Beginner Help

[OBXSurfer]

This will be my first post! I have had about 5 surfing lessons and I decided to rent a 8' foam longboard. I own a house in Corolla, NC, but only stay there about 1 month a year. I had an advanced lesson from my local surf shop today and continued to surf with my rental board and caught lots of waves and rode multiple back to shore. I have a lot of trouble keeping my balance when I pop up. Is there anything I can to to help my balance (and possibly paddling strength as well) away from the beach? I live in TN and have access to a pool during the summer. BTW I'm only a teenager so I'd like to spend as little money as possible.

Any help is appreciated!

[dtc]

Oddly, not being able to stand up on the board is often not entirely or even mostly because you have bad balance, its because your body isnt used to what is going on and doesnt know how to cope. No muscle memory or understanding. Tightrope walkers will fall off surfboards just as much as us normal types. You can only cure that by surfing more, and eventually you will realise you are standing with no balance problems. That said, improving balance, strengthening relevant muscles etc has no downside to it and a lot of upside.

There are 'surfing aids' like indo boards http://tinyurl.com/ne97wxt that do help balance, but personally I dont rate them. I'm sure they improve your balance, but there are other ways to do it much cheaper and indo board arent really very close to surfing anyway. In my opinion. That said, indo boards can be fun in themselves (and of course skateboarding is another balance exercise that has its own fun). You can make your own indo board if you want for much less than they cost to buy. Just dont practice in front of the TV screen.

But outside of those external aids, and understanding that more surfing will often 'cure' the problem:

First: think about the muscles that allow balance - you are mostly talking ankle (strength and flexibility) and glutes. Do exercises to strengthen the muscles, keep your ankle flexible (as a teen you probably are flexible anyway). Your core is always worth working on. that said, if you are a fit/active teen, you should be in pretty good shape

2nd, there are exercises that combine strength and balance, my favourite is the single leg romanian deadlift or RDL, plenty of google examples. Pistol squats/one legged squats or even lunges are others. These are good exercises for general life as well.

3rd, and probably most relevant, do balancing exercises like standing on one leg for a while, then lift your unsupported leg so the knee is above your hip. then stand on something a bit unstable (like a round log, no need for a bosu ball or anything too expensive). Then do it with your eyes closed. Stand on one leg and have something throw a ball at you to catch, or wave your arms around, twist your body etc. Wear a heavy backpack and stand on one leg. When you are in an elevator, stand on one leg just for fun. Continually put yourself in unstable situations. Do the one legged exercises mentioned above.

Finally, your surfing technique needs to be considered - for example, is your pop up smooth or jerky; do you pop up with bent legs and centred balance or are you straight legged or in the 'poo stance' (see this useful video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsq2Px8_JQ_ ). Obviously away from the water this is a bit hard to work on other than dry land pop ups (which arent ideal), but will definitely be an in-water factor to think about. Popping up low, hips below shoulders, knees bent, weight evenly distributed - if you dont get this right, you will fall over.

If you have a big break between surfs you definitely get rusty and take a few (or more) surfs to get back into the groove - so understand it will be 2 steps forward, one step back most of the time. Nothing you can do about it except move house!

[drowningbitbybit]

There are 'surfing aids' like indo boards http://tinyurl.com/ne97wxt that do help balance, but personally I dont rate them.

I do! I think they're brilliant for enhancing your balance on a board and for building the muscles you didn't even know you needed! You do need to spend a lot of time on them though - every day for an hour in front of the telly (there isnt an emoticon for wobbling about - hey SP, can we get wobbly smiley face? )

(see this useful video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsq2Px8_JQ_ ).

Ooh, that's a useful video - I'd never really thought about it from a 'where your knees point' kind of way. Almost guaranteed that I'll be thinking about this much too hard next time I'm out...

[drowningbitbybit]

I have a lot of trouble keeping my balance when I pop up. Is there anything I can to to help my balance

Are you on white water or the clean green wave? On the white water, the board will always bounce around like mad, so you need to get out in front onto the clean section of the wave.

And get down low - as a trick to teach this as a habit, touch your board with one finger of your trailing hand every time you stand up. Bend through your knees not your hips and that's about how low you need to be (maybe not quite that low, but starting from the bottom up is better than from the top down).

[dtc]

I do! I think they're brilliant for enhancing your balance on a board and for building the muscles you didn't even know you needed! You do need to spend a lot of time on them though - every day for an hour in front of the telly

Arent there stories of people falling off their indo boards and sending them flying forward straight through the tv?

I was a bit one sided in my comment - I reckon indo boards are good for improving your surfing muscles for when on the wave - weighting, unweighting, stalling and that kind of stuff. But for beginner pop up/falling off issues, not so much. But thats just me - others may have found them a great help.

[drowningbitbybit]

Arent there stories of people falling off their indo boards and sending them flying forward straight through the tv?

Oh yeah, easily done
I put one into a wall once at least 8ft off the ground

I reckon indo boards are good for improving your surfing muscles for when on the wave - weighting, unweighting, stalling and that kind of stuff. But for beginner pop up/falling off issues, not so much.

When I first had an indo board, many years ago, the first thing that I noticed in the water was that it helped me make the bumpy take-off in the white water - good flexible knees and core balance!

[dtc]

Ok, maybe I should give it another.

To OBX: also check out an Indo board!

[CARBr6]

(see this useful video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsq2Px8_JQ_ ).

Ooh, that's a useful video - I'd never really thought about it from a 'where your knees point' kind of way. Almost guaranteed that I'll be thinking about this much too hard next time I'm out...

Great!! Thanks for that, just what I needed. Even more things to think about whilst I'm surfing!
(Seriously though, great video, great tips)

[OBXSurfer]

I have a lot of trouble keeping my balance when I pop up. Is there anything I can to to help my balance

Are you on white water or the clean green wave? On the white water, the board will always bounce around like mad, so you need to get out in front onto the clean section of the wave.

And get down low - as a trick to teach this as a habit, touch your board with one finger of your trailing hand every time you stand up. Bend through your knees not your hips and that's about how low you need to be (maybe not quite that low, but starting from the bottom up is better than from the top down).

I've ridden the white water of some 5-6 ft. waves, but I ride the green unbroken waves up to maybe 3 ft. with confidence.


Thanks for all of the help guys!