Beginner surfers can begin to carve riding foam waves. First they need to master the fundamentals so they can pop up into the right posture and ride straight to the beach. Once they are riding the foam wave, they can initiate carving techniques.
Carving in foam waves can be a predecessor to carving in real waves. The principles are the same. In real waves carving begins coming off the face of the wave in a bottom turn into the pocket. Then a surfer carves up the face in a bottom turn to rip the lip, cut back, or do a trick like an aerial.
Getting the Right Beginner Posture for Carving
The beginner catches a foam wave and pops up to the correct posture. The correct posture for a beginner is feet shoulder width apart and hips and shoulders squared to the front with both hands visible.
The biggest problems beginners often have and intermediates as well is they get into what I call a snowboard posture with one hand behind their body and one shoulder back. This places their weight on their heels which makes control difficult and usually causes surfers to fall.
The board is designed so the weight will be equal on both sides of the middle stringer. Each hand and shoulder and hips should be on opposite sides of the stringer. In a balanced position on the board, the board will go straight with no work.
To carve face side for a surfer that is regular footed (left foot in front), the surfer rotates the upper torso beginning with the eyes then head and shoulders to the right with a little pressure on the toes.
To carve back side for a regular footed surfer, the surfer rotates his upper body to the left with a little pressure on the heels. On a soft top board because of thick rails that can catch an edge and the slow speed in a foam wave, the carve has to be easy, smooth, and subtle.
On a real wave with a short hard board, the surfer can dig the rail deep into the face and make more radical carves with much more pressure. This is one reason advanced surfers want the smaller volume boards.
Moving to shorter boards has to be slow. Surfers should move shorter just 6 inches at a time maintaining the width and thickness of bigger boards. Lower volume makes boards more difficult to paddle, harder to catch waves, and less stable until a surfers stamina, skills, and experience have advanced.
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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