Learn How to Fall
How to fall when surfing develops with the instincts of experience. One of the things that is constantly on the mind of beginner surfers is falling. When students are in my Oceanside Surf Lessons USA, the fear often keeps them from trying to stand up on the surf board. When you start riding real waves, you fear pearling (where the surf board nose goes under water). On bigger waves, falling brings hundreds of pounds of water on top of you while it is churning.
Watching surfers is a lot of fun. It is also a lot of laughs. It is so much easier to be on the beach and watch the crazy crashes and wipe outs. If you are in the water it is not always so funny.
When you are learning in foam waves near the shore, you want to fall backward to land on your butt instead of forward where you could land on your head. As you start falling off real waves, your instincts get better and you learn to drop straight down into the water or cannon ball.
Know the Water Depth Where You Are Riding
When you ride a board to shore, you have to be careful about just falling off the back. Once I didn’t pay attention to the fact it is was low tide and when I dropped in the water was only about six inches deep. I had a major contusion on my butt for a week. It is always good to sit down on the board if you can without falling on it.
The first thing to do is protect your head and face when you go under water. I always put my arms in front of my face and my hands over my head until I have come up to the surface. I wonder where my board is and I don’t want it to hit me. When you come to the surface you might want your hands on top of your head in case the fins of your board are above you. I have been hit on the head with the fins of my board after I came up and I’ll tell you, scalp wounds make you bleed like a stuck pig.
If you are on a shallow reef you come down on your board so you don’t hit what is below.
In the beginning when you pearl and fall off your board you will do some face plants and full chest plants. These hurt. It takes a while to learn how to turn side ways to the water, cannonball in, or get to your back. When you are being somersaulted under water you do not know where your board is so you want to cover up.
You always want to know where other surfers are and watch where their board is when they fall. Learning how to fall in surfing becomes instinct with experience.
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If you are interested in Learning to Surf in Oceanside, see my Home Page
See the 10 most common pop up mistakes. https://youtu.be/JN9Hm2CPzJg