5 Fundamentals for Beginner Surfers
Surfing is more technical and tiring than anyone expects. There are 5 Fundamentals for Beginner Surfers. These basics enable the beginner surfer to progress to bigger waves.
Beginner surfers first face the obstacle of being anxious when they get into the ocean with a surfboard. I tell students their minds go “gaga” and they forget everything we covered in the dry land lesson, like the pop up sequence. Surfing is all about timing and rhythm.
Catch the Wave First
The first fundamental is to learn how to catch the foam wave before putting hands on the surfboard. This is especially and obstacle for surfers learning without taking a lesson. Everyone wants to jump up as soon as the foam wave hits the board and many before that happens.
Beginner surfers don’t know how to paddle hard. Many don’t have the power to get in front of a wave with the surfboard. The surfer should roll over on a surfboard as the foam wave is 20 feet away and paddle a few strokes to get moving. They look to the side to see when the foam wave will hit the board. Then they paddle hard three or four times to accelerate in front of the wave. Surfers paddle short strokes pulling with their forearms, not their hands only and not taking long swim strokes.
Patience Before Putting the Hands on the Board
Once the surfboard is in front of the wave the surfer can put their hands on the board. Most beginners want to put their hands in front of their shoulders already in a pushed up position. This pushes the nose under water called a pearl. Surfers must put their hands next to their chest in a man’s push up position and glided for a few seconds. This gives them poise and slows down the racing mind’s instinct to jump up out of control.
Then the surfer pushes up and places a back foot on the board under their butt so they can rise up on the one foot. This allows the hands to be freed from the surfboard. This is crucial to remove the hands so the body can go upright and the front foot can reach forward toward the nose. Many new surfers don’t have the flexibility to place the foot flat on the board. If its not flat, they can’t stand. They put both feet on the board while their hands are on the board and fly off the front.
Riding in the Proper Stance
A final requirement for beginners is they ride square to the front with hips and shoulders parallel to the beach. I call this position pushing the box. If the surfer rides with a hand trailing like a skateboarder, they will fall off the butt side of the board. This position places the butt over one rail and weight on the heels. This tips the board over.
I give students a count to say out loud in the process to keep them from defaulting to instincts. Instincts are wrong until the surfer knows the correct fundamentals. My count is paddle, stop (place the hand on the board), glide (for a few seconds), push up, back foot (flat on the board), stand, and front foot. When surfers say this out loud and follow it, they are successful quicker.
More Posts
Oceanside Surf Lessons for Beginners
Beginner Surfers Learn the Pop Up
How to Progress to Surfing the Short Board
For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page
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