Surfing Waves

Found this video on Youtube where a snow ski instructor documents his attempt to become a surfer.


It's interesting to see his "choices" and his "thoughts" on what should be done versus what his instructor is advising.

Here is some points i noticed:
1) 2:50 the instructor recommends a bigger 8'2" NSP longboard, but the Beginner wants to ride a Firewire 7'6"ish board. 3:49 "my choice".
2) 9:40 the elbow locked back "shield" front arm. You notice later in the video it's a hard bad habit.
3) 12:00 Pumping ? Stomping the front foot. 12:27 " I did it cause I wanted to speed up ".
4) 14:48 Steering flappy arms in the whitewater.

Overall, i see he wants to "surf" , but he is not even past the "riding" the whitewater stage. He wants to speed up, turn, etc. yet can not even paddle and pop up correctly. He is getting way too ahead of himself. But that maybe because he can do awesome tricks on the snow.

I noticed the same "wants" from posting on this forum.
"How do I speed up more ?"
"How do I turn ?"
"What's a good board ?" " Can i learn on a short(er) board ?"

Yeah but it seems like he is learning fairly fast compared to your usual beginner

LOL .....he got exhausted paddling in the pool. Surfing isn't easy.

He said his first time surfing was in 2008, where he just rented a board and went for it. Not sure how many times he's been surfing after that initial time. But if there's a 9 year gap, that's why I put Beginner/Newbie in the title.

waikikikichan wrote:1) 2:50 the instructor recommends a bigger 8'2" NSP longboard, but the Beginner wants to ride a Firewire 7'6"ish board. 3:49 "my choice".

"What's a good board ?" " Can i learn on a short(er) board ?"

It's because of videos like this.


I took my snowboarding friends out, they couldn't even sit on a 8'0 huge foamie board without falling off. Then they sent me this video saying they need a smaller board the next time they go.

I am a decent snowboarder and don't think surfing is anything like it. For one thing, the surface is dynamic and your feet aren't bound to the board. I thought I'd catch on pretty quickly because I've snowboarded for years but nope, it's nowhere near the same and my balance is still way off. Also, I'm goofy and while my front turns on the surfboard should come easier to me apparently (and my local surf spot breaks left 99% of the time), they aren't because on the snowboard I'm more comfortable with my back turns. Because of this, it's hard for me to even get the feeling of going down the line.

I was out the last two mornings surrounded by beginner intermediates on shortboards who could not catch a wave.....

Big H wrote:I was out the last two mornings surrounded by beginner intermediates on shortboards who could not catch a wave.....

Sounds like me. Every now and again I take my 6'3 fish and humiliate myself in the line up. Good for you tho, you can surf all the waves.

kookRachelle wrote:I am a decent snowboarder and don't think surfing is anything like it. For one thing, the surface is dynamic and your feet aren't bound to the board. I thought I'd catch on pretty quickly because I've snowboarded for years but nope, it's nowhere near the same and my balance is still way off. Also, I'm goofy and while my front turns on the surfboard should come easier to me apparently (and my local surf spot breaks left 99% of the time), they aren't because on the snowboard I'm more comfortable with my back turns. Because of this, it's hard for me to even get the feeling of going down the line.

I guess we will be snowboarding when winter comes. I so not looking forward to breaking any bones.

BaNZ wrote:

kookRachelle wrote:I am a decent snowboarder and don't think surfing is anything like it. For one thing, the surface is dynamic and your feet aren't bound to the board. I thought I'd catch on pretty quickly because I've snowboarded for years but nope, it's nowhere near the same and my balance is still way off. Also, I'm goofy and while my front turns on the surfboard should come easier to me apparently (and my local surf spot breaks left 99% of the time), they aren't because on the snowboard I'm more comfortable with my back turns. Because of this, it's hard for me to even get the feeling of going down the line.

I guess we will be snowboarding when winter comes. I so not looking forward to breaking any bones.

YESS!! you give me surfing tips and I'll give you snowboarding tips! Jay Peak is all powder and way more forgiving when you fall. They also have butt and hip pads for pussies like you.

BaNZ wrote:It's because of videos like this.

Ahhh.... the famous "How to Surf Like a Pro in 25 Minutes" video. Where we get all the "I was told Fish boards are good for learning on" comments on this forum. I wish I could do a review/critic on them and dispel all their bad advices. For instance at 8:04 mark "When you're paddling, you want to have your hands CUPPED".

