Give Surfing a Try
(Continued From the Front Page)

Summer may be winding down, but there are good reasons now to try a popular coastal pastime and great cross-training activity: surfing. While surfing does not require a wetsuit, the repeated sand-on-board contact with your chest and stomach can chafe you considerably. A good deal of the time, you will be paddling out to catch a wave, and a wetsuit can protect you from skin abrasions. The addition of a wetsuit, then, is one reason surfing needn’t be restricted to summer temperatures. And by avoiding the waves during the popular summer months, a beginner has more personal space in the surf, which can make for a significantly less stressful experience as you tackle the surfing learning curve.

Equipment. For starters, then, you will need three items: a surfboard, a wetsuit, and a leash to keep the board from escaping. The preferred surfboard for beginners is generally the funboard. These boards are usually between seven and eight feet long. They are longer and faster than shortboards and shorter and more maneuverable than longboards. In addition to maneuverability, the reason funboards are recommended for beginners is that they are more buoyant and help ease the transition to a longboard or shortboard.

When shopping for a wetsuit, consider thickness, fit, and seam structure. Wetsuits are made out of a synthetic rubber, neoprene, and come in different thicknesses based on how cold the water is. If you will spend the majority of your surfing in water that is 85 degrees or warmer, you will want only 2 mm of thickness. If you are surfing in 70- to 85-degree water, you will want 3 mm of thickness. If the water is 55 to 70 degrees (which will happen if you plan on surfing year-round), you should select a suit with 6 mm of thickness.

Make sure that the suit is snug, but doesn't restrict your range of motion. The stitching connecting the neoprene is very important in keeping the water out. Of the three types, the most basic is overlock stitching, which is very durable but may let in some water. Flatlock stitching is not as durable as overlock, but it rubs upon the skin less. Blindstitching keeps the water out and allows more flexibility, but is not as durable as the other two types of stitching.

Surf Stance. On the beach, mold a one-foot high mound of wet sand and place the middle of your board right over the top of the mound. Step onto it carefully, back foot first. Your feet should be wider than your shoulders, with toes perpendicular to the board.

The best way to tell which foot is best placed in front and which in back is to imagine sliding in your socks across a linoleum floor: which foot feels natural to put in front? This ought to become your surfing lead foot. (Many, but certainly not all, right-handers place their left foot in front.)

Note that you don’t want to stand centered on the board: your body should be positioned more toward the back end. On the length-axis, your front foot should be just in front of the board’s middle, or right around where the widest part of the sand mound diameter ends. Your back foot should be a foot or two from the back end. On the width-axis, stand with your heels right against the side of the board (the sides are known as the rails), not with your feet in the middle of the board. Assume a “goal keeper” stance, with bent knees.

Next rock back and forth on the sand mound, getting a feel for the balancing act required. Shifting weight to your front leg will accelerate you in the water, and to your back leg, cause you to brake. Always keep your arms up for balance, with your lead arm more or less straight in line with the lengthwise center of the board. Look forward, not down; in surfing, where you look is where you go.

Paddling. Run into the surf, place the board down, and lay on top of it in a fluid motion. Your paddle stroke should be essentially like a crawl swimming stroke. Center yourself on the board, keep your legs straight behind you, and paddle with the board nose an inch or two above the water surface.

The goal now is to paddle through the break zone, into the swelling water beyond the whitewater where the waves are breaking. When trying to get through the whitewater, use the push up method. Plant your palms face-down on the rails, and as the wave approaches, slightly push up onto your knees and toes. Once you are halfway through the wave, assume the paddling position and continue on.

Conversely, if you approach a wave that is about to break, you will have to go through it. As you approach the apex of the wave, hold onto the rails and lower your chest and head to the board. Brace yourself and punch right through it. The faster and harder you paddle through a wave the better your chances of getting through it.

Once you’ve paddled out through the breaking waves, you are ready to catch your first wave. Sit on your board while you look for sets, which are series of waves. Once you spot a promising set, turn around so that you and the board both face the shore. A set should consist of swells, with little whitewater at all. Your goal, as you again assume the paddle position, is to place the swell underneath you, and paddle vigorously with it until it peaks directly below you, and then at that moment pop up.

