Mark, Author at Surf Lessons in Oceanside

Surf Board Speed is Important in Surfing

Surf board speed is important in surfing because it can help catch waves and makes maneuvering easier.

In an article about surf board shaping, Hayden Shapes claims they have designed the holy grail. In fact, that is the name of their board. One of their customers wanted a board he could use on giant waves like Mavericks to catch waves under the lip at the deepest point. These surfers use long boards that are wide, thick, and pointed to handle the power and speed the wave generates.

The board Hayden Shapes created also helped this customer carve a turn on the face of giant waves. Most of us don’t need that kind of technology, but in tackling bigger waves, the lesson is not lost. The bigger waves move faster. Surf board speed becomes more important to catch and maneuver on all size waves, however.

The first trick advanced surfers use is accelerating as soon as they are up on a wave. This is using the front foot to move the nose of the board up and down the face of the wave. Observing videos of surfers, you will see they combine a wide variety of hand and body movements to accomplish this task. The first objective is to move faster than the falling lip.

The second objective is speed and driving the rail into the face of the wave to rise up the lip or reverse on the face. After a trick or maneuver is performed, the speed has to be gained again. We learn on soft top boards which favor stability and ease of wave catching over speed. Long boards favor ease of wave catching and the ability to drive a wave in the pocket. Where to place your feet relative to the fins creates long board maneuvers.

The short board is also conscious of the back foot to fin pressure and surfers can ride the front of the board for more speed or place pressure on the fins to make sharp carves. Boards with cut outs, convex and concave bottoms, and cut off tails can create more speed and maneuverability at speed.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see Home Page

3 Steps for Catching Surfing Waves

Three steps for catching surfing waves can apply to beginners and advanced surfers. Advanced surfers already know, but the important steps work for all three surfer levels of beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Surfers want to be moving before the wave impacts the surf board. This is key to catching surfing waves whether foam or green waves. Beginner surfers want to paddle easy before the foam arrives and paddle hard when the wave is five feet from impacting the board.

Intermediate and advanced surfers often paddle into the wave as it is arcing to build momentum and choose their final angle for riding. When real waves are rolling and have soft arcs, getting in front of them moving fast helps get in front. Long boards can catch waves that are seemingly flat to short boarders.

Paddle hard and even kick when the wave starts pushing the board. On a foam wave, surfers paddle until they are in front of the wave and before they put their hands on the board to do a pop up. On real waves, surfers usually need about three strong paddles until they feel the nose of the board heading down and the momentum of the wave carrying the board without paddling.

Speed of the wave, steepness, and your board type determine when to pop up on the wave. Catching surfing waves requires experience and practice. A soft top for beginners in foam waves is easy to time. Paddle before the wave arrives, keep paddling for four strokes until the board is in front of the wave, and then pop up.

A long board on a real wave can begin to paddle early as the wave forms and offer the pop up opportunity before a short boarder is even paddling. A long board might need to paddle for the pocket on steep waves to prevent pearling unless waves are big.

A short boarder wants to be in front of the arc and let the wave come under the board before he starts paddling down the face. If the short board is in the right position in the wave, it should only take a few strokes. Most short boarders turn the board toward the pocket after the momentum catches the board and before they do a pop up.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Landing Page

This is a great tutorial on catching real waves https://youtu.be/N7KopjbzxjE

Good video on doing Bottom Turns

Moving From Surfing Soft Tops to Short Boards

The real fun new aspirants to surfing think is what they see in films where experts ride the shorter surf boards.

Getting Started on Soft Top Surf Boards

Surfing is more difficult and tiring than experts make it appear. My new students always say the same things: this is more difficult and more tiring than I expected. And this is regardless of their fitness level or age.

One thing that makes surfing easier and less tiring is a high volume surf board. Shorter surf boards are harder to paddle, more difficult for catching waves, and more difficult to ride. The easiest wave to ride is the foam or broken wave that is close to shore. So new students need to learn the techniques on high volume boards near shore.

