Hello all! This is a special post, a little off-topic, but the ocean is sparkling, so it totally counts ;-) PLUS I wear rainbow bikinis under my wetsuit, and rainbow dresses after I’ve rinsed off afterwards, and my mother nearly named me Ariel and she totally should have because I was supposed to be a mermaid in this life, a princess of the sea. (Actually, I’m pretty glad I’m not, humans are in the perfect position – we can dive, we can fly, and we can enjoy all the wonderful scenery and experiences that being on land has to offer!)
Wannabe. :-P
I have always wanted to learn how to surf. I’ve especially wanted to for the last 20 years (and especially especially the first 14 or so of those!). I never seemed to have the opportunity/equipment/friends. The closest I got was body-boarding as a kid. And when I was a teenager body-boarded in some pretty serious surf in a storm once, I think I was told it was a 3m (9”) swell, which gave me great surf survival skills, because there’s nothing like nearly dying several times in a row (and still being persistent and competitive and staying out there) to give you some deep-end lessons! Other people were going in crying with concussions and broken teeth and I was the only girl left out there and proud of it. Today, however, I wouldn’t even swim in surf like that, and am hesitant to even surf in swells a third that size! (Lame, I know. But I sort of have a reason for it, below.)
Anyway, I finally really started learning to surf when I was 28. You’re never too old (or young) to learn how to surf! To give you an idea of how long I’ve been surfing, I’m now… 28. ;-P I have been out once or twice over the years with some mates but don’t count that. I had to get sick of my local friends never wanting to do anything fun to put an ad on Gumtree (in the Community -> Sports section) for “activity partners… strictly no sex or romance, if you’re interested in these please do not apply” (lol) to find fellow adventurers for all sorts of activities – hiking, surfing, diving and the like. And FINALLY found some regular surf partners who didn’t mind taking a beginner out! Especially one awesome dude from Kiama who was actually looking for someone to teach how to surf!
I was trying all summer with no luck. Then suddenly, one day, I got it. Surfing went from impossible to possible in just one session, and it didn’t even take the whole session, it happened straight away. And suddenly I realised everything that had been going wrong before now, and what to do that was right.
It turns out that there are many things that experienced surfers – and even surf teachers – take for granted, that are really important for a newbie surfer who is just learning to surf. These are things they do instinctively, things they weren’t taught and don’t even think about. Or sometimes they are things that they simply wouldn’t think to talk about, and if they did, they wouldn’t say exactly what needs to be said to get the message through to their audience. Sometimes, I think, it’s good to hear from the experiences of all those ahead of you at every stage of the journey!
Anyway, enough gas-bagging, time for the tips!
Anyway, I finally really started learning to surf when I was 28. You’re never too old (or young) to learn how to surf! To give you an idea of how long I’ve been surfing, I’m now… 28. ;-P I have been out once or twice over the years with some mates but don’t count that. I had to get sick of my local friends never wanting to do anything fun to put an ad on Gumtree (in the Community -> Sports section) for “activity partners… strictly no sex or romance, if you’re interested in these please do not apply” (lol) to find fellow adventurers for all sorts of activities – hiking, surfing, diving and the like. And FINALLY found some regular surf partners who didn’t mind taking a beginner out! Especially one awesome dude from Kiama who was actually looking for someone to teach how to surf!
I was trying all summer with no luck. Then suddenly, one day, I got it. Surfing went from impossible to possible in just one session, and it didn’t even take the whole session, it happened straight away. And suddenly I realised everything that had been going wrong before now, and what to do that was right.
It turns out that there are many things that experienced surfers – and even surf teachers – take for granted, that are really important for a newbie surfer who is just learning to surf. These are things they do instinctively, things they weren’t taught and don’t even think about. Or sometimes they are things that they simply wouldn’t think to talk about, and if they did, they wouldn’t say exactly what needs to be said to get the message through to their audience. Sometimes, I think, it’s good to hear from the experiences of all those ahead of you at every stage of the journey!
Anyway, enough gas-bagging, time for the tips!
1) Watch surfing videos on YouTube.
There are heaps of free tutorials of all kinds of things. I watched this whole instructional DVD, broken into parts, that I found invaluable. No one, whether surf instructor or friend, is going to be able to tell you everything in one session (or possibly ever). This gives you an idea of what you should be doing, confidence to hit the waves at a level that suits you, and the ability to communicate with some prior understanding.
2) Practise the pop-up – at home, before ever heading out.
