The Mistakes Beginner Surfers Make
Surfing is more technical than everyone expects, and these are The Mistakes Beginner Surfers Make.
One of the first objectives I have as an instructor is getting students out of their head and into the right process. Students enter the water with learning anxiety and are quickly willing to ignore everything we practiced in the dry land. They would rather lean on their instincts and their instincts, which have never surfed, are all wrong.
Slowing Down the Racing Mind is the First Step of Progress
As fast as I can make students slow down and focus, the faster they progress. Most students’ first instincts are to jump up on the board as soon as the foam wave hits the tail of the board. They ignore catching the wave and going through the physical sequence they learned on the beach. see beginners trying to learn on their own jumping up before the wave hits their board.
The first step is to recognize the wave is coming and to roll over on the surfboard and begin an easy three paddles. The surfer looks to the side to see when the foam wave will hit the board and then paddles hard three times so the board accelerates in front of the wave. The surfer wants the tail to leave the foam.
Executing the Pop Up Correctly
The next move is where most students first fail. All surfers start by putting their hands on the board in a man’s push up position next to their rib cage. This creates a second of poise after catching a wave, real or foam. New students put their hands in front of the shoulders and in an immediate pushed up position. This either makes the board tip over because they weight one of those hands, pearl by pushing the nose under water, or in the down dog position they can’t get their feet underneath them.
Students need to relax with their hands next to their chest and still lying chest down on the board with the head up looking forward. Now it’s time to push up while bringing a foot under the body and placing it flat on the board. If the foot isn’t flat, the student cannot stand up on it. A majority of people do not have the flexibility to do this. Yes, most people don’t have the flexibility to learn to surf.
The foot flat on the board and putting one foot on the board at a time is the beginner student push up but is used by many pros. The so-called advanced pop up moving both feet at the same time to the right position on the board requires too much agility for most beginners. At times when I get a Marine or a teenager very fit, I will introduce the advanced pop up first.
Standing on the Board Correctly is a Major Challenge
The next major difficulty for new students is getting the proper stance on the surfboard. The board is designed to have the surfer’s weight equal on both sides of the middle line down the center of the surfboard. I call the position students take in error snowboarding. This is standing with a trailing arm or one shoulder back instead of having both hands in front. This causes surfers to fall off the side of the board.
The stance must be feet shoulder width apart with hips and shoulders parallel to the beach. This puts their weight equal on both sides of the center line. In the right stance, the board goes straight and the surfer does not have to move or work.
A final mistake that people learning without a lesson make is start with a board that is too small. I start most students over 110 pounds on a 9′ soft top board. This high volume makes it easy to catch waves and is forgiving for incorrect stances until the student can be coached into the proper stance. Staring on too small a board causes immediate popup problems and quick falls.
After a student has mastered the fundamentals and can ride to the beach without falling, they can start looking at riding lower volume boards like an 8′ soft top. After mastering this, many will move to their first hard board at a recommended 7’6″ length. The move shorter should not exceed six inches at a time.
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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