Surfing Waves

Check out this video of newbies taking surf lessons. Some post come to mind.
1) What size shortboard should I get that easy to duckdive because I can't make it out on a longboard.
2) I took 3 lessons, what do you recommend a Funboard or a Fish
3) When can I do airs ?
First couple minutes you just can't look away, cause you know what going to happen
Check out the beginners at 5:01 on their short(er) boards paddle their guts out.
Check out 5:46. Dudes, catch the waves first .......... THEN stand up. ( or is their instructor yelling at them to pop up NOW ! "
At 5:59, the word Pearl, does not do it justice.

Yep there they all are! In all their glory

Terrible place to learn to surf tho! Just massive close outs

Why not just keep them all in the white water ...and maybe mention that after the wave takes you out you don't stand there for 30 seconds until the next wave hits you

Instead of pearling they should call that clamming because they were digging for clams with their boards

Reminds me of todays session, it was clean offshore winds with 6-8ft waves, the shorebreak was crazy to get past but I did, once I made it out back, there was like 7 foamies?!?!?!?
Then I saw people on foamies nose diving in jacking surf, they were paddling for bombs and faceplanting everytime, one of them kept running over bodyboarders, quite the carnage it was great afterall I caught my first barrel today It was shorter than I expected it to last

It's funny how beginners seem to have no fear and take off on the most inappropriate waves. Then you get a bit of skill and start freezing up and hesitant. Then more confident and loosen up again. Then eventually go back to trying to catch the same waves you were trying to catch as a beginner, just for fun

Surfing is a bit of a catch 22 for a beginner. The hardest thing to handle in any kind of short interval shorebreak (where you are learning) is a giant chunk of foam. Therefore you are relegated to learn in dangerously shallow shorepound. No wonder so many people give up.

If you're a beginner who persists, take pride in the fact that you are a trooper and that the worst will soon be over.

You know I mostly they aren't taking too much of a pounding. The waves are small and don't appear to be very powerful. On many of the days that I surf I endure poundings that are more severe although none of that pearling or going over the wave backward . They have someone with them teaching them how to go through the surf. We all have to learn somehow. One thing that they don't seem to be learning is "Don't hang out in the impact zone"

Good point....that might exactly be the lesson since the water is waist deep and they could just walk out through it and for whatever reason they just don't/won't clear the impact zone.....

Just remember we all had to start at some point. What we take for granite now wasn't so easy when we started. Still funny though with the music.

I didn't post this to tease or put down newbies, but rather to highlight how some surf "instructors" teach. I don't blame the student, I blame the teacher. Check out the "instructor" at :43, OMG I feel so bad for the student.

Yeah...that's the one....seen plenty of instructors pushing students into waves.........just usually from the other direction.

So how do other surf instructors teach people to go through the surf?

oldmansurfer wrote:So how do other surf instructors teach people to go through the surf?

probably they pick mellower spots?

pmcaero wrote:

oldmansurfer wrote:So how do other surf instructors teach people to go through the surf?

probably they pick mellower spots?

Over in my area, instructors usually get in the water w/out a board, just fins and they guide/push the newbies through the surf. Seems to work well, only thing is they usually jam up a peak but not a big deal where I surf(open beachbreak).