Surf lessons on vacation are a perfect time to learn. Most tourists in Oceanside take a lesson at the beginning of their vacation and then have the rest of the week to practice.
Learning the Fundamentals
New students learn the fundamentals in foam waves with soft top boards. Then they can rent boards the rest of the week and practice in safe environment. As they progress, they can get more bold.
The fundamentals are learning how to get on the board properly to paddle and catch waves. Even in lessons some students have difficulty with these basics. On the board, feet have to be in the back, the body has to be in the middle for balance, and paddling has to be fast with short quick strokes.
Timing the Waves
Timing the waves is very special and some get it naturally and others have to be coached in detail. The basics are to get on the board 20′ before the wave arrives. When the wave is 4′ feet away the surfer paddles hard. When the wave contacts the back of the board, the surfer needs to paddle hard 3 more times.
Standing up on the board requires some upper body strength, but the beginner pop up uses the back leg for most of the power. I give students a count of paddle until you catch the wave, put your hands on the board in a man’s push up position, push up and put your back foot on the board flat under your butt. Then stand on that leg raising your arms. In this process, you are moving the front foot to the front of the board and placing directly in the middle.
Getting the Right Posture
The correct posture to assume is front foot forward and legs shoulder width apart. Hips and shoulders need to be square to the front. Knees should be flexed and hands should be in front so they can be seen. We don’t want a trailing shoulder or hand like in snowboarding.
There are a lot of details to learn in surf lessons. Each has to be performed in sequence. The dry land lesson is the introduction of the details, but there is so much distraction from waves in the water, that most students have to be walked through the details many times.
For Oceanside Surf Lessons, see the Home Page
For my Dry Land and in Water Demo video
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