Beginner Surfers Learn to Catch Foam Waves
When new students begin Surf Lessons in Oceanside USA, we start with the foam waves that break near the shore. These waves are not too big, too powerful, nor are students in deep water. The advantages are for safety, to reduce intimidation, and to allow students to become comfortable in the water with a surf board.
The first process is to walk out to where the waves are breaking into foam and turn the nose of the surf board toward the beach. When the waves are 20 feet away, the student rolls on top of the surf board and starts paddling for the sand. The student watches the wave approach and when it is 5 feet away begins paddling hard.
Timing is the Most Important Part to Catch Foam Waves
The idea is to get in front of the foam wave with easy paddling before it hits the surf board. When the wave is a few feet behind the board, the surfer paddles hard. Once the wave starts pushing the board, the surfer continues to paddle hard for three or four strokes before putting his hands on the board.
When the board is in front on a smooth plain, the surfer puts his hands on the board to do a pop up. If you watch surfers on real waves, you will notice they paddle hard before the wave arrives, then allow the wave to come underneath the board, and the paddle hard for three for four strokes to catch it.
The second process is to paddle out through the breaking foam wave and then turn around to catch the next one. This prepares students to move further out toward the real waves and bigger foam waves as they progress. When paddling through a foam wave, the student runs the nose of the board under the lip of the wave and gets into a man’s push up position to allow the wave to run under his chest.
At the beginning the student gets tossed a lot before he learns how to judge and take waves correctly.
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For surf lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page
This is a great tutorial on catching real waves but it is the same principal for catching foam waves. https://youtu.be/N7KopjbzxjE