Surfing Waves

Hey everyone,

I’ve been surfing about 3 years now. I’ve posted on here a few times regarding form help.
I feel fairly confident when surfing. I’m by no means good, but am at the competent stage now, able to complete soft cutbacks, occasionally a floater, navigate sections, and generate speed. I’ve noticed in a lot of pictures, whenever I get them, that on my front side when going to hit a section or do a bottom turn I often throw my arms up. Is this a bad habit, or just a matter of style, or both?

I’ll attach some pictures to give an example. I appreciate the help

Ah Beethoven. You are conducting the orchestra of your body during the symphony of the wave.

Here are pictures of Midget Farrelly by Jack Eden
Midget was a supreme stylist and first world champion in 1964



Don’t just look at the arms look at body torque and leg weightedness..

Your last picturewith both arms reaching forward could un balance you

In your first photo, are you trying to:
1) hit the lip
2) cutback
3) do a floater

Throwing your arms up lightens the amount of weight pressing into the board and can assist with doing various maneuvers. Can also be a out of balance thing.

Notice in my pictures of Midget, his eyes are always focused where he is going to be next, size up the photos and see, the wave encourages you to respond in the dance, your eyes are following what is being offered and your body follows, it is faster than thought and cannot be enforced upon the wave. .

Think graceful , not demented spider arm waving, some where in between is the twin fin multiple world champion Mark Richards, also known as the wounded seagull, hmmmmm!
Arm movements enhance and need to be meaningful added as flow enhancing actions!

In the first photo I was just trying to hit the lip there.
It doesn’t feel out of balance, though it may be. I feel like I’m trying to lean into a wave or do a maneuver. It feels decent sometimes, but if I see a picture it looks far worse than I envisioned it.

Arms up help to go up the wave. Surfing is about moving your body along with the surfboard along the wave. The is much that you can do that changes your center of gravity or the balance point of weight in your body. Bending your legs lowers it extending them raises it in addition it generates an upward or downward force that is applied or taken off to the surfboard. There is a sort of complex dynamic that occurs where extending the legs and raising the arms increases force down into the board and this can be used to generate speed or hold speed through a turn but then the center of gravity moves upward and this allows for the board to go upward as well by lessening the force applied to it from gravity and your weight. However arms up and waving wildly is usually a sign the surfer is off balance. I guess it might be a style thing but more than that there is a function to raising your arms. In the photos with you leaning and looking down the wave your arms are forward and that shifts your center of gravity forward maybe to help project that direction from the turn. Partly a turn especially one that maximizes speed you lean in the direction you want to turn then bring the board under you. This is similar to generating speed on a skateboard. Essentially you are off balance falling in the direction you are leaning but you quickly bring the board under you and then go off balance in the other direction if more speed is needed and repeat. So crouching down lowers you center of gravity however it takes weight off the board until you hit the bottom then it increases your weight on the board (the momentum of your weight and the speed downward in the crouch) then extending the legs increases downward force and raising arms increases downward force into the board until you reach the end of the movement then it decreases force into the board but your center of gravity upward throughout the movement.