The techniques they learn are not amateurish. The same techniques used for beginners is what are used by experts. Because they are difficult on a short board, beginners need to learn them on a high volume board. This might be why snowboarders learn flips on a trampoline before they go off a 50′ jump.

The Process of Moving from High Volume to Low Volume Surf Boards

I start new students of all ages on a 9′ soft top board. When they have mastered balance, catching waves, and popping up on the board, I move them to an 8′ board. Unless they are skilled in the beginner techniques, the 8′ board will be too challenging to keep the sport fun. Fun is why we are in it, no?

On an 8′ board, new students can start to paddle out to ride bigger foam waves and start riding small real waves that break near shore. The real wave as it arcs provides the necessary power for a low volume shorter surf board to move. Catching an arcing wave requires timing, judgment, technique, and courage. The new surfer needs each of these facets to move forward.

Experts will say that waves are not measured in feet, but increments of fear. Once students feel how much power a wave contains, they are immediately respectful of their vulnerability. The way to move through vulnerability to confidence is mastering the techniques. Progressing slowly gives students the time to build skills and confidence.

Moving to lower volume boards should include shortening the length 6″ at a time and maintaining the volume of width and thickness. The shorter surf board should still be 21″ wide and 2.75″ thick to allow reasonable progress and confidence development.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see Home Page

Surfing Pop Up Timing

The surfing pop up is one technique in a series of moves from catching a wave to riding the wave. What most beginners miss is the timing.

Timing the Surfing Pop Up

When I teach beginner surfers, we start with a dry land instruction. On the beach, everything seems pretty simple and few have a problem learning the pop up technique.

Entering the water creates a new dynamic as students have to learn paddle the board as it gyrates in the wave, discern when the surf board is stable and in front of the wave, and then move to a smooth stance. Students have an image in their head of what they have to accomplish, but it may not be in the timing required by the circumstances.

I give students a four count to repeat out loud in the water and times their body movement. Count one is paddling until the board is out in front of the wave. This often causes the biggest problem. If you watch beginners without instructors, they often jump up before the wave arrives. I have to get most students to have patience and paddle until the board is in front of the wave.

At the beginning, I push the students into the wave so I have them going straight and its easy to get in front. Once students get on the board themselves without me pushing, they have to aim the board straight to the beach, paddle until they are in front of the wave and the board is level, and then move into a smooth pop up.

The Rhythm of Surfing

When surfers can quiet their mind and get into the rhythm, the whole process is easier. There are three steps to be accomplished. The surfer has to time the wave and be moving before it arrives. Then when the wave is close and as it begins to push the board (real or foam) the surfer paddles hard for a few strokes. Once the board is moving on wave power, the surfer pops up smoothly into a stance that is balanced on the board.

When the surfer has the right stance riding a foam wave, the board will go straight and few movements are needed. If the board carves wildly to the right or left or the surfer falls off over one of the rails, it indicates the surfer’s weight is incorrect. One of the ways to slow down and get into the right stance is to pause for a second after catching the wave.

I give my students four counts and number two is placing the hands on the surf board in a man’s push up position and waiting for a second. In this second, the surfer assesses if the board is moving straight and level, and then readies his body to make a stand up move. This second prevents the surfer from launching himself onto the board while still paddling in the foam of the wave or before the board is stable.

The surfing pop up is executed at the time the board is in front of the wave and the board is stable. This requires technique and patience.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page

See my Dry land and Beginner Wave Catching Video

See a good YouTube video on Catching Waves

4 Things Progressing Surfers Master

There are 4 things progressing surfers master on their road from beginners to experts.

Fitness

There are three important parts of fitness for surfers. First is flexibility. When professional surfers visit my beach, I often see them warming up with yoga postures that look like live pretzels. Flexibility helps with techniques and reduces the likelihood of tweaks when you get twisted up on falls.

Surfers work on strength through cross training. Most professionals surf for a few hours and work in the gym for a few hours a day. Upper body, core, and leg strength are all important in technique advancement. Strength also creates stamina. Iron man coaches suggest lots of gym work because when the body is tired, strength will pull you through.

