Surfing Waves

Hello everybody,
I'm a real beginner and I have a big problem with the board.
I'm a small woman (1.63 m and 55 kg/ 5.3 ft and 123 lbs) and I had my first two lessons on a 9 ft softboard. It has been a nightmare.
I have no strength, the board was huge and I couldn't turn it, actually I couldn't manage it at all.
Was the board too big for me? Should I improve my strength before trying again? are there lighter and more manageable boards for beginners?
I'd really like to learn.
Thanks a lot

Firstly, surfboards are big and unwieldy even for the strongest person. Softboards are particularly heavy and more floaty (which is good for learning but means the board is more susceptible to whatever is happening on the top of the water)

You have identified two issues: cant manage and cant turn. The latter is purely surfing skill/technique and there are plenty of resources on how to turn. Reality is that proper turning takes time and you cant expect it to happen straight away. A person your size can absolutely turn a 9ft board. https://barefootsurftravel.com/livemore-magazine/turn-surfboard-trimming-vs-carving

However, management of your board is something you can - and need to - start getting right. Not being able to manage your board is the surf is a danger to you and to everyone else.

Even a modest sized wave has more power than the strongest person; so while having more strength (particularly grip strength) is definitely an advantage, the sea will always be stronger. Going to a smaller board wont help an awful lot

I suspect your main issue is not lack of strength, its lack of technique. The key to controlling your board in the surf is to be in the right place (so you arent confronted by waves crashing onto you or huge walls of white water) and to minimise the impact of the waves on the board. for example, if you hold the board sideways to the wave and try to hold onto it, you will be smashed because there is a big force hitting a big object. If you hold the board near the nose and point the nose into the wave, then the board will ‘slice through’ the waves – there is a big force hitting a very small object.

I commonly see beginners, for example, holding their boards in front of them when a wave is about to hit. Thinking the board will perhaps protect them from the wave. Instead the wave hits the board and the board hits the person.

Rule number one: never put the board between you and the wave. The wave will always win. The board should always be to the side of you or behind you (or above or below you). Never in front of you

Rule two: until you get more skilled, the nose of the board should always be the part of the board that hits the wave first.

Rule 3: learn to turtle roll

Think about standing in waves without a board. If you just stand there and let the wave hit your body, you are knocked over and about. If you duck underneath the surface, its calmer and you are fine. If you spear yourself into the face of the wave and through the wave, you are generally fine.

Learning where to be (or more relevantly where not to be) and at what time is a learning experience that will come with time. If you get smashed, then next time dont be there.

At your size you probably could go to a slightly smaller board (eg 8ft) and get a lighter board. But while that will help you carry the board around out of the water, it will make little to no difference in board control when in the water – because, as said, its technique not strength. You will never win a strength battle against a wave.

Here is a starter lesson for smaller waves/white water: https://barefootsurftravel.com/livemore-magazine/paddle-push-waves

You are a true beginner / newbie with only 2 lessons, YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO BE TURNING a surfboard yet. Just like learning to ride a bike, you probably just trying to stay up right going straight. Then Dad has to come running to you at the end of the block, turns the bike around and you go back the other way. Later on, comes turning. Same for "Riding" a surfboard as a beginner, afterwards you will learn how to turn and that's when you start "surfing".

** just to make it clear, do you mean "turn" the board as in turning/steering a car, bicycle or boat ? Or do you mean turn around while laying on the board from facing the horizon to facing the beach ?

by the way, I am a small man ( 1.58 m and 56 kg . 5.2 ft and 125 lbs )

Omg wakikichan is that how everyone learns to ride a bike? I guess how I learned is just as weird as my learning to surf. I first rode a bike that my short legs couldn’t reach the seat and to peddle I had to rotate back and forth over the bar. There were no brakes and to slow down you had to put back pressure on the peddles or run it into the hedge. I started withe the bike leaning against the hedge. No parents just my best friend who was even shorter than me and figured out this method. Wow! Never really thought about that before

waikikikichan, when I say "turning the board", I mean turn around from facing the horizon to facing the beach.
Thanks a lot everybody!!

Tullalee wrote:waikikikichan, when I say "turning the board", I mean turn around from facing the horizon to facing the beach.

Ahhh, so you meant to say you have a hard time spinning the board around. Yeah it's hard for everyone for awhile. If you're trying to spin the board while laying down, there's just so many factors working against you, one being the fin at the back wants to steer forward instead of rotate.
That's why you see people:
1) sit up a bit back on the board to get the nose up and let the board pivot.
2) paddle with one hand and pull the rail with the other hand.
3) kicking their feet underwater in a egg beater effect.

Trying it for the first time the board might shoot out up into the sky ( and hit the person next to you ) or you don't spin either way. It takes your core muscles and coordination to do it, which builds up in time.

waikikikichan wrote:

Tullalee wrote:waikikikichan, when I say "turning the board", I mean turn around from facing the horizon to facing the beach.

Ahhh, so you meant to say you have a hard time spinning the board around. Yeah it's hard for everyone for awhile. If you're trying to spin the board while laying down, there's just so many factors working against you, one being the fin at the back wants to steer forward instead of rotate.
That's why you see people:
1) sit up a bit back on the board to get the nose up and let the board pivot.
2) paddle with one hand and pull the rail with the other hand.
3) kicking their feet underwater in a egg beater effect.

Trying it for the first time the board might shoot out up into the sky ( and hit the person next to you ) or you don't spin either way. It takes your core muscles and coordination to do it, which builds up in time.

Just to elaborate a bit on this, assuming the starting position is you sitting on the board facing the ocean:

In step 1 you should first grab the sides of the board right in front of your legs, then you can push with your arms to slide your butt back until gravity sinks the tail and lifts the nose.
After step 3 when you've spun your board and are now facing the beach, you do the reverse process and pull yourself back up the board to the proper position, and you can get down and start paddling for the wave.
(I might be providing too much detail, but I've had to explain it this way to beginners in the water who don't understand how I am spinning around for waves so quickly.)

The other parts of managing your board in the ocean get a lot easier as you learn and get used to being in the ocean. The board will always be bigger than you, but you will gradually anticipate where you need to be and how to manage your board. It can all feel very chaotic at first, but it just takes water time to acclimate. dtc mentioned the #1 rule of never putting the board between you and the wave. Another fundamental rule is you generally will always have the board perpendicular to shore- either facing the wave or facing the shore. Having the board parallel to oncoming waves exposes much more of the board to the wave and makes it harder to get past breaking waves and whitewater.

You could probably surf an 8 ft. soft board just fine too and it will be somewhat more manageable, but the smaller the board the less stable it will be to actually ride so there's always a trade off. If your instructor has 8 ft. boards you could always try one, you might find that is overall a better balance for you.