The Ability to Learn is a Key Component of Learning to Surf. Most people taking their first surf lesson comment that is was more difficult and technical than they expected. They say harder than they expected but that encompasses the difficulty of learning. Once students get the fundamental techniques and timing and rhythm, it is no longer as hard.
But, surfing progresses to new levels of expertise that require techniques and physicality. Surfing may be the most physical of laymen sports far surpassing the demands of skiing, wake boarding, biking, and many other recreations. It requires upper body and lower body strength, core power, flexibility, and stamina.
Are You a Good Learner?
Yet, the key to surfing is the beginners ability to learn. Surfers are literally thrown into the water where they face the full environment of crashing waves and water energy. The dry land portion of a lesson is easy to complete, but doesn’t assimilate what happens in the water. Those who can stand on the surfboard in the dry land pop up find that it is not the same in the water.
I give students very clear instructions on how to over come the mind freeze they will encounter in the water. They ignore what they have just learned and default to their instincts. Their instincts are all wrong. The real job of the instructor is getting students to focus on the correct techniques and not listen to their brain which wants a short cut to standing up thinking it can ignore all procedures.
How Are You Under Pressure?
Call it acting under pressure. I give students a count to say out loud that represents each move to take while paddling and standing up. It is paddle, stop and glide, back foot, stand up, front foot. This describes each action that has to be taken for a smooth and balanced pop up. It is not a normal procedure students have ever experienced. Most don’t trust it to start. They have to fail many times before they will start looking for an alternative and will finally except that maybe the instructor has a point.
Sometimes students are so overwhelmed when they get in the ocean that I worry for their safety. We only surf in waist deep water with foam waves, but they are powerful and the student has to pay attention to surfboard safety and correct procedures. Students find they have fear when they didn’t expect it and many are nervous to start with and have to find their calm when they realize they won’t drown.
Many Beginners Are Afraid of Standing Up
Many students are afraid of standing up. They pay for lessons to surf and yet when it comes to standing up, they won’t, even if physically capable. I point out to them they have “fear of standing up” syndrome. It allows them to face their fear. It is evident to me when they won’t let go of the board when they should which results in crashing. I say that all surfers have fear, but they learn to manage it. Beginners have to have faith that the process they learned will work. There is a point in the pop up process where they stand on one foot for a second as they move the other foot to the front of the board.
The process of standing up requires the student to place one foot flat on the board under their butt and stand to release their hands and move the other foot forward to the nose. If they don’t stand on that foot, the process goes down hill. This does sound awkward. They are standing on one foot and no longer holding onto the board. This is the security they think they need, but the truth is that until you get your hands in the air, there is no stability and balance. A cruel twist of the truth.
Learn the Count and Don’t Rely on Instincts
I give the students the count to say out loud and quiz them on it before going into the water. If they can’t memorize the steps, their body will not know it and they will default to their instincts. Those who continue doing that in the water don’t learn how to surf. Many do the whole process on the first ride and they can advance to riding real waves in their first lesson. People who are risk averse in their lives might find the whole process too intimidating. If you have fear for your body in everything you do, surfing is a big challenge. It feels risky. You do fall in ways you never experience, but you are in water.
I don’t want to get into the whole psychological field of how a person normally trusts processes and whether they are generally optimistic or pessimistic or whether or not they have confidence, but it all plays out in learning to surf.
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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