Finally, you cannot minimize the value of nutrition. Body builders say you must eat to build muscle. Runners emphasize a good balance of carbs and protein and fat. Surfing can include fuel before entering the water and recovery food after burning muscle while in the water. Surfing is more demanding than beginners realize and I find that cross training and nutrition are important for longer sessions.

Wave Catching

Beginners learn to catch foam waves. It is easy to let the foam wave hit the board from behind, but it takes timing to paddle hard before the wave arrives and while the wave is pushing the board. After the board is in front of the foam wave, the surfer can begin the pop up. This is discipline and patience.

As surfers learn to catch real waves, they have to intersect the forming wave at the right time depending often on volume of the board they are riding. A high volume long board moves before a low volume short board. A steep wave needs different timing than slow rolling waves. Waves that are too steep at the apex or closing out can be caught at the corners.

Recognizing the type of waves on a sand bar beach is more difficult than surfing reefs where wave usually break in the same spot and form more uniformly. Timing becomes the important variable and one never gets too good at timing.

Riding the Surf Boards

Riding certainly distinguishes the beginners from the experts. What progressing surfers have to learn is patience and the need to continuously practice. As progressing surfers start advancing in their wave catching, they will want to start adding techniques to their wave riding.

Riding varies from riding straight down the face, to carving into the pocket and driving a wave, to making lots of maneuvers. Long boards drive pockets and make swiveling turns from moving back and forth on the boards. Short boards make sharp cuts from moving your weight on the board.

Surfers learn waves and when to gain speed, when to carve, to perform tricks, when to bail out over the lip, and when to turn to shore. Each time you go into the water, you should have some idea of what you want to practice.

Courage

Surfing is not for the faint of heart. Beginners learn immediately that the water is far more powerful than their ability to ride if their technique is not right. Nature offers up the power, but like judo, you have to learn how to use it or the results can be hurtful.

Most pros will say they were intimidated each time they ventured to bigger waves. Pros riding Mavericks or Pipe Line will say they have fear when they go out. The secret is to learn to manage it not make it disappear.

Managing fear is assisted with the right habits of fitness and techniques. Preparing in all aspects mentioned above makes us more skillful and more brave.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page

A good video on catching waves

A good video for doing bottom turns

Best Beginner Surf Boards

The right Beginner surf boards can make a big difference in the speed of progress for new surfers and the enjoyment they experience.

The Right Size is First

The films make surfing look easy and if you watch surfers at the beach, a lot of boys are tempted to just rent a wet suit and surfboard and head for the water. What all beginners learn, is it is not easy. The surfboard is designed to be streamlined and perform well in waves. It is very sensitive to where you place your weight. This is the issue beginners don’t know how to address.

The beginner surfer should start in foam waves and ride straight to the beach. The board needs to be balanced by the surfer to catch a wave, then wait until the board is in front of the wave, and then place hands on the board and pop up to perfect position.

The problem is, beginners aren’t perfect about anything at the beginning. They have a lot of bad inclinations that the surfboard won’t support. I used to train beginners on an 8′ foam board and then moved to 9′ foot with more success. Even on a 9′ foam surfboard, most surfers struggle at the beginning.

If the board is not big enough, then they don’t have the opportunity to progress from catching a wave to trying to stand up. I can coach new students through their errors until they are perfecting the techniques and riding the board to the beach. A 10′ board would be easier, but too big allows students to be sloppy and not really learn the techniques correctly.

Once students have learned the techniques and can land on the board correctly, I move my students to the 8′ foam surf board.

Progressing from Being a Beginner

Beginner surf boards should start with the foam board and then progress shorter 6″ at a time. The first good hardboard would be the fun board at 7’6″ in length, 21+” in width and at least 2 3/4 inches thick. Students could decide to stay with the long boards if they don’t surf often, if they are not real fit, or if they are older. Nothing wrong with surfing on 9′ hard boards. The line ups are full of them.

