Surfing - How to
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- theyCallMeMista
Never done it. Want to learn. Know absolutely nothing about it.
Anyone know of good surf schools? Good countries/locations? Thinkin' costa rica...
any help would be gnarly. cheers.
- IRNlun60
Costa Rica is nice. Plenty of surfing schools there. One bit of advice: generally the most difficult thing for beginners is not having the endurance to paddle out to the lineup. You should start jogging a bit and do alot of push-ups to get ready for it. Surfing can be exhausting, so the fitter you are ahead of time the more fun you'll have to try catching and riding waves. Have fun and stay calm out there...
- Possibly some swimming?!ideaist
- good call. cheers!theyCallMeMista
- nope, you only get endurance from surfing, A LOTsurfito
- Paddling fucking sucks - especially if its choppy. You are going to hurt in muscles you never knew you had.duckseason
- dragonfruit0
your next door Big Wave
- ESKEMA0
A friend of mine started learning a couple months ago. only goes time to time, (hasn't been able to stand up yet). It's as IRNlun6 says. The paddling is massive. When he gets to the lineup, he's so tired he can barely feel his body.
- stoplying0
Lay on your chest on the floor.
In one fluid motion, (without going to your knees) use your arms to pop up to your feet in your surfing stance. The more graceful you can become doing this, the easier it will be once you get on a board.
And this site has a ton of great info for beginners
http://www.surfline.com/surfolog…- +1 and lots and lots of paddling. The only thing that gets you fit for surfing is surfing.lemmy_k
- gramme0
I've been surfing since I was 14, although I currently live in St. Louis and only get to surf on vacations. Boo.
Anyway: what IRNlun6 said. Costa Rica is a great place to learn. Tamarindo in particular, over on the west coast. Also: Florida, southern coast of Oahu (HI), some parts of SoCal.
Swim your ass off, for starters. It's the best exercise to get you in paddling shape. Do it for a couple months and you'll see big results.
Don't try to be cool like the guys carving huge hacks and boosting air. Get a longboard. Easier to paddle, get into waves, and a stabler ride. Master this and only then move to a shortboard if you feel so inclined.
Pay attention to right of way. The guy closest to the peak of a breaking wave has priority. Be patient.
- NOOOOO tamarindo is polluted like crazy! head south where the waves are clean and pesticide / poo free.Countryman
- He could head north across the rivermouth for cleaner, less crowded waves.gramme
- Jaco/Hermosa might be a bit heavy for beginners.gramme
- dude you gotta move. I live in cali and there are waves everyday. Let me reiterate, EVERYDAYCountryman
- Check out bill of rights and lefts from the link stoplying sent. Could help you avoid serious trouble out in the water.IRNlun6
- I know.... getting harder to leave each day. Wife, kid, family, business here.gramme
- dirtydesign0
i've tried surfing a few times with not much success.
got up on one knee with one foot down and the speed was intense, felt like i was too close to shore, so i ditched... hahaa
- gramme0
Learning how/where/when to position yourself is the hardest part, after the stamina required for paddling. Once you're up and riding it's not any harder than most other board sports.
As stoplying suggested, practice popping up in your living room. Do a pushup, then swivel your hips as you swing your legs underneath you to get into stance. Pushing your hips forward like a bullfighter as you stand. Avoid using your knees. You'll end up thrashing the deck of your board if you rely on your knees to stand up.
Land and stay in a crouch. Very rarely will you be standing fully upright on your board, and never with locked knees. Just like snowboarding: bend at the knees, not at the waist. You want your center of gravity to be balanced over the stringer.
- Dude, I'm totally pro at popping up in my living room.JackRyan
- sneakybadger0
The most important advice is not to panic, it may look small from the beach but when you are laying down at sea level it feels about 10 times bigger than first perceived. Also try not to surf near the experienced pack as you may get in the way and collisions/agro will happen. Don't panic, be confident in your swimming ability and the skills will come with time.
If your european, biarritz is a great place to learn. If from the states costa rica sounds pretty perfect for all skill levels (not been myself).
- gramme0
Keep your head up, shoulders back, heels together when paddling. Dig deep for each stroke, and pull your arm underneath the board, exiting the water below your hip.
Always look out for other surfers, coming toward you on a wave or paddling out near you.