This is the part where you jump from paddling on your stomach to standing up. I can’t tell you how much this improved my surfing in one session. Well, this, and the next step (probably more the next step)! Watch YouTube tutorials, listen to all the different ways your friends and different instructors tell you how to do it (they are all different… trust me!), and then get on the ground (not your board, a yoga mat is good though) and try it for yourself. But not before following the next tip.
3) Perfecting the pop-up – start with your hands by your WAIST.
One of my Gumtree surf buddies put me onto this tip. He’d only recently learned to surf in the last few years himself. (Again, listen to people at all levels!) He watched heaps of videos, tried heaps of times, got heaps of different advices and still had difficulty popping up. And then one day he noticed something that NO-ONE had ever told him: the lower down your hands are, the better.
Typically instructors will get you to start with your hands by your “shoulders” (more like upper ribs), like a push-up. Then you arch your back, pelvis to the floor, then jump up, twisting around at the same time (I’ll explain why that’s highlighted soon!). But just try that, then try it with your hands by your waist, and see how much easier it is to pop up with your hands on the board down by your waist. It is a THOUSAND times easier! Ok that might be a slight exaggeration, but it IS a massive difference! You can place your hands anywhere between the lower ribcage and the waist, but the lower, the better.
Typically instructors will get you to start with your hands by your “shoulders” (more like upper ribs), like a push-up. Then you arch your back, pelvis to the floor, then jump up, twisting around at the same time (I’ll explain why that’s highlighted soon!). But just try that, then try it with your hands by your waist, and see how much easier it is to pop up with your hands on the board down by your waist. It is a THOUSAND times easier! Ok that might be a slight exaggeration, but it IS a massive difference! You can place your hands anywhere between the lower ribcage and the waist, but the lower, the better.
Do I want this board? Yes, yes I do. !!
4) Get a good board.
Cheap second hand boards are cheap and second hand for a reason. Most surfers won’t sell a good board, they’ll keep it as a variant to their collection, and use it on a day where that board most suits the conditions. Tufflite and Firewire boards, however, being made of a superior, expensive material (lighter and tougher than ordinary boards, made to really fly across the water and makes surfing really easy) are usually shaped really well (do it well or don’t bother; being modern with decades of experimenting to get the best board shapes also helps lol!), so they’re a safe bet for a board. Foamies (soft learner boards) are also a safe bet because unless you have many n00b friends you want to drag out into the water, you won’t need them hanging around so you can afford to get rid of them (though some keep them as a long-board alternative to catch waves on little surf).
When choosing a board as a beginner surfer (including a foamie), the general rule is to stick your arm straight up over your head and curl your fingers over the top of the board – that is your minimum board length. But it’s a little more complicated than that… Some boards you have to try out first, because something wasn’t right when they were shaped (especially true for boards that are around ten years old and older, as technology has vastly improved since then). I know the board I bought wasn’t balanced properly – I even got my mates to surf on it to make sure it wasn’t just me being crap! Being a beginner, it’s better to just take an experienced surfer who has heaps of boards with you to buy one. Just make sure, in addition to being long enough, the board has heaps of float – it’s kind of fat in the middle. When standing up, beginners are heavier landers (especially me lol!) and that can slow the board down like putting on brakes in the water.
NOTE: some surf shops have a demo board scheme where you can rent a whole bunch of different kinds of boards and get a feel what suits you best. I'm not in the position to buy a new board just yet (I don't need to - the boards I use are fine!) so I haven't done this... not having my own car doesn't help, either, being at the mercy of whenever my friends want to go out! (And not being experienced enough yet for a little <6 foot short board, it's not worth buying an attachment for my motorbike just now.)
When choosing a board as a beginner surfer (including a foamie), the general rule is to stick your arm straight up over your head and curl your fingers over the top of the board – that is your minimum board length. But it’s a little more complicated than that… Some boards you have to try out first, because something wasn’t right when they were shaped (especially true for boards that are around ten years old and older, as technology has vastly improved since then). I know the board I bought wasn’t balanced properly – I even got my mates to surf on it to make sure it wasn’t just me being crap! Being a beginner, it’s better to just take an experienced surfer who has heaps of boards with you to buy one. Just make sure, in addition to being long enough, the board has heaps of float – it’s kind of fat in the middle. When standing up, beginners are heavier landers (especially me lol!) and that can slow the board down like putting on brakes in the water.
NOTE: some surf shops have a demo board scheme where you can rent a whole bunch of different kinds of boards and get a feel what suits you best. I'm not in the position to buy a new board just yet (I don't need to - the boards I use are fine!) so I haven't done this... not having my own car doesn't help, either, being at the mercy of whenever my friends want to go out! (And not being experienced enough yet for a little <6 foot short board, it's not worth buying an attachment for my motorbike just now.)
