Are There Short Board Surf Lessons?

Mark
March 28, 2021
3:27 pm

I am asked are there short board surf lessons. It is really a good question. Lessons tend to run from teaching the basic fundamentals to beginners to advanced lessons for those who can ride shorter boards.

What happens to students in between? There is a slow progression from riding foam waves on a soft top board to riding real waves on a soft top board to then progressively moving to shorter boards and bigger real waves.

The Progression to Shorter Surf Boards

After beginners have mastered riding foam waves on soft top boards, the next step is to progress to paddling out to bigger foam waves and beginning the first small real waves. My short board surf lessons for students begins with teaching them the timing and working them through the courage necessary to catch real waves.

Why does it take courage to catch real waves? Foam waves arrive flat and there is a big window to catch them. A real wave forms in a few seconds and if you are not in the right position, it will crash on you or you will crash in the form of a pearl (nose under water).

Real waves move faster and tilt the nose of the board down. The pop up has to be smooth, confident and perfect. With the board moving faster as the arc of the wave accelerates the board, any missteps causes the board to lose stability quickly.

The real wave surfer first notices where waves are forming. Then they paddle to that area. Other surfers are often and indication, but they may pick different spots depending on the kind of board they are riding. When the wave begins to form, the surfer paddles to the spot where the wave will come under the board.

This is really the key to catching real waves. Start with a foam board and after a number of maneuvers are learned like bottom turns, cut backs, and accelerating, then the surfer can start to move to shorter boards 6 inches at a time maintaining the width and thickness of the soft tops.

A great first hard board move is the fun board at 7′ 6″ long at 21+” wide and 2 3/4″ thick. Learning on this board can last a long time before moving shorter. When you move shorter, paddling is more difficult, the arc of the wave has to be steeper, and popping up is less stable. If you don’t surf often, the move won’t be rewarding.

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