Popping Up. The skill required to properly pop up—to go from lying down on the board to standing in one even motion—dictates that you practice popping up on the beach before attempting it in the ocean.

Do not place your board on a mound of sand to practice this maneuver. Simply lie down on the board stomach first. Make sure that your feet are touching the end of the board and that the nose is level with the sand. If the nose of the surfboard is pointing into the sky, then move closer to the nose. If the nose is pointing into the sand, move your body toward the back end.

Place your hands on the rails, even with your shoulders and cock your elbows back like you're about to do a push up. Power from the shoulders and chest, combined with a vigorous toe spring, are the key elements to a successful pop up. Push with your arms, then spring off your toes, planting feet, twisting hips, and crouching all in one continuous movement. Do not kneel first. Practice this on the beach until the movement feels somewhat natural. Getting into your goal keeper stance with toes perpendicular to the board, as quickly as possible, is the essential test.

Reading and Riding Waves. In the water, remember your goal is to have the wave break directly underneath you. Start paddling early as the wave approaches. You should be reaching full speed as the wave comes underneath you and lifts you up. The time to stand is when the board starts to plane on the surface of the water.

Waves start as swells, which then peak, curl, and break in the break zone, becoming whitewater at the end of the cycle. The standing portion of your experience—the actual surfing—is best thought of as riding the breaking process. Therefore, you’ll want the swell to come underneath you just prior to break. You must paddle to keep perfectly over it, then stand to ride the journey down.

As you become more experienced, practice angling your board when a wave is steep. This will help you avoid a nosedive. A slow rolling, mellow wave might be surfed at a perpendicular angle, but steeper waves will require this angling or turning. Apart from the wave’s steepness, another factor calls for mastery of making turns: waves frequently, if not mostly, come in at angles to the shoreline.

Waves that Peel. Waves that run at an angle or even sideways down the beach before shutting down are said to peel, and these waves, naturally, travel either to the left or to the right. Your goal is to keep more or less at a right angle to the wave (except when you are counteracting steepness by angling). Therefore, you’ll need to know which direction to turn. There is no set answer; some surfers prefer frontside surfing, others go backside. This simply means that the surfer either prefers to face the wave or have her/his back to it. (Everyone has their preference as to which foot goes forward, so whether you go right or left when you ride a peeling wave is not the sole determinant of whether you’re surfing frontside or backside.)

Changing direction on your board involves placing your weight on your back foot and pivoting your torso in the direction you wish to turn. It is a difficult skill to master, but will provide you with much longer rides as you stay ahead and out of the wave crash. As a beginner, however, the basics of board balance and popping up should be your focus. It’s therefore a good idea to practice at length in the whitewater before paddling out past the break zone. Once you can pop up and stand in the whitewater reliably, you can get out into the open face and attempt to ride the swells.

The Rules of Surfing. Once you’re out past the break zone, you’ll encounter many more surfers. Become familiar with these rules of behavior before heading outside of the whitewater. These are well-established rules that bring order to what would otherwise be a nightmarish and chaotic sport.

1. The person up and riding first that is closest to the breaking part of the wave has the right of way. You may hear people declaring their right to a wave by whistling, or shouting "Hey," "I got it," "Coming down," etc.

2. Do not “drop in” on someone who is already riding a wave. Dropping in refers to taking off on a wave in front of someone who is already riding it, i.e., someone who has the right of way.

3. When paddling over or through a wave that someone else is riding, move to go behind them. This allows them to continue riding the wave without having to dodge you. You will be smashed by the whitewater, but that is the nature of the experience, and when others do the same for you, you'll be grateful.

4. Keep a good attitude. Apologize if you make a mistake. If you are involved in a collision, stop what you're doing to make sure everyone is okay. And remember, never surf without a lifeguard on duty.

Mahalo, www.mahalo.com/how-to-surf-for-beginners

Oceano Surf School, www.surf-school-spain.com

Green Iguana Surf Camp, “Surf Science,” www.greeniguanasurfcamp.com/SurfScience.htm

Santa Barbara Surfing, www.santabarbarasurfing.com/guide/how.html

(return to front page)