5) Don’t surf in crappy surf – and choose your beach.
When I first started going out with my Gumtree mates, I was taken out to some really crappy waves, AND beaches. I couldn’t possibly have known this, being completely green. I live in a coastal town with 30 beaches in a short distance, some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, apparently. But they are generally NOT good for surf! Why? Instead of a gentle slope, the sand under the water has a sudden drop. Because waves are like a big rolling barrel, of which you can only see the top of, when that barrel suddenly hits shallower water, it jumps up and smashes down. This is the formation of any wave really, but it’s extreme with a sharp jump in water level. You want rolling waves, and even better, crumbling waves. If there are dumpy waves, don’t go near them, just surf in the whitewash they force out in front of them. Much safer, much funner and much more likely to find success!
So if you see waves suddenly pounding down with great force, you know the sand suddenly rises up at that point. Avoid! And sometimes the conditions (wind direction, which you always want to be offshore, and swell and tides all play a part) are simply making crappy waves. You want something with a bit of force behind it, so you want to surf in the mid-high tide period.
Now, many surfers will tell you to get out in all conditions, because everything improves your surf sense. This is fine advice, but not before you can pop up. Why? Because you’ll learn bad habits. I have some habits that are going to be a pain to unlearn, that might never have been formed if I didn’t go out in certain conditions prematurely. One of the first times I went out with my most regular buddy, there were wild waves and a huge swell. We went straight out the back and I had to fight to get there. There was a time or two I thought “I’m never going to get over this wave, I’m really going to have to go with it… I’ll definitely get smashed if I try to fight it, but I’ll only likely get smashed if I go with it, and maybe I will catch it and not get smashed at all!” What my FRIEND now thinks, however, is that I’m “fearless” and will go out in anything! Not true… I was definitely afraid lol, I just had no choice! (Beginner boards don’t go through waves well or easily.) Anyway, the combination of nose-diving or getting smashed by a crashing wave several times gave me two bad habits that hurt my surfing: pulling back prematurely, and often missing the wave; and instead of paddling, if it looks like it’s coming for you forcefully, just steading yourself with the board and going with it (again, missing the wave if there’s not enough force). These were good survival mechanisms in the big surf I was in and the low level of my surfing experience – but they hurt me now! And now I avoid smaller waves I could have caught, too! (One time after that, in smaller but psycho surf, I was very badly dumped in a way that twisted me at the same time – instead of just rolling with it as normal – and that gave me my first stun/injury, despite having had many years of ocean experience).
What are the kind of conditions you want? Not dumping waves, not wild or messy surf, not big surf; that’s for sure. Rolling/crumbling waves, whitewash that travels towards the shore for a while (to give you a longer ride), and whitewash with a little force behind it (not too gentle), and small waves are PERFECT conditions for newbie surfers. That, and experienced surfers won’t bother going out in those conditions, so you’ve got the whole beach to yourself – you don’t have to worry about getting in anyone’s way, stealing their wave, or accidentally hitting them with your board when you fall off!
I had been surfing several times with friends who’d say “this is terrible surf, you’re doing well really, look around – no one else is catching any waves”, but it didn’t help my confidence, enthusiasm or skill level. Don’t go out in bad surf til you can at least pop up. (I have a feeling – and I might be wrong – but mastering the pop-up might also help with the whole nose-diving in cranky surf thing…)
So if you see waves suddenly pounding down with great force, you know the sand suddenly rises up at that point. Avoid! And sometimes the conditions (wind direction, which you always want to be offshore, and swell and tides all play a part) are simply making crappy waves. You want something with a bit of force behind it, so you want to surf in the mid-high tide period.
Now, many surfers will tell you to get out in all conditions, because everything improves your surf sense. This is fine advice, but not before you can pop up. Why? Because you’ll learn bad habits. I have some habits that are going to be a pain to unlearn, that might never have been formed if I didn’t go out in certain conditions prematurely. One of the first times I went out with my most regular buddy, there were wild waves and a huge swell. We went straight out the back and I had to fight to get there. There was a time or two I thought “I’m never going to get over this wave, I’m really going to have to go with it… I’ll definitely get smashed if I try to fight it, but I’ll only likely get smashed if I go with it, and maybe I will catch it and not get smashed at all!” What my FRIEND now thinks, however, is that I’m “fearless” and will go out in anything! Not true… I was definitely afraid lol, I just had no choice! (Beginner boards don’t go through waves well or easily.) Anyway, the combination of nose-diving or getting smashed by a crashing wave several times gave me two bad habits that hurt my surfing: pulling back prematurely, and often missing the wave; and instead of paddling, if it looks like it’s coming for you forcefully, just steading yourself with the board and going with it (again, missing the wave if there’s not enough force). These were good survival mechanisms in the big surf I was in and the low level of my surfing experience – but they hurt me now! And now I avoid smaller waves I could have caught, too! (One time after that, in smaller but psycho surf, I was very badly dumped in a way that twisted me at the same time – instead of just rolling with it as normal – and that gave me my first stun/injury, despite having had many years of ocean experience).
