Surfers Learn to Time Waves
One of the questions beginners ask in lessons when its time to catch waves on their own is how do you pick a wave. Surfers Learn to Time Waves. They also learn how to pick the good ones.
Surfing is timing and rhythm. After a beginner has learned to catch and ride waves, they readily agree that it is timing and rhythm. For beginners it is more about slowing down and gaining poise in the racing mind.
Learning to Recognize Good Waves
When beginners begin to catch foam waves they don’t recognize a good one nor know when to paddle and when to pop up. A good foam wave is a straight bead of foam that will hit the board in the tail. It should be big enough to push the surfer.
The timing is very important. The surfer should roll over onto his board when the foam wave is 20′ feet away and take three easy paddles. Then he looks to the side to see when the wave will hit the board and takes three hard paddles. Six paddles should be enough.
The board takes off in the foam wave and then the surfer puts his hands next to his rib cage in a man’s push up position and rests for a few second before continuing the pop up sequence. He learns this is a stable position and he could ride all the way to the beach in this position. That tells him there is no hurry to stand up.
Catching Real Waves
Catching a real wave is the same process. The surfer first recognizes where the waves are breaking. The real wave is only open a few second so timing becomes more crucial. The surfer has to position himself correctly to let the wave roll under the board. At the beginning catching two to three foot waves the surer might have to paddle more because they have no push.
As the waves get bigger the wave lifts the tail. Then the surfer paddles hard down the face for three strokes before popping up. He should feel the board take off. He can ride down the face, or before he pops up push the nose toward the pocket, or angle toward the pocket before catching the wave. The angles will depend on how steep the wave face is.
The surfer learns to feel the waves and recognize what the board is doing. There is a “take off” sensation he recognizes before he puts his hands on the board. Then he focuses on a smooth pop up.
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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