Surfing is a physically demanding and technical sport and many wonder How Surfers Move from Beginner to Advanced. It takes commitment on many levels and conditioning is a constant.
Beginner surfers start with a high volume soft top board learning to ride foam waves. They can start in waist deep water and when a good foam wave rolls in, they roll over on their surfboard and paddle to catch it. Surfers soon learn that success requires timing and rhythm. Riding is a sequence of steps that have to be followed one at a time.
Starting with Foam Waves
The surfer sees the right foam wave which is a straight line of foam and not all broken up. He rolls over 20′ before it arrives and paddles a few times to get momentum. When it is close, he paddles hard three times until he is in front of the wave. Paddling is driving the hand into the water up to the elbow and pulling with the forearms evenly. The wave catching strokes have to be fast and powerful.
Once the surfer is in front of the foam wave, he places his hands on the board next to his rib cage and glides for a few seconds. Then he pushes up and brings one foot under his butt and places it flat on the board. He stands on one foot for a few seconds as he lifts his hands off the board and brings the other foot to the front of the board. His stance is like pushing a box with hands in front and hips and shoulders square to the front.
Learning to Ride Real Waves
After the surfer has mastered the foam ride to the beach, he can start paddling out to catch bigger foam waves and then small real waves. Small real waves of 2′ to 3′ take some extra paddling as they don’t have as much push as a foam wave. Then as real waves get bigger, the surfer has to learn the timing because they only arc for a few seconds as opposed to catching foam waves that can be seen for a long time.
Bigger real waves in the 4′ to 5′ range can be caught in a few ways. The surfer can ride down the face. The surfer can angle the board towards the pocket before he catches the wave. The surfer can catch the wave and then push the nose toward the pocket before he pops up. On sand bar beaches waves are often steep and they close out. Therefore, the surfer has to get into the pocket quickly.
Performing On Real Waves
If the surfer rides down the face, he bottom turns into the pocket. He does this by turning his upper torso in the direction of the turn and then placing pressure on the toes or heels whichever is on the side of the carve. The surfer then accelerates by moving the nose of the board up and down the face with his front foot. He can do a cut back by reversing the bottom turn. He looks down the wave and reverses his direction back to the power of the wave.
On short boards, the surfer needs to accelerate. On longer boards, the surfers drive the wave without much action needed because the volume of the board is moved easily by the wave. The first trick a surfer likes is ripping the lip. He bottom turns up the face and then does a cut back at the top to ride back down the wave.
At this point, a surfer is an advanced surfer if he can execute everything correctly. Along the way he may have moved to a hard board, but it is not necessary. When moving to shorter boards, the surfer should move slowly so his paddling stamina and skills adapt to the lower volume.
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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