Learning to Surf without Instructions
Every year aspiring surfers rent surf boards and try to Learn Surfing without Instructions. Most learn that it is not only difficult but not possible. When I get surf students that have spent many visits to the ocean to learn on their own, I have to reverse a lot of bad habits.
What is the system surfers use to catch waves and ride surf boards? All good surfers do practically the same things. The advanced surfers might have better physical capabilities, more practice, better insights, and more courage than the less advanced surfers.
Catching Foam Waves
Catching waves starting with foam is judgement and feel. Mostly it is learning a few techniques. If the beginner is standing in waist deep water with his surfboard trying to catch foam waves, he follows a process. He needs to spot good waves that are a straight bead of foam that will impact the board straight and with enough power to push it. Beginners have trouble spotting the right waves.
The surfer rolls over onto the surfboard and paddles a few strokes when the wave is 20 feet away. He looks to the side as the wave is going to hit the board and then paddles hard three strokes to accelerate in front of it. This is a hard concept for beginners to grasp. Timing on catching the wave, however is this simple.
The next big mistake most beginners make is putting their hands on the board too soon and putting them in front of their shoulders on the board. This pushes the nose down, called pearling. Hands can’t be placed on the board until the surfer catches the wave and then they have to be placed next to their rib cage so they don’t pressure the nose of the board.
How to Do a Beginner Pop Up
Popping up correctly is elusive. There are two main sequences used by surfers. One is more advanced and one is good for beginners. The beginner pop up does require good coordination capabilities between the brain and body and many don’t have it. The surfer paddles to catch the wave and then puts his hands on the board in a man’s push up position and glides for a few seconds. Then he pushes up and puts a foot under his butt flat on the board. He stands on this foot to lift his hands off the board. Now he moves the other foot to the front of the board.
The correct stance on the board is what I call pushing the box. The hands are in front and one leg is behind the other as a person would make an effort to push the box ten feet. When the beginner surfer pops up, he should have both hands in front. Most beginners make the error of having a trailing hand like skateboarders. This causes surfers to fall off the board on their butt side.
What Went Wrong?
The other major problem beginners have is that once they start paddling and catching waves, they have no idea of what their body is doing. They don’t realize they have put a knee on the board and they are not aware if they have followed a sequence. Most don’t know which foot they put on the board first. When they fall off, they have no idea why. They also don’t know why they didn’t catch a wave or why they pearled. Most of the instruction for new surfers occurs in the water correcting what they are doing wrong by first informing them of what they did.
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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