Need advice on Paddling

[walter_mundstock]

Hi All.
I'm new at surfing and I have been asking around about something and opinions seem to differ a lot about this.

When I'm paddling to catch the wave, should I or should I NOT kick with my feet? If not, shall I attempt to get my feet out of the water ?

How much of my legs should pass the end of the surfboard?

Thank you very much!
Walter

[drowningbitbybit]

The big question is what size board are you on?
If you're on a shortboard then, yes, your feet will hang off the end. Whether to kick or not is a personal preference.

But if you're on a longboard (correct me if Im wrong longboarders...) then your feet wont be off the end of the board.

[surferdude_scarborough]

When paddling you should be just far enough back on the board so the nose is a couple of inches out of the water. On a shortboard this will mean your feet are off the end.

As dbbb said you can kick if you want but this is definately personal preference. just dont forget not to do it if you surf a longboard when youre used to shortboards. Painful.

[jaffa1949]

One of the bits of advice I give any newbie is keep your leg together, splaying them out to either side to act as outriggers disrupts your balance and if you have to kick it is really important to get a rhythm that works with your paddle strokes or it will unbalance you.
get your arm work strong and even, that's more important than kicking. There are other things you can do on a short board for later takeoffs like the submerging board popping out paddle. The no stroke pop up and drop takeoff.
Let's just make you aware that even after 50 years of surfing there are new things I am still learning.

Kicking on a longboard is a bit like our nunchuk friend

[walter_mundstock]

Thanks guys for the quick replies. Very useful information!