are attributes one can bring to the learning sessions that improve the chances of learning quickly. Lean is an advantage. 99% of the time, lean people outperform over weight people. At a point being overweight is also accompanied by a lack of flexibility and power to weight ratio (ability to lift a body off the surfboard for a pop up)
5 Good Steps for Surf Improvement
The greater the power to weight ratio, the easier the pop up, easier to balance on the board, and better oxygen uptake for stamina. This means that losing weight while building strength is a great combination. My books talk about losing weight on Get Fit to Surf. com and my new book is How to Lose 30 Pounds... Check where your weight places you on the Body Mass Index calculator used by the medical industry.
Getting stronger helps performance and comes to the surfers assistance when he gets tired. Iron Man competitors say their weight training saves them when they have burned their carbohydrates in a long endurance feat. The advantage of weight and aerobic training for strength is it causes the muscles to accept and absorb more glucose. Glucose fuels the muscles as they will also dine on fat and proteins. Then they begin to eat muscle.
Flexibility and fluidity are essential. Every muscle and joint must work smoothly to perfect surfing techniques. It is stretching like in yoga but it is also building strength in the core. Surfers need to be loose in the hamstrings, buttocks, and lower back. Three great exercises are burpies, squats, and dead lifts. They can be done without weights, but after time weights can be added for additional benefit. Pushups are fundamental for surf training.
Practicing surfing techniques improves the rate of learning. The first thing new people can do is practice pop ups in their living room. It is necessary that they know how to do one correctly. This will create surf specific muscles and improve fluidity in the water. The surfer should have an idea of what he wants to do next in the water. Then hit the resources. Watch video, read books, and watch other surfers perform what they want to do.
Perfect the Pop Up and Stance
The beginner pop up is initiated by paddling hard 3 times to get in front of the foam wave. Then the surfer puts his hands in a man’s push up position on the board. He pushes up and places one foot flat on the board under his butt. This is where flexibility is needed. As he stands on the foot, he raises his hands off the board. Crucial to get the hands up so they don’t block bringing the front foot to the nose. Then he places the front foot in the center of the board near the nose.
The proper stance is to have the feet shoulder width apart. Hips and shoulders have to be square to the front. You cannot have a hand trailing like snowboarders and skateboarders. Both hands in front. Weight equal on the front and back leg. Knees flexed. If the posture is correct, the surfer will go straight to the beach without any work necessary. The board is designed to go straight with the right stance.
Create consistency. The surfer wants to ride each wave, not one in five. Focus on the pop up sequence. Develop a daily routine that works on various aspects of improvement. This can’t be a once a week routine. There should be something surfers can do each day to improve their body’s ability to respond on demand. Professionals may spend as much time out of the water cross training as they do in the water surfing.
Learn How to Paddle
Paddling is the most tiring aspect of surfing and the technique used most. The surfer paddles to catch waves and then paddles back out to catch the next one. This is why a high volume board is great for beginners because the paddling is easier. The surfer wants to paddle with his forearms. He does not want to paddle only with his hands.
When the wave approaches, the surfer paddles easy to get momentum. Then as the wave is close (foam) or lifts the tail (real wave), the surfer paddles hard three times to catch the wave. Short strong strokes are best. If the surfer takes long swim strokes, he turns the board and the wave flips it. Paddling takes lots of strength. Most people will have to do exercises to improve their paddling performance.
How to Progress
After the beginner has learned to catch waves and ride to the beach without falling off the board, he can start paddling out to catch bigger foam waves. He paddles out through the foam by dipping the nose of the board under the foam lip and doing a push up so the wave passes under his chest and over the board. Then he turns 90 degrees to wait for the next foam wave.
Turning is best accomplished by pushing the water under the board with one arm and then paddling normal with the other. Turns should be accomplished with two strong pushes. As the new wave approaches, the surfer turns once more to face the beach. Then he begins to paddle for momentum and watches for the approaching wave by looking to the side. When it is three feet away, he paddles hard for a few strokes to get in front of it before beginning his pop up.
