Beginner Surfers Have to Get Past Instincts to make progress. Instincts are one of the causes for beginners trying on their own are rarely successful. The techniques of surfing would be mysterious to anyone not taught the correct process.
Every beginner says surfing is more technical than they expected and more difficult than they anticipated. It is partially proven by the number of over weight and unfit people who try because they think it would be fun. It is fun, but surfers are highly fit and capable of coordination between brain and body. People who have been sedentary would need to train to get surfing fit and their body ready to learn.
What Do Beginners Get Wrong
Beginners have incorrect instincts about several aspects. They don’t know how to paddle, They all place their hands incorrectly after catching waves. They don’t realize the pop up is a process that lands the body in the correct stance every time. They don’t understand the timing of catching waves. Even after taking the dry land lesson and having all this information explained and demonstrated and practiced, they do all the above incorrectly.
They make the mistakes because when they get in the water their mind goes blank and they rely on instincts. All their instincts are wrong. I explain in lessons they will forget everything in the dry land and every day they prove me right. In the water, we have to start all over again. One great tool I give new students they usually refuse to utilize until they learn their instincts are useless is counting the sequence out loud and following the sequences.
It is amazing to me how many students look hopeless in the first few pushes into waves even after they performed the pop up correctly on the beach. They forget everything. After they try a few times they start listening and opening up to the solutions because now they know they need help. Once they start paying attention they turn into marvels and totally transform their first failures.
Learning to Say a Count Out Loud
The count students should say out loud is the sequence to over ride what their body wants to do. They first must place their hands in a man’s push up position next to their rib cage and relax for a few seconds after catching the wave. Then they push up and put a foot flat on the board under their butt so they can stand on it. As they stand they move the other foot to the proper spot near the nose. They stand in a “pushing a box” position with their hands in front of them as though pushing a tall box.
I tell them the count is paddle, stop and glide, back foot, stand up, front foot. This count will take them past their instincts or over ride them. They will get into a new pattern that needs to become their muscle memory. If they leave out any steps, they are falling off the board again. if they master the steps they are riding straight to the beach and ready to start paddling out to catch bigger waves.
Read Other Posts:
Beginner Surfers Learn on Soft Tops
5 Steps to Improve Surfing Performance
3 Ways to Catch Real Surfing Waves
Training to Ride the Surfing Short Board
Short Board Surfing Techniques
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