Surfing Waves

Hi guys! So I'm a brand spankin new beginner surfer. I haven't taken any lessons but a few friends rented some surfboards and they showed me some basics. I'm going to take an actual lesson in a few weeks.

So far, I haven't quite gotten the whole "popping up" thing and end up relying on my knees a lot. Even when I feel like I didn't go to my knees, I think I scrape my knees on my way to getting on my feet. The time I went surfing I ended up with a pretty nasty scrape at the end of the day on my right knee. It took forever to heal and even got infected and needed to get antibiotics for it.

I understand the scrapes and bruises come with the territory and my knees should fare better once I get better at surfing properly, but while I'm still learning and figuring everything out does anyone have any suggestions for ways I can prevent my knees from getting all banged up?

I also got an annoying rash on my rib area so I was thinking of getting one of those rash guard tops for that. Does it make a difference compared to if I just wore a tshirt?

I'm in south florida and the water is pretty warm so I don't want to get a wetsuit or anything (also, I hear wet suits are expensive and so I don't spend the money). But does anyone have any suggestions for something I can use for my knees? I figure a big bandaid will just rub off.

Thanks!

Kikikiwi, don't think about getting a rash vest, forget about a tee shirt the rash shirt / vest is also a protection against UV rays giving you sunburn and possibly skin cancer.

As for your knees, as you learn to pop up properly in your surf lessons, the knee problem will go away

They make a 1mm neoprene rash guard that could offer you some protection. Not really the intended purpose but it would alleviate some of your discomfort.

As to piping up, are you doing the beg goner mistake of paddling out to the lineup without knowing how to pop up? If you are, you need to start in the whitewash, about waist high, practice nothing but poping up. Don't paddle, wait for some whitewash, those yourself onto the board then pop up. Don't do anything but that until you can stand up regularly.

Hi kikikiwi, welcome to Surfing Waves!

Practice your pop-ups as themathteacher suggests. Ideally you want as little knee contact as possible. While you are honing your skills, you might want to try one of the neoprene knee support thingies*. That might offer some protection.

(* this may not be the exact technical description)

themathteacher wrote:As to piping up, are you doing the beg goner mistake of paddling out to the lineup without knowing how to pop up? If you are, you need to start in the whitewash, about waist high, practice nothing but poping up. Don't paddle, wait for some whitewash, those yourself onto the board then pop up. Don't do anything but that until you can stand up regularly.

+1

Relative beginner here, and I can say I made exactly the mistake described. I got some good advice when I started...and some not-so-good. For one thing I was told that it was a waste of time to stay inside and catch only whitewater to learn basic skills, that I should paddle out and work on catching green waves right away (not a professional instructor). So I spent a couple of months fighting my way out, and when I got out basically catching nothing and just trying to stay out of everybody's way When I did manage to paddle into a wave I was clueless about what to do next... Got so frustrated I was just about write off surfing as a bad mistake.

Instead I swallowed my pride, and voluntarily put myself back inside in the whitewater for about a month. Learned how to popup consistently, a bit of turning, trim, and basic balance while standing. When I finally paddled back out to the lineup things went much, much better. There are fewer eyerolls out there when you paddle out, pick off the first decent wave near you, and ride it down the line at least competently.

As for popping up, I never started with a "to the knees first" approach - always right to my feet. I've been told I've developed a pretty fast popup as a result.

also, on the knee scraping: I always take the hair of my knees when surfing in boardies. Pretty tricky not to brush your knees on the deck during a popup on a short board. I just consider it part of the 'charm' of the sport.

If it bugs you, and you're in an area where they sail skiffs or dinghies you can buy neoprene/soft rubber armoured pads to wear - similar to the physio ones, but with a rubber wear surface on the outside that is just like the knee pads on a steamer. I think Gill and Musto are two manufacturers.

Thanks everyone! I think the neoprene knee pads was exactly what I needed to know existed.


And to answer the other question, no I haven't been paddling out yet and have been staying in the whitewash. I think I definitely just need to practice popping up to my feet first for a while.