learing to surf what should i learn first

[jackharley]

what should i learn first cutbacks or snaps or something different? and how do you do them?

[jaffa1949]

Wow basic stuff first, surfing is a continuum of doing things in response to the wave.
Bottom turn, cutback or top turn, trim, re-weight, do little things ( like tictacs on a skate board).
Learn to generate speed across the wave by what you do, don't get caught in thinking tricks.
Think what do I need to do as a way of riding this wave well.
Snaps are high amplitude high speed cutbacks and will not happen unless you can generate speed from your first bottom turn.
In fact nothing much happens unless you can generate speed from the initial take off.

Lay a really good foundation for your future surfing become really strong in your basics then the other stuff just becomes add ons!

[waikikikichan]

A Cutback is a turn. A Snap is also a turn. Just like in throwing a pitch, there's different pitches straight, curve, knuckle, off speed etc. But a person that can't even toss a ball back and forth shouldn't be thinking about throwing curve balls. You need to be able to do a basic direction turn down before you do a Cutback. And you need to be able to do a Cutback before you do a Snap. A true gauge of how good a surfers skills is how his Round House cutback ( or full wrapping cutback ) is, of which I have a hard time doing.

But even before that you need to learn how to trim, how to pump, and how to position your feet on the board. And if your foot isn't even on the tail pad, you're not going to do a Snap.

[oldmansurfer]

There is a natural progression of things in learning to surf. First is to learn to judge where and when to go surf. Then to learn how to get out to the break. Then when and how to paddle to catch a wave. Then how to pop up. THEN how to turn generally a bottom turn is the most important turn to learn. It's the first turn you make on a wave and it sets up the next one. But once you turn at the bottom then you need to learn other turns to slow down or speed up. Actually before any of that you should know how to swim fairly well.

[BoMan]

Ru is a wonderful instructor at Surf Simply. Watch his video tutorials, get lots of practice and don't be afraid of failure!
As Big H says..."Go get crushed and become a surfer!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVyatMUYwZw&list=PLOCtke92OW_Uv__KAZ1pbBDqSjGV_nqtu

[oldmansurfer]

Those are a great set of tutorials but depending on your exact level of surfing it might help to get some face to face lessons.

[billie_morini]

My suggestion is to learn to hold your breath under water for a long time. You'll live to thank me for this advice.