Surfing Tips

Take the time to take a lesson from an experience surfer. They can show you what needs to be done, and they can correct anything you are doing incorrectly before it becomes a bad habit.

Before you go out and purchase your own surfboard rent a couple different ones so that you can get a feel for what you really like. There are a multitude of different kids of surfboards to choose from. If you are taking lessons, as your teacher what they suggest is the best board for you.

When out surfing, be respectful of other surfers in the water.

Before heading out look over your board to make sure that there are no dings or cracks – as these may hinder your ride.

When starting out, you need to find your balance point on your board. A good way to do this is to lay down on your surf board and, right where your chin rests, you should make a mark with a permanent marker or some surf wax. This enables you to have a quick point of reference so that you can be in balance every time that you get on your board.

When marking your balance point on your board, you want to make sure that the nose of your board does not dip into the water. If you notice this occuring, you must slide your chin backwards slightly until this no longer occurs. You will want to make note of this new position of your chin for a true balance point to avoid "pearling" as it is called.

Beginner surfers may want to paddle out to the waves with both arms at the same time but this is bad technique. Paddling with both arms at once will cause you to have erratic speeds resulting in the board going faster and slower. You need to be able to keep a consistent hull speed through the water. The way to do this is by moving your arms seperately in an alternating fashion. This move is called a crawl stroke. The crawl stroke helps you maintain a steady hull speed when paddling.

The rule of the wave is that the surfer nearest to the wave and who is in the standing position of the wave as it breaks claims the right to that wave. Any other surfer headed towards that wave must back off and look for another. The reason for this rule is to protect surfers because, if two surfers fight over a wave, the ramifications can be extremely dangerous.

It's a good rule of thumb to use the buddy system when first learning to surf. Choosing a friend who has previous surfing experience is ideal but, even if they don't, going surfing with someone is much safer than going solo because you have someone looking out for you and visa versa.

If you fall off your surf board, protect yourself by placing your hands over the back of your head. Place your hands together with your wrists covering your ears and your elbows close together as though you were going to do a sit-up. Don't come immediately up from the water as you could hit your head could hit your board which can be dangerously driven through the water by the force of the ocean currents. Stay below the surface for a few moments longer than you think you should and then come up facing the oncoming waves if possible. Locate your board and safely get back on.

When learning to stand on a surf board, it’s important to learn the proper technique to prevent you from falling. As you paddle out into the water, you will be down on your chest so you will need to be able to stand from this position in order to ride a wave. Practice this by placing your surfboard on a bed or on the sand. From a chest flat on the board position, place your arms beside you as though you though you were doing push-ups and pop up while swinging your legs underneath you. Make sure that you land in a crouched position with your feet on the line in the middle of your surfboard. If you stand up straight, you will fall. If you look down, you will fall. So in your crouched position, keep your feet beneath your shoulders, your arms around your waist, and your head looking out in front. For safety reasons, make sure that you can do this several times on land successfully before attempting to do it in the water.