Avoid ditching your board. Pretend you don't have a leash and will be seriously screwed if it gets away. Otherwise you're a major liability in the water.
To duckdive under a wave: first off, on a longboard this is nearly impossible unless you "turn turtle," which is done by grabbing the rails, flipping over to one side, and continuing to flip as you punch under a wave and come back up.
On a shorter board, grab the rails near the nose, do a push-up, push the nose of the board down hard, immediately followed by a firm push of the heel(s) on the tail. This will make you dive under the breaking wave, and shoot out the back. It's a cool feeling when you do it successfully. Open your eyes underwater if you can stand it.
- Countryman0
Its going to take years before you can paddle and pop up without thinking about it and worrying if your going to eat it when you drop into the wave.
like gramme said, get a longboard (or a funbaord) anything thats big and can catch almost any wave, and go everyday. I could stand up on the 2nd or 3rd time I went, and just rode little waist high waves for an entire summer. that fall I could surf head high waves, not doing anything crazy but I could do it.
Like I said, it should take 3 years or so until you can actually control your board well enough to make intentional carves & start experimenting with smaller boards.
- bulletfactory0
When I was about 11 my mom and I went to the beach. She rented me a surf board and I tried for a little while without much success. I'm a skater, but just couldn't get the wave to carry me.
She saw some kids surfing and ran over and asked them if they wouldn't mind giving me some pointers. Kind of embarrassing at first, but that's a mom for ya.
They were happy to help out. After a few of their tips, and 3 or four more tries, I successfully rode all the way to the beach.
Getting a jump on the wave and getting it to carry me was the toughest part. Popping up seemed easy.
- jacklalane0
Take lessons as much as possible. When you are out there in the pounding surf you will not remember any of these interweb instructions.
- Puerto Viejo on Costa RIcas East coastjacklalane
- or Santa Teresa on Gold coastjacklalane
- surfito0
learning on a fun board or a long board is the best, youll get to stand up probably in the first day, you dont need to spend that much energy paddling on those, they float more and keep you balanced, short board you first need to learn to paddle on those, and they will take all your energy if youre body is not used to surfing, ive been surfing for 18 years, and still get a hard time every now and then.
im in dominican republic, and there is cabarette here, besides being a surf town, is a party town, so youll have a lot of fun and make friends, there are schools and surf camps.
http://www.swellsurfcamp.com/
http://zapstixsurfcampdr.com/surfing there is worldclass, and its also a kite surfing and wind surfing meca, now in summer the season is in the south that means waves in the north are smaller but better for begginers. close to cabarette there is rio san juan, nagua great for surfing, and nagua gets the south swells in case you wanna get bigger waves, is hurracaine season so at any time it can get giant anywhere where.
http://www.documentary.marullos.… these are surf photos from here (marullos means waves)
- thats what im lookin for. thanks 'surfito'theyCallMeMista
- Good advice. Love surfing in the DR. Never got to make i to the NW coast but used to surf Arena Gorda in Macao during my summers there... so nice.IRNlun6
- my summers there... so nice.IRNlun6
- its pretty dificult to get from punta cana to the north, at befor, but now theres a new road that you get from south to north in two hours, wich is good for me cause im in the south so i can go and come back the very same day, even surf on both sides.surfito
- sneakybadger0
I hear puerto escondido, zicatela beach is good for beginners, try there...
- Ahaha. He'd get turned into salsa by those barrels.gramme
- :)sneakybadger
- sneakybadger0
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- Miguex0
No offense, but most people on this site have never surfed in their lives. If you really want to learn, do just like Kelly Slater or Taj Burrow , just play this game over and over for about 2 hrs
The realistic control, and top of the line graphic detail will get your body used to the feeling of surfing in no time.
- capn_ron0
Surfing is a time commitment. I've surfed for over 18 years and I didn't really get good until my 4th or 5th year of doing it. You can take lessons, or have a friend teach you, but really the only way you get experience is by doing it 3-4 times a week for years. That is why I say it is a commitment. Don't plan on being comfortable in the water until you are strong and can actually surf. Surfing is so much a lifestyle rather than an activity because of the time it takes to be good.
Go for it, but don't think you'll get good surfing once a year on vacation.