Many aspiring surfers are inspired by what they see in the movies. They want to know When to Learn on the Surfing Short Board. They don’t realize that the people they see in movies are experts who have been surfing for years.
There are a number of steps to progress to a Short Board. First, the short board surfer is in excellent surfing fitness. This means they can paddle on a low volume board that sinks under water with their weight. Naturally surfers want to be as lean as possible. They have to master the beginner techniques. They learn the timing of catching real waves. Then all the maneuvers of riding in the pocket have to be learned one at a time.
The aspiring short boarder begins with a high volume soft top riding foam waves near the beach. In this phase, the surfer begins by being pushed by an instructor. After a few pushes, the surfer starts catching foam waves on their own. The objective of the first phase is to master the pop up and ride straight to the beach.
Progressing to Phases Two and Three
The second phase begins with the surfer paddling out through the waves to turn and catch bigger foam waves. This is easiest on a sand bar bottom like in Oceanside. After this is mastered, the surfer begins with small real waves. He learns positioning where they break and the timing of catching them as they arc for a few seconds. He also learns to paddle to the corners and catch real waves in the pocket as they are unfurling in a right or left direction .
The third phase is paddling out to the position where the waves are breaking originally. This could be on a sand bar bottom or a reef. There will be surfers in the line up and the newer surfer must learn etiquette to wait his turn and watch the waves to be sure no one is on the wave before he paddles to catch it.
The surfer now is catching bigger waves down the face. He can also paddle to the corners where the waves are not as fast nor as large. He progresses to catching the waves down the face and bottom turning into the pocket. He starts adding maneuvers like accelerating for speed and cut-backs.
After these processes have been learned, he can move to a hard board but should only move down in length 6″ at a time while maintaining the thickness and width of a soft top. The recommended hard board is 7’6″ long, 21+” wide and at least 2 3/4″ thick. The surfer has to gradually build the strength and stamina to paddle lighter boards. He must also learn to catch real waves on the board that will not have the stability of a soft top.
As the surfer progresses he is also developing the courage to catch waves that move faster than foam and are heavy when they fall on you. Learning to fall is a step in the progress so that the surfer is not fearful and also so he is not getting continuously “worked”. After a series of bad falls, the surfer will be dazed and tired making the pop up difficult and eroding his confidence. This is why progress should be slow and mastered at each step.
When the surfer has arrived at a length of 6’10”, he is officially riding a short board. This takes a while and the surfer must develop skills, judgement, strength, stamina, and courage in the process. The idea is to keep it fun along the way by progressing slowly. Too fast a jump will result in frustration and lots of falling. No one will keep paddling out if this is their experience.
For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page
For getting in better shape for surfing see GetFittoSurf.com
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