Beginner Surfers Learn 5 Fundamentals

Beginner surfers learn 5 fundamentals to begin their journey of advancing. Surfing is more technical than most beginner surfers expect and also more physically demanding than they expected.

The fundamentals are a sequence of steps from spotting a wave to riding it to the beach. It is more about timing than balance. Most beginners have sufficient balance if they learn the sequence and the right posture on the board.

The Beginning

Beginner surfers ride foam waves. They see the real wave break and as the foam wave rolls toward them, they begin paddling for momentum. When the wave is five feet away they start paddling hard as the wave hits the board and until they are in front of the foam.

The beginner surfer then starts the pop up sequence. The pop up sequence for beginners is first to put their hands on the board next to their chests in a man’s push up position. Then with a second’s rest, they push up and put their back foot on the board flat and under their butt.

They stand up on that back foot and raise their hands as they move the front foot to the nose of the board. The correct posture is having the feet shoulder width apart and the hips and shoulders squared to the front. The beginner surfer does not want a shoulder sliding backward like a snowboarder.

If the beginner surfers posture is correct on the surf board, the board will ride straight to the beach and there is no extra work required. If the surfer falls off the butt side of the board, he is riding with an arm back. Both hands should be in front of the surfers face so he can see them.

Advancing to the Next Step

After the beginner surfer has learned the techniques and is riding straight to the beach, he should begin paddling out to ride bigger foam waves and then trying to catch small real waves.

Conditioning and courage will improve with practice. Each step to bigger waves requires confidence that the surfer has mastered the techniques and courage. Bigger waves hit harder and the wipe outs are more noticeable. The beginner surfer sticks with a soft top surf board for at least six months if he is practicing often.

How often a surfer gets to practice, his conditioning, and his ambitions, decide whether he wants to move to shorter or maybe longer surf boards.

Learn More

For Oceanside Surf Lessons, see the Home Page

See the Post Surf Lessons Begin with Foam Waves

See the Post What You Learn in a 2 Hour Lesson

See the Post How to Progress in Surfing

See My Dry Land and In Water Demo video

See How to Catch a Green/Real Wave video

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