Catching Small Real Waves
Once the surfer can catch the foam waves, he can look for the small real waves that reform. These occur best on a sand bottom beach like in Oceanside as opposed to a reef. The surfer paddles out and turns looking for a small real wave to form. The timing is different. The surfer has to catch it as it arcs. If he sees it forming, he may have to paddle 8 to 10 times because a small real wave is harder to catch than a large one. He wants the bottom of the real wave to push him and as it arcs, he is doing his pop up.
Small waves can also be caught at the corners. The surfer paddles along parallel to the wave as it is unfolding in a pocket and lets it roll under his board. He is facing 45 degrees toward the beach and as the wave keeps getting closer to the beach. After he pops up, he continues at that 45 degree angle but now he is in the pocket of the wave until it dies.
Progress takes time. Have patience. Build strength. Improve the pop up.
Visit the Home Page for Surf Lessons
See my website GetFittoSurf.com
See my website HappinessandWorkLifeBalance.com
Learn More
Get the Learn to Surf Guide Course in Kindle, Paperback or Audio
A great 29 page course on the fundamentals of catching waves, doing beginner and advanced pop ups, riding real waves, how to do maneuvers on real waves, which surfboards to ride, and how to progress. Great for lesson preparation, after lesson review, or learning on your own.
Kindle price $2.99 on Amazon. Paperback price $6.95 on Amazon. Audio download price $7.95
Get Fit to Surf
A great guide to strength, flexibility, stamina, and leanness for surfing. Beginner strategies for getting stronger, more flexible, stronger cardiovascular system, and nutrition to lose weight. An improving surfer or one who wants to prepare must meet the whole body physical demands of surfing. Getting stronger improves ones ability to perform better.
Buy on Kindle for $5.99 or the Paperback for $7.99
Every Body Can Surf
To read a great book for getting in shape to surf or getting in better surfing shape, read my new book Overweight People Can Surf, a Health, Fitness, Nutrition, and Surfing Adventure
Description:
Get healthy and fit to surf or set a goal of surfing to improve weight, fitness, nutrition, and health. This guide by a surf instructor/health coach/personal trainer gives the short version of how to lose weight, get strong, build stamina, develop nutrition, and learn to surf. Surfing is a lifestyle enjoyed by millions and so is fitness. Fitness creates opportunities to enjoy life through lots of different kinds of recreation. No need to stand on the sidelines while others are having a great time. Start your program to health with easy steps and progress at your own pace. That is the secret to maintaining a lifestyle. Do it at your pace. This book will start you on the path.
Buy the E book on Amazon for $5.99
Buy the Paperback on Amazon for $7.99
Lose 30 Pounds and Get Fit
Description:
My newest book. Many people these days want to lose major weight. They want to get fit for recreation or to surf. They need to get healthy. Getting healthy often begins with losing a major amount of weight. This is not easy, but with the right routine it becomes easier. The body fights weight loss as a self-preservation mechanism, but it can be manipulated into complying. I have lost 50 pounds years ago and recently 35 pounds to get below my high school weight. It feels great. Weight loss may also be the key to reversing diseases and disorders. Doctors will tell patients to reverse diabetes, lose 25% of your body weight (varies). What people don’t learn from doctors is whether they have metabolic or mitochondrial disorders. Both lead to serious health issues and disease. This books discusses all of this to better inform you if you have health issues.
Buy the E book on Amazon Kindle for $5.99
Buy the paper back on Amazon $7.99
Seniors Get Fit to Surf
Description:
Seniors often ask if it is too late to learn to surf. Age is functional not chronological. If people have been exercising and maintaining body strength, surfing can be accomplished. If people have not been exercising, then getting in shape to surf could be a life changing move. Learn how to develop strength, flexibility, and stamina to learn surfing. If you are in surf shape, you could pursue most any recreation.
Buy the E-book on Amazon for $5.99
Buy the Paperback on Amazon for $7.99
