Basic Lessons
Lesson #1 Lying Positioning The position you need to assume on the board is one of the most important things you will ever learn in surfing. Once learned properly the position will stand you in good stead to Progress. The main trick is to remember these basic skills and don’t try to run before you can walk.
Remember: Your board will do what your body does. If you are wibbly wobbly, you are the jelly and your board is the plate! Lesson # 2 Catching Waves Place your board at your side, nose facing towards the beach. Looking out to sea watch the waves that are coming towards you and pick one that looks like it is big enough to pick you up and take you in. You are looking for a wave with a big flat area in front of it these are good for riding. If you are on the ideal beginners board as with Progress Surf Academy, the wave won’t need to be very big at all so no drama to start with. Just as the wave is about to reach you, jump forwards, in the direction the wave is travelling at the same time swivel yourself onto the board and assume the half press-up position hold the rails just below your shoulders and extend your arms. As the wave picks you up you should feel the board rise in the water and your speed will increase dramatically. With a bit of luck you should have just caught your first wave…Woo Hoo! Lesson #3 Paddling for waves Great, so now you can actually catch the waves. Now we need to look at Paddling for waves.
Note: At this stage you should be really trying to learn how the board works.
Remember: The board will always work the same, whether, laying on it, standing on it or doing a head stand…The same principles apply Lesson #4 Standing First thing we need to do is to find out whether you are a Natural Footer, or a Goofy Footer. This simply refers to which way around, you stand on the surfboard. If you stand with your left foot forward you will be known as a natural footer and if you lead with your right foot you will be known as a goofy footer. So how do you know which is right for you? Well it is normally the stance that feels the most instinctive to you. But there are a few simple tests:
Note: Obviously to get to the point of being able to stand up on a surfboard and ride a wave you would have performed all the skills mentioned in the previous lessons to perfection! Pop up
The pop-up is the best method of getting to your feet, however some people (including many surfers who have been at it for many years) find it difficult to perform. So here we go with our second method to the rescue. One foot at a time
The Stance
Tip: It is a great idea to practice these skills in the privacy of your own home. It will improve your fitness and will reinforce the motor skill you are trying to programme your body with. Lesson #5 Riding waves The art of riding waves will take a long time. To surf to any kind of stylish sort of level. There are many different schools of thought within surfing as to what the most stylish kind of surfing is and how it is best performed. As you start to live the life of a surfer you will realise this and so time will teach you. For the time being though here are a few pointers:
Lesson #6 Paddling out Effective Paddling will rely on proper positioning on the board (as discussed earlier). It will also rely heavily on balance on the board. To balance on your board you should be resting on your thighs and your diaphragm. Your back should be arched, chin up looking where you are going by shuffling your body around and pivoting on these parts of your body you should be able to stay in the correct position on the board and balance properly. Ok so let’s look now at what you should actually be doing with your arms when paddling. The Catch Position...Cup your hand, fingers together, reach forward with one hand and begin to pull back, you now feel your hand gain purchase on the water, and this is known as the 'Catch'. The Pull...Pull back until your forearm is at 90 degrees to the water. High elbows Push...This is the most important and most often neglected part of the stroke. You must push right back! A short arm stroke will mean that you will be going nowhere fast. The push forms 25% of the stroke but gives you 75% of the power! Recovery...Your hand should now lift out of the water at the back of your stroke. It now comes over the top, not to high, there is no need. Save energy where ever possible. Ok so that’s the basics of paddling so now lets have a look at paddling out through the surf. The way this is done will depend on many different things including
If the answer to all three questions is YES! The light is GREEN!
Note: You will only really be able to ride a minimal in fairly small conditions at first. When the waves are bigger you will need to start thinking about a smaller board or learning some extra water skills. When riding a smaller board one of the water skills that will become essential is the fabled Duck Dive. Lesson #7 Duck Diving Duck diving is the way that a short boarder dives under an oncoming wave as he / she is paddling out the back. Ducking under the wave ensures that all the progress made by paddling out is not lost being washed backwards by the wave. The bigger the waves or the more frequent the waves are, the more important it becomes to be good at duck diving. This is something you are really going to have to get wired if you want to surf in crowds. Traditional Duck dive You can practice Duck Diving in any surf conditions even if it is totally flat. The aim for is to get both you and your surfboard as far under the oncoming waves as possible, recover quickly and straight back to paddling out. Here it is ‘The Duck Dive’
The log Roll (Longboards)
Note: Both methods are hard to master at first but just keep on practising and the skill will soon come on.
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