It is consistent that I get calls for instructions from surfers who have been trying to surf for a year or two and finally realize they need help. Why Can’t These Intermediates Surf? The truth is, they are not intermediate surfers because they have lost or never known the basics.
They describe their issues and they are usually different. Most complain about the timing of catching waves or the inability to drop in on waves. They rarely mention they fall off the board frequently and cannot ride for very long before falling off. Many are self taught and didn’t learn the fundamentals.
Fundamentals Are the Common Problem
The most common problem with all of them is they are riding in a poor stance created by a poor pop up. if you don’t pop into the correct stance, you will not be riding on the surf board for very long and you will miss drops into waves. If you don’t know the fundamentals, observing other surfers might not reveal what they are doing differently.
The surfboard is designed so a surfer’s weight will be equal on both halves of the board. The stringer in the middle should divide the surfer’s weight from left to right. Most of the surfer’s having trouble are riding with a butt over one rail creating pressure on the heels and all the weight on one rail. The board will either carve radically or the surfer will fall off on the butt side.
I call their stance snowboarding. I am a snowboarder and we plus skateboarders plus a lot of new surfers want to ride with a hand trailing or one shoulder back and one forward. This causes the butt to be over one rail. The right stance for beginners would look like pushing a tall box. Both hands are on the box pushing and one foot is in front of the other.
Getting the Correct Pop Up
Getting into this stance requires the correct pop up. I have beginners paddle to catch a wave, then put their hands in a man’s push up position and glide for a few seconds. This gets them used to developing poise and slowing down before the stand up move. Then the push up and put one foot flat on the board under their butt. As they stand, they lift their hands off the board. This is important. The hands have to come off the board to make room for the front foot. Without letting a hand get behind their body, they move the front foot to the nose. Now they are in the pushing the box stance.
Advanced surfers can move both feet at the same time but the count and result are similar. The advanced surfer paddles, puts his hands in a man’s push up position and then pushes up bringing both feet on the board. The front foot moves under his raised chest and lands near the nose. The hands are in the air as their feet land.
Getting surfers who have developed muscle memory from incorrect techniques to the correct techniques is difficult. Snowboarders and skateboarders often cannot get the push the box stance. They can only stay on the board by bringing the hand opposite their front foot in front of their body. Many of these intermediates have to do the same thing because they can’t overcome their incorrect muscle memory.
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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