Beginner Surfers Learn Soft Top Skills
Beginner Surfers Learn Soft Top Skills to progress to real waves and shorter boards. Beginners take their time learning as they build skills, strength and courage for bigger adventures.
The soft top is a good board to take a beginner surfer from riding foam waves to real waves and progressing to shorter boards. The techniques of surfing are similar for beginners and have to be honed to become advanced. In that process, the surfer must get stronger and more courageous.
Catching Foam Waves
Catching foam waves and riding to the beach is timing and rhythm. The surfer standing in shallow water watches the foam wave approach. When it is 20 feet away he rolls over on the surfboard with his feet at the back and his body balanced and the board pointing straight to the beach. He paddle easy three times and then hard three times as the wave hits the tail of the board.
After he has caught the wave and the nose is planning across the water, he puts his hands in a man’s push up position and then pushes up lifting his chest off the board. He must put one foot flat on the board under his butt so he can stand on it. As he lifts his hands off the board, he is making room for the front foot to move to the nose of the board.
This same practice is used with bigger foam waves and real waves. There is a sequence and each step must be included. Fast is not as important as smooth and getting each step. In fact, most beginners minds are racing with anxiety and they find when they slow down, they execute better.
Moving to Real Waves
The beginners start with small real waves after mastering catching foam waves, popping up, and riding to the beach without falling off. Then he tries to catch 2′ to 3′ real waves. In these waves, he may have to paddle longer before the wave arrives and lifts the tail to get in front of the wave.
As real waves get bigger, the surfer lets the wave roll under the board and paddles hard down the face before executing the pop up. The pop up and stance on the board remain the same as when riding foam waves. The feet are shoulder width apart with weight equal on front and back leg. The hips and shoulders have to be square to the front and torso upright.
Starting Maneuvers on Real Waves
The first maneuver on the real wave is the bottom turn into the pocket. The surfer moves his eyes in the direction of the turn and then his upper torso. This torques down to his feet and he pressures his toes or heels, whichever is on the side of the carve.
The surfer learns to accelerate for speed and do cutbacks. At this point he may consider moving to a hard board that is shorter than the foam board. The process shorter should only go 6″ at a time. Each reduction of volume makes the board harder to paddle and more challenging for catching waves. The surfer is gaining strength and courage in this process.
More Posts
Oceanside Surf Lessons for Beginners
Beginner Surfers Learn the Pop Up
How to Progress to Surfing the Short Board
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