The shorter boards are harder to paddle, harder to catch waves, and harder to ride. Surfing progresses slowly. Improved surfing requires great flexibility (yes stretching), upper body strength (gym is good), stamina (aerobic cross training) and lots of courage. Shorter boards have to catch waves as they arc and therefore crashes are like being in a washing machine. As waves get bigger, crashes get your attention.

Have patience in your learning and stay on high volume boards to ensure that it is always fun. Too many crashes and the fun seeps out.

For surf lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page

My pop up video

Good video for Catching Waves

Kids Learn to Surf

Kids learn to surf and enjoy it just as much as adults. Their size and strength are major considerations in how much risk they can take and how fast they advance.

Basics for Kids

Kids love surfing but have to be given special consideration for their size, strength, and courage.

I often start kids on 9′ soft top boards and push them into waves. Depending on their size, their arms may not reach far enough into the water to give them control of the surfboard as the foam wave pushes. I teach them the same count to pop up as I do for teens and adults, but kids get up differently most of the time.

The main thing is to get up smoothly and get the right posture on the board. The front foot has to be in the middle of the board and they have to have their shoulders and hips pointed forward so their balance is equal on both sides of the middle stringer.

Most kids can get to a standing position and ride the board to the beach on small foam waves. I like to try them paddling for their own small foam waves, but sometimes they do not have the arm length or strength to control the surf board.

Once I have them assuming the right techniques I move them to an 8′ board and then a 7′ or 6′. If they have the right technique, they have more fun with a smaller board.

I had one 9 year old girl that with a few lessons progressed to a short hard board and was catching real waves. This is exceptional. I try to help kids progress subject to their level of fear or courage. Waves are intimidating and kids must learn to feel comfort. If they are scared, they won’t learn.

I have had 5 year olds that wouldn’t’ go into the water and 5 year olds that wanted to go out too far. You never know. 7 and 8 seem to be the more adaptable ages where they don’t have unreasonable fears and listen well to instructions.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see my Landing Page

For my video on Pop Ups to help all age groups

A good video on Catching Waves

3 Physical Surfing Requirement

There are three physical surfing requirements that make learning and progressing in surfing easier. You can get in shape before lessons or while learning.

3 Physical Surfing Requirements

Each of these three requirements are challenges for people who are not active in full body sports or who lead sedentary lives, like sitting behind desks or screens all day.

Flexibility– Very few of my surf students are able to touch the ground with their fingers without bending their knees. I suggest putting your palms on the ground. Stiffness occurs in three places: hamstrings, buttocks, and lower back. Stretching until you can place your palms on the ground might take a few weeks if you can’t do it. I also like sitting on the floor with legs spread and leaning forward touching elbows to the floor. The buttocks can be stretched by lifting one leg in the air and holding onto the toes with one hand while straightening the leg.

Upper Body Strength- A push up is a good test of your upper body strength. This is a handicap for women, kids, and adults who have put on weight and stopped exercising. Before a surfer can snap their foot to the front of the board in a pop up, they have to lift their body on the board while in the water. The fastest way to get appropriate upper body surfing strength is to practice pop ups 20 times a day.

Stamina-Surfing requires an exertion that most athletes don’t train for because it is paddling. Paddling is like swimming but not the same. The most direct cross training technique I use is cables in the gym pulling from a high, middle, and low point. There are also exercise bands you can wrap around a post and get the similar treatment. The second aspect is aerobics. When you jump in a pool and swim, you don’t go very far before tiring. Paddling is similar. The first thing that goes in surfing is the paddling stamina and then you can’t do a pop up either. I bike ride for cross training, but any number of exercises such as running or stair climbing would help.

For surf lessons in Oceanside see the Home Page

See my Dry Land Surfing Video with pop ups and a short water demonstration

See a YouTube demo on Short Board Pop Ups

How to Surf Bigger Waves

Surfers usually begin by dreaming of carving up the waves and want to surf bigger waves. Three things are essential.

