Beginner Surfers often don’t realize the fundamentals they learn are the same necessary to be an advanced surfer. In fact, the fundamentals don’t change. It is one of the reasons surfing is difficult at the start because the beginner and advanced fundamentals are similar.
One of the big differences for beginners and advanced surfers is the wave size. Until the fundamentals are learned, the surfer can’t ride real waves. There must also be an improvement in conditioning plus growth of courage. Surfing is full body and physically challenging with the potential of getting hurt if the early lessons are not learned.
Timing and Rhythm
Surfing is timing and rhythm. It is learning the sequence of steps from recognizing a wave to riding it. It may all seem a blur or one move, but it is a fine timeline of several individual moves. The surfer learns how to move his body in a certain way to get from lying down on a surfboard to standing correctly so the board will perform as designed.
The process starts with lying on the board correctly. On a soft top, the surfers’ feet are at the tail together with the balls of the feet on the board. The body is straight as a pencil and balanced on both sides of the middle stringer. Many surfers lose this positioning as they paddle for waves, wiggling all over the board and lifting their feet off the board.
Paddling is fundamental. The surfer wants to paddle with his forearms to get more power. In catching waves, he drives the hand in up to the elbow in half swim strokes to control the direction of the board and accelerate in front of the wave. Swim strokes are too slow and can turn the board with each stroke. They are ok for paddling out to waves, but should be shortened for catching waves.
Mastering the Pop Up
The pop up is basically the same for beginners and advanced although the advanced surfers are greater masters of the pop up. The surfer paddles and after catching the wave places his hands in a man’s push up position on the board. Then after resting a second, he pushes up. Then with the beginner pop up, the surfer places a foot three feet from the tail (approximately) flat on the board under his butt so he can stand on it. Standing here is crucial to release the hands from the board. Releasing the hands allows the other front to move to the front of the board.
The proper stance for beginners is feet shoulder width apart and weight equal on the front and back leg. Most important is the hips and shoulders are squared to the front so the surfer can see both hands. If a hand is trailing behind like snowboarding, it places the surfer’s butt on one rail and weights the side of the board so the surfer falls off on his butt side.
If the surfer masters these fundamentals, he starts progressing to bigger foam waves, then small real waves, then bigger real waves. It is a process to master the fundamentals, build strength, develop judgment, and build courage. Most pro surfers say they were fearful as they kept moving to bigger waves. Waves increase in speed and weight which of course come crashing down on your head when you are paddling out. When you fall off bigger waves you spend more time under water doing backward somersaults. Learning how to fall and how to relax underwater when getting pummeled are part of the growing process.
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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