Beginner Surfers Learn the Basics so they can progress to become advanced surfers. The basics learned as a beginner are the same techniques used for advanced surfing. What surfers add as they progress are strength, courage, and more techniques.
Surfing is difficult to learn for many because there is a bottom level of fitness required to enter. Being overweight is one of the major hurdles beginners encounter. There is a power to weight ratio to lift your body off the board that is difficult for overweight people.
Being Over Weight is a Problem for Learning to Surf
One of the problems from gaining weight over a long period of time and not exercising is people lose flexibility. The hamstrings, buttocks, and lower back need to be stretched to execute a pop up. The solution is simple, do squats and dead lifts. They will add strength and flexibility to the lower body and core.
Strength is developed for pop ups with pushups and other exercises that might include weights such as bench presses. The pop is pushing the body off the board so that you can get your feet under your chest. The beginner pop up is pushing the body off the board and bringing one foot under the butt, placing it flat, and then standing up on it. This is where flexibility is required to get it flat on the board.
The beginner starts with catching foam waves. I push new students into the waves while only waist deep. As the wave arrives, they roll over onto the board and I push them into it. They paddle hard three times and place their palms on the board next to their chest in a man’s push up position. They rest here for a second or two. It is crucial to gather poise and a step beginners don’t follow.
Progressing Through the Pop Up
The next step is pushing off the board while bringing a foot under the butt and placing it flat on the board, as mentioned. The surfer stands on this flat foot and lifts his hands as he brings the other foot under the body to the front of the board.
The proper stance is feet shoulder width apart with the hips and shoulders facing square to the front. This is crucial. If a shoulder is back like snowboarding or a hand trailing, the weight shifts to the heels and with the buttocks over one rail, the surfer falls. The body needs to be equal weight on both sides of the middle stringer. The girl surfer in the image demonstrates the perfect posture.
If the surfboard goes straight and the surfer doesn’t have to work to keep balance, the posture is correct. If the board veers to the right or the left, the surfer is putting weight on the feet from the butt not being in the center of the board with the middle stringer dividing his body in two.
Once the surfer can ride to the beach, he can begin to paddle out to catch bigger foam waves and then real 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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Why do surfers surf? What is it about the culture that attracts and holds millions of people in the world? Why is the culture growing and how has it infiltrated our world with clothing, music, fitness, and stoke?
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