The Three Basics of Surfing Bigger Waves

Learning to surf bigger waves requires:

Mastering the basics
Practice
Courage

Learning to master the basics often requires making the right first steps. In my surf lessons, I often get people who have tried on their own, attended surf camps, or haven’t surfed for a while. All three lend themselves to developing bad habits. Bad habits are detrimental as surfers get into waves with more speed and weight.

Beginners have to learn to paddle balanced, catch waves with good timing, and pop up in a perfect posture that would allow them to ride straight to the beach without falling off the board. This seems simple, but there is no advancing until this is mastered.

Secondly, it requires consistent practice to get the timing of breaking waves and maintain stamina. Surfing is all about paddling and when the paddling muscles are gone, so is the pop up. Catching real waves requires spit second timing and the timing gets lost with lack of practice.

Dave Kalama, a side kick of Laird Hamilton, said waves don’t increase in size but increments of fear. Every professional says that each time they stepped up a few feet in wave size they had fear. Waves get faster and heavier as they get bigger. Most advanced surfers know which waves to take, which waves to pass, and when to bail out. This requires practice and instinct that comes from practice.

Getting thrashed by big waves creates memories. You don’t want too many, but you can’t fear the experience. A program of stretching, weights, and aerobics prepares your body for the necessary strength and the unavoidable falls.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page

Learn How to Pop Up in my YouTube video

A good video on Catching Waves

5 Essentials of the Surfing Pop Up

There are certainly 5 essential parts of the surfing pop up. It looks simple, but new students find that each step has to be included in the right order to be successful.

5 Essentials of the Surfing Pop UP

I will list them and then explain each:

Flexibility
Upper Body Strength
Coordination
Timing
Posture

Flexibility- People from kids to seniors don’t stretch, even athletes. I find most people can’t put their fingers to the ground without bending their knees. I stress putting palms to the ground. We get tight in our hamstrings, buttocks, and lower back. If we are not stretched, we have difficulty getting our feet into the proper position on the surf board. For the buttocks, try standing on one foot and lifting the other leg in the air and holding onto the toes. Straighten the leg. Good for the buttocks and balance.

Upper Body Strength- The advanced surfing pop up requires pushing off the surfboard and bringing both feet under the body to the right posture on the board. In the water it is difficult without upper body strength. I teach beginners to put the back foot on the board and start standing on it while lifting the arms and bringing the front foot to the middle of the board. This doesn’t require upper body strength.

Coordination- For a lack of a better term, I am calling the process of balancing, paddling, timing, and moving to the right posture coordination. A high percentage of new students can’t translate what they hear and see to their body. In general, I find boys don’t listen and only take in half of what is said and girls generally take in 100%. Those who can hear and get their body to follow all the instructions progress much faster. Continuous learning of new body movements through dancing, sports, yoga etc help people learn each new sport faster.

Timing- There are at least 5 parts to riding a wave that have to be put in order. First students have to paddle balanced on the board which is more difficult than you would think. Secondly, the surfer must paddle until they are in front of the wave which most beginners rush and put hands on the board too soon. Thirdly, the pop up motion begins after the board is in front of the wave and has to be executed smoothly and perfectly to keep the board going straight and balanced. At the beginning students put knees on the board or hold on too long and fall quickly.

Posture – Beginners need to be in the right posture on the board to ride straight to the beach in foam waves. Advanced surfers develop how they like to ride the board, but beginners have to get their body weight distributed right. The feet need to be shoulder width apart to create a nice platform. The front foot has to be in the middle of the board at a 45 degree angle facing forward. The hips and shoulders need to be facing forward with the hands up in front to be sure weight is equal on both sides of the board’s center line. A trailing shoulder or hand is the primary reason beginners fall. I use a four count for the surfing pop up to get quick smooth rhythm.

Yes, that is a lot. It is the reason most surfers will say it is the most difficult sport to learn. In the movies it looks easy. If you are serious, you will practice popups in your living room every day and cross train for strength, stamina and flexibility, just like the pros.

For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page

See my YouTube pop up video for good instructions

A good video of Catching Waves