How Surfers Progress from Foam to Real Waves
New students ask How Surfers Progress from Foam to Real Waves. New students learn to ride foam waves in their first lesson, but many things have to fall in place before they can progress. All the basics have to be learned and competently achieved before moving forward.
The first thing that distinguishes surfers who can progress is their physical conditioning. Surfers have to be strong and loose (flexible). Catching waves and standing up on the surfboard require fluidity in the muscles and joints. Those who have not exercised or been sedentary have to condition to progress.
The Basics of Progressing from Foam to Real Waves
Surfing is timing and rhythm. Surfing is strength, flexibility, and stamina. It is a full body sport and does require some athleticism. This is not a sport for someone who has failed at everything else and decides to give it a try. It is not the first thing you do after being sedentary for a long time.
Conditioning is getting stronger, flexible, and building some cardiovascular endurance. Some exercises are basic to accomplishing surf fit muscles and flexibility. Squats, deadlifts, push ups, burpies, and planks can create a body that does pop ups smoothly. Beginners can do squats and deadlifts without weights and add then when they have good form. Any aerobics will assist in developing stamina and recovery.
Catching foam waves is about timing. When the wave is 15 feet away, the surfer rolls onto the surfboard and paddles easily. When the wave is hitting the surfboard, the surfer paddles hard three times to get in front of the wave. Then he executes a smooth pop up and rides to the beach. Once this is mastered, the surfer can paddle out through the waves to catch bigger foam waves and learn to handle himself in the waves.
After catching bigger foam waves, the surfer can begin on small green waves. It takes a jump in courage because the board will go faster and points down. There will be many crashes. A beginner can start by catching corners. As the foam wave breaks, it shows foam at the lip and then begins to roll right or left. Catching the wave further down the path is easier. The surfer faces the beach at 45 degrees as he paddles into the pocket. The pocket rolls under him and he does his pop up.
Catching bigger real waves requires more courage. By now the pop up has to be excellent. The surfer must also be stable and popping into the correct stance to stay on the surfboard. The surfer can ride down the face and bottom turn into the pocket. The surfer can catch the wave and before popping up, turn the nose of the board toward the pocket and then pop up. This avoids riding down the face and may minimize pearling. Thirdly the surfer can go for the corners.
All this can be accomplished on soft top boards. An 8′ soft top is good for waves up to 7′ with accomplished surfers. The slower you move to shorter and lower volume boards, the easier the transition will be when it is time. Building conditioning builds confidence and competence. One can’t perform if they are tired and being out of condition leads to being tiring quickly. You might check my book Get Fit to Surf below.
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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The Surfers Life
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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A great 29 page course on the fundamentals of catching waves, doing beginner and advanced pop ups, riding real waves, how to do maneuvers on real waves, which surfboards to ride, and how to progress. Great for lesson preparation, after lesson review, or learning on your own.
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Description:
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