Learning short board surfing maneuvers can begin with intermediate surfers after they have learned to catch real waves. The maneuvers help surfers ride and enjoy the waves. The most important are the bottom turn, accelerating, and the cut back. With these three as the basics, surfers can move on to add other techniques. It is…
Surfing the shortboard is culmination of learning fundamentals and advancing to master them. Beginners start with high volume soft tops as they learn to ride foam waves. Then they progress to paddling out to larger foam and then real waves. The progressing surfer notices that three things begin to change as the boards get shorter….
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…
How fast beginner surfers progress is a function of several factors. There is no doubt physical aspects of size and condition are factors. Second is ability to learn. A third criteria is courage. Physical Nature of Surfing Surfing is one of the most physical recreational sports. Therefore those who have BMI’s (body mass index) of…
Taking the first lesson is often fulfilling an item on the bucket list and starting a life long adventure. Surfing is great exercise, physically challenging, a connection to Nature, and lots of fun. Some physical capabilities are helpful. Surfing uses the upper body so the ability to do pushups is helpful. Flexibility is crucial especially…