Beginner Surfers Ride Real Waves

Beginner surfers ride real waves after they have successfully learned to catch and ride foam waves. There are differences between the two that require new skills.

After surfers have learned to ride foam waves to the beach, they can learn to paddle out and turn around to catch bigger foam waves. This teaches them to be moving to catch waves and works on timing.

How Real Waves Break

Foam waves are easy to catch because you just get in front of them. Real waves peak for a few seconds and you have to intersect them at the right point.

I teach beginners after they have learned to turn around and catch foam waves to start paddling parallel to where the waves are breaking. A real wave can be ridden down the face or can be caught at the corners.

Beginners should start with riding small real waves when riding down the face. They might form anywhere on a sand bar bottom. On reefs, they always break in the same place.

To catch a corner, the surfer notices where waves are forming and then where the apex (where foam first comes over the lip) is occurring. He wants to paddle towards the unfurling pocket and then point at 45 degrees toward the beach and let the pocket come under the board.

On a real wave face, the surfer notices where the wave is forming and makes a determination whether he has to paddle out, parallel, or toward shore to get in position for the arc. In foam waves, you let the foam hit the board. With a real wave, you have to get in front of the arc and paddle fast so that he wave is caught in the arc and not after it has broken.

This requires practice. There will be many crashes. Beginners often let the wave roll past them and then try to catch up and drop in over the top. This is not a successful practice. You have to be in front of the wave and let it catch up with the board.

The tail of the surf board will rise in the arc and the surfer paddles hard three times and even kicks. Then he executes the pop up and rides down the face.

Advanced surfers will learn to make a bottom turn on the face to ride the pocket and perform more maneuvers.

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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