What It Takes to be a Good Surfer
What It Takes to be a Good Surfer is a common question before people sign up for surf lessons. A lot of people have it on their bucket list to try once and others are considering what kind of investment in time and money does it take to be good.
This is a fair question. It varies for most every individual. There is not one answer for everyone because everyone begins with a different set of capabilities, physical attributes, and learning abilities that are not discovered until the person is in the water the first time. Then as a coach, I can tell what investment it would take to become improved. There is much more to being a good surfer than people imagine although some start with a great advantage.
The Basics of Becoming a Good Surfer
Surfing is physically demanding. People in good physical shape by the Body Mass Index which labels normal weight, overweight, and obese have a distinct advantage. Overweight is a problem in surfing not just because it takes more power to get the body off the surfboard into a standing position but because the person has probably stopped exercising. This causes the double problem of being heavy and not having the strength to deal with the weight in the water.
Being in good physical shape or fitness is an advantage to improving surfing. Surfing requires upper body strength, lower body strength, core strength, flexibility, and stamina. Each has to be improved as one learns more advanced techniques. The first start is to learn the techniques of riding a surfboard straight to the beach.
Many find this a challenge for a few reasons. They have difficulty learning the techniques. They have muscle memory from other sports like snowboarding and skateboarding that make it more difficult although athleticism is an advantage. Surfing is technical. A person must be able to move their body into the right stance on a surfboard to ride and especially to advance. Many can ride, but they don’t do it through the right techniques.
There is a feel to surfing. One learns the timing of waves and when to paddle and when to pop up. This is taught in lessons, but not everyone can get the feel. So there is a natural talent that has to be a part of the equation. There also has to be a commitment or opportunity to get to the water often. Like most sports, surfing has to be engaged in frequently. Once a week is probably minimum for advancing although some could do it every two weeks.
Training while not in the water is important for professionals and for surfers wanting to advance and not going in the water frequently. All the strengths listed above must be advanced to progress. Surfing is tiring. There must be stamina for paddling. Surf students should practice the correct pop up in their living room to hone the surfing muscles and timing. Courage is a big factor. The ocean is intimidating and each move to bigger waves is a little frightening to everyone.
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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