Beginner Surf Lesson in Oceanside
Beginner surf lessons in Oceanside can ensure a new surfer develops the correct techniques and habits to practice on their own. Surfing is not an easy sport to learn on your own and most people cannot. It is a series of specific steps involving rhythm and timing that have to be taught.
Surf lessons begin with a short dry land lesson to discuss safety and then the necessary steps to ride the board in the ocean. I give students a count that helps them through the sequence and ask them to say it outloud in the water to override the instructions from the brain. The brain gives all the wrong cues.
Learning to surf begins with getting on the surfboard correctly. Beginner surfers start in waist deep water and ride foam waves to the beach. They hold the board with the top facing their chest and then roll over so their feet are always at the very back. Their weight has to be set on the board so it balances and they have to be straight as a pencil.
I push beginners into the foam waves to start and after they start to get it, I have them catch waves on their own. If they are proficient, they can then start to paddle out through the foam waves to turn around and catch bigger waves.
The count I give students begins with paddle. The student paddles 3 or 4 times real hard. Then they put their hands on the surfboard in a man’s push up position and glide for 3 counts. Then they push up and bring one foot close to their hands, as flexibility allows, and put it flat on the board so they can stand on it and it will support their weight for a few seconds.
Standing on the back foot, they raise their hands off the board to allow the other foot to go in front of their body. Most students want to hand on until both feet are on the board, but this blocks the front foot. They wind up with both feet behind their hands and fall off the back as the nose of the board rises in the air.
Once the surfer is standing, they want both hands in front so their hips and shoulders are square to the beach. I caution surfers not to ride with one hand trailing like snowboarders and skateboarders. That style doesn’t work surfing.
Surfing is easy and fun if you learn the right techniques from the start. It is difficult and frustrating if you do not know what you are doing.
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