Will Surf Lessons Help Get to Short Boards
Many new surfers have the idea they want to do what they see in the movies and wonder Will Surf Lessons Help Get to Short Boards. It is a long term commitment that must start with the correct techniques.
Short board surfers are advanced and have learned the basic fundamentals and then progressed to new techniques. If the starting techniques are not correct, advancement might be impossible. Physical capabilities must also be developed along the path.
Getting the Right Techniques into Muscle Memory
The first surf lesson starts with a dry land portion to explain safety, the correct pop up technique, and the timing of catching a wave and riding to the beach. Most people at the beginning ignore the instructions when they get in the water and default to their instincts. They find their instincts are all wrong.
This is what happens when people try to learn on their own. Their instincts are all wrong so they don’t make progress. If I get someone who has tried on their own for a while, the first step is to overcome all the bad habits that have become ingrained in muscle memory. The problem with not learning correctly is bad muscle memory techniques are hard to erase.
Starting the Adventure of Catching Waves
In lessons, the surfer learns to catch waves and pop up correctly in the correct timing and rhythm. The beginning is a sequence of many steps the neophyte does not recognize while watching others. The wave has to be selected and timed. The pop up is a sequence. The stance has to be correct or the board won’t balance.
Once the surfer can ride waves to the beach, they learn how to paddle out and catch bigger foam waves and then small real waves. Catching real waves is a matter of new timing, but using the same pop up techniques. Then the student starts riding bigger waves learning the selection and timing. In the process, he must be developing more stamina for paddling and more courage.
Starting the Short Board Adventure
Short boards don’t have to be ridden on big waves but it takes at least 3′ to 4′ to power the lower volume. The surfer needs new techniques. Whereas the foam wave is a ride to the beach, the real wave is a ride in the pocket. The surfer must learn to bottom turn into the pocket, angle the board to the pocket as an alternative, and then drive the wave in the pocket.
Techniques that follow include cut backs and accelerating. All these techniques can be learned on a soft top. If the surfer is not in the water more than once a week, the soft top may be the best board because it is easy to paddle and easy to ride.
Once the surfer decides he wants a shorter hard board, he should move down about 6″ at a time while maintaining the width of 21+” and a thickness of 2 3/4″. The technical size of a short board is 6’10”, so it takes time to move shorter. Each step down will require some adapting to harder paddling and less forgiveness on the pop up and riding stance.
The surfer wants to master the beginning techniques to make going shorter a reality. There is also no reason a surfer can’t stick to 8′ or 9′ hard boards or go to 9’6″ depending how they find their skills and paddling stamina along with how often they can visit the water.
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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