What are the kind of conditions you want? Not dumping waves, not wild or messy surf, not big surf; that’s for sure. Rolling/crumbling waves, whitewash that travels towards the shore for a while (to give you a longer ride), and whitewash with a little force behind it (not too gentle), and small waves are PERFECT conditions for newbie surfers. That, and experienced surfers won’t bother going out in those conditions, so you’ve got the whole beach to yourself – you don’t have to worry about getting in anyone’s way, stealing their wave, or accidentally hitting them with your board when you fall off!
I had been surfing several times with friends who’d say “this is terrible surf, you’re doing well really, look around – no one else is catching any waves”, but it didn’t help my confidence, enthusiasm or skill level. Don’t go out in bad surf til you can at least pop up. (I have a feeling – and I might be wrong – but mastering the pop-up might also help with the whole nose-diving in cranky surf thing…)
Many serious "hmmm's" are going on right now. Custom rainbow westuits?! HECK YEAH!!!
6) Get yourself a full-length wetsuit, AKA steamer.
This is one of the few things I did right, straight away! And the one time I didn’t, I regretted it! There are several reasons for this, but what has ended up being particularly useful, I never would in a million years have thought of… knee protection. Before you’ve mastered the pop-up, you might find yourself landing on your knees. It’s a common rookie error, common enough that surf instructors sometimes emphasise the whole “side-track your knees, get straight to your feet, don’t use this as an intermediary step as you will get into bad habits” sort of thing. They’re right, but it’s so easy and natural! And bad. But it will happen. And if you don’t have a full-length wet-suit, you will get knees covered in little bruises, which will shorten your surf time (because they’re too sore to go out the next day in). And if you don’t have a rash shirt either, you will get board rash, it will be painful (and again, restrict your surfing time), and it will probably scab and still annoy you a week later!
Of course, wetsuits have a myriad of other uses… the most important one that I usually think of is sun protection. I hate sunscreen, so only having to sunscreen my face, ears, backs of my hands and maybe tops of my feet is a joy! :-) Also, obviously, the main reason people get a wet suit, is for warmth. Just make sure, when you buy one, you get a proper surf one with a good amount of stretch, especially around the joints. You don’t want it to feel restrictive, especially in your shoulders (to make paddling annoying) or your groin (to make the pop-up more difficult). You definitely don't want a big fat zip up the front, like some diving wetsuits. One with knee-pads is cool too. Mine is over a decade old, bought when I was skinnier, so I know how annoying a wetsuit can be (unless you’re super-strong)! It’s still a great suit though… but it might be time to upgrade soon, maybe not, we’ll see. I do like that rainbow wetsuit I saw once lol… but then again, I don’t think it was surf-specific, I really want to look for extra stretchy panels around the joints these days.
Of course, wetsuits have a myriad of other uses… the most important one that I usually think of is sun protection. I hate sunscreen, so only having to sunscreen my face, ears, backs of my hands and maybe tops of my feet is a joy! :-) Also, obviously, the main reason people get a wet suit, is for warmth. Just make sure, when you buy one, you get a proper surf one with a good amount of stretch, especially around the joints. You don’t want it to feel restrictive, especially in your shoulders (to make paddling annoying) or your groin (to make the pop-up more difficult). You definitely don't want a big fat zip up the front, like some diving wetsuits. One with knee-pads is cool too. Mine is over a decade old, bought when I was skinnier, so I know how annoying a wetsuit can be (unless you’re super-strong)! It’s still a great suit though… but it might be time to upgrade soon, maybe not, we’ll see. I do like that rainbow wetsuit I saw once lol… but then again, I don’t think it was surf-specific, I really want to look for extra stretchy panels around the joints these days.
Because THIS can get awful sticky. (There are some awesome rainbow grip pads but I liked this better!)
7) Consider buying a full-length grip-pad for your board instead of wax.
You probably won’t want this as an experienced surfer because it might give you extra float (making it more annoying to duck under waves), but any extra float you can get is an advantage to a beginner. It’s easier to glide over and catch waves of all sizes, and when you stand up you have more chance of staying up rather than braking you in the water. But that’s not why I suggest this. Firstly, you don’t have to worry about waxing your board, ever. Which is not only a nuisance, but a real pain to get off, which you might have to do – especially if you get sand on it. Grip-pads are a hell of a lot easier to clean (always rinse off your gear at the beach – sand does not vacuum well! And salt can get crusty!) and they last a long time, I’ve never heard of anyone needing to replace them. But it’s not just the convenience… again, it’s the knees! Soft, padded protection! Easy on your feet, too… Especially while you’re mastering the pop-up.
8) If everything else is equal, go for a beach with a shower.
See above (point #7)! And hell, this can save you time later. You don’t need to shower again unless you get sand in your suit and are too shy to brush it off outside :-P
9) Develop good habits, but ultimately, trust yourself.
Everyone has a different way to surf. Everyone has things that work for them. There are always ways of doing things better, and it’s better to learn properly the first time around, but in the end as far as specific techniques are concerned, it can be a little subjective (just search YouTube for pop-up videos, everyone shows different ways!). Try to do things right, but also, just do it… don’t overthink, but go by feel. Surfing is very instinctual, and sometimes you need to get out of your head and trust your body. Sure, some things do seem counter-intuitive – you’ll learn what they are early on. But overall, do what feels right and easy for you.
But… developing good habits, as touched on earlier, is vitally important! I was just kind of left to my own devices in the beginning (before my Gumtree buddies arrived on the scene), and I’ve developed a few little annoying things that have become instinctual despite my practising and doing it right on dry land. For example, when I pop up in the surf, often my feet are facing forward, and most commonly, my front foot is forward and my back knee is on the board! Bad me! No knees!!! And something that this has evolved into, is getting up in a few steps, instead of jumping straight to my feet. Obviously I need to do more practise on land and develop a new instinct. But on land, I do it correctly instinctively! So it’s annoying to find myself doing something different in the ocean! I mean, we’re used to our feet facing forward when we walk, so to twist our feet and lower halves of our body while everything else is forward is not natural at first. (Even if you skate-boarded when you were nine, like I did, lol!) So don’t do what I did, and do what I do. Do what I’m TRYING to do, and would like to have done from the start.
But… developing good habits, as touched on earlier, is vitally important! I was just kind of left to my own devices in the beginning (before my Gumtree buddies arrived on the scene), and I’ve developed a few little annoying things that have become instinctual despite my practising and doing it right on dry land. For example, when I pop up in the surf, often my feet are facing forward, and most commonly, my front foot is forward and my back knee is on the board! Bad me! No knees!!! And something that this has evolved into, is getting up in a few steps, instead of jumping straight to my feet. Obviously I need to do more practise on land and develop a new instinct. But on land, I do it correctly instinctively! So it’s annoying to find myself doing something different in the ocean! I mean, we’re used to our feet facing forward when we walk, so to twist our feet and lower halves of our body while everything else is forward is not natural at first. (Even if you skate-boarded when you were nine, like I did, lol!) So don’t do what I did, and do what I do. Do what I’m TRYING to do, and would like to have done from the start.
This is one spot you DON'T want to make a mistake!
10) Get up, quickly, straight away, as many times as possible.
This is something you SHOULD hear from your friends/instructors, but it’s so important, I’m just gonna throw it out here. The only way to learn, ultimately, in surfing at least, is to do. And by doing, I mean getting on the board and actually surfing, not just trying to catch waves (ala tip #5). And even if you think you’re going to fall off straight away, just get up anyway, because every time you’re up, and every time you come down again, you’re learning. Every time you’re on the board and not just lying down, you’re learning. I mean, you’re also learning when you’re lying down and surfing, and in all kinds of surf conditions not lethal to you depending on your capabilities (disclaimer!), but really, the whole getting up bit is really important. And get up as soon as you’ve caught the wave, try not to wait til you’ve stabilised yourself. This is where the most thrust is, and you need all the help you can get, because the mere act of standing up slows you down (staying standing is ok; but jumping on the board pushes it into the water and acts like a brake). That way you have a higher chance of riding the wave all the way in (or along!), which is where the fun really starts!
Mmmmm... (mouth watering beauty!!!)
I hope, if any noob surfers have stumbled on my post, that you find this helpful! Remember that I am a n00b just like you and you don’t have to take this as gospel truth! But these are things that have been helpful to me, and that I’ve learned “on the job”! And honestly, seriously, hands by your waist!!!
Your wannabe mermaid,
Tiffany :-) x
Your wannabe mermaid,
Tiffany :-) x
p.s. I hope by now you can see that surfing and rainbows go hand in hand! ;-P
p.p.s. SPARKLY!!! :-D
Please note all pictures are credited via link to original source.
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