Yeah, get a Fish board, Cup your hands and you'll be a pro in 25 minutes ! Those guys keep me in business and the forum busy, having to correct all the bad habits after newbies watch their video.

kookRachelle wrote:I am a decent snowboarder and don't think surfing is anything like it. For one thing, the surface is dynamic and your feet aren't bound to the board. I thought I'd catch on pretty quickly because I've snowboarded for years but nope, it's nowhere near the same and my balance is still way off. Also, I'm goofy and while my front turns on the surfboard should come easier to me apparently (and my local surf spot breaks left 99% of the time), they aren't because on the snowboard I'm more comfortable with my back turns. Because of this, it's hard for me to even get the feeling of going down the line.

I guess I see 3 overall areas of mastery to basic surfing- balance, paddling, and reading waves (this is before you even start doing a lot of turns and maneuvers.) All 3 are very important, and snowboarding or skateboarding experience are only somewhat helpful to 1 area. So I think your experience is not surprising.

waikikikichan wrote:Found this video on Youtube where a snow ski instructor documents his attempt to become a surfer.
It's interesting to see his "choices" and his "thoughts" on what should be done versus what his instructor is advising.

The opening of the second video from this guy cracked me up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6ALmEFhyA

Rinkydink- you beat me to it ! But yes the beginning is the total kook king moment.


Some points that caught my attention:
1) 1:13 not really a point, but I wonder if you can catch the rider do a Skeg-Reverse take-off to Switch Off the lip Cutback.
2) 3:40 Paddling reality. Paddling in a pool, exercising in the gym, don't matter much.
3) 4:05 " I told him a hundred times ". I've been telling a friend for over 15 years about her stance, but it's too hard for her to break that habit. Learn the proper way earlier, not latter.
4) 7:05 Pop Up, I don't teach the "Chicken Wing technique" because it leads to a crawl up. It's hard to fight the momentum as the board is falling downwards. Usually as the front foot is try to come forward, most beginners loop over backwards. ( due to weak paddle, not enough core muscles, too small board, etc. )
ALSO I do not agree with the back foot laying over on the arch. I teach that the foot should be fully planted with the whole sole of the foot. ( not on the toes or laying over on the arch )
5) 11:35 "I think I'm talented, so I can start with a Shortboard" . Remember this is coming from a pro ski instructor.
6) 12:20 OH no !! another Fish validation.

waikikikichan wrote:4) 7:05 Pop Up, I don't teach the "Chicken Wing technique" because it leads to a crawl up. It's hard to fight the momentum as the board is falling downwards. Usually as the front foot is try to come forward, most beginners loop over backwards. ( due to weak paddle, not enough core muscles, too small board, etc. )
ALSO I do not agree with the back foot laying over on the arch. I teach that the foot should be fully planted with the whole sole of the foot. ( not on the toes or laying over on the arch )

I agree with you on the chicken wing popup. I know lots of surfer's prefer that technique, but I think it's a little too slow for me. My popups are already too slow. One thing I'm working on improving is the speed of my popup. I find that the quicker I'm up and riding the faster other surfer's see I have the wave and decide against dropping in.

I noticed the guy has the skier's stance... tendency to keep his upper body to face forward instead of letting his right shoulder and hip to lead. I had that as a former skier until the surf shop guy/instructor had pointed it out to me while I was skateboarding. I guess it's harder for people who are proficient in other sports to admit that they totally suck at surfing in the beginning. For that matter that guy is brave for posting that vid for the world to see his kookiness even if it was for attracting more subscribers.

steveylang wrote:

kookRachelle wrote:I am a decent snowboarder and don't think surfing is anything like it. For one thing, the surface is dynamic and your feet aren't bound to the board. I thought I'd catch on pretty quickly because I've snowboarded for years but nope, it's nowhere near the same and my balance is still way off. Also, I'm goofy and while my front turns on the surfboard should come easier to me apparently (and my local surf spot breaks left 99% of the time), they aren't because on the snowboard I'm more comfortable with my back turns. Because of this, it's hard for me to even get the feeling of going down the line.

I guess I see 3 overall areas of mastery to basic surfing- balance, paddling, and reading waves (this is before you even start doing a lot of turns and maneuvers.) All 3 are very important, and snowboarding or skateboarding experience are only somewhat helpful to 1 area. So I think your experience is not surprising.

There are some crossovers that we tend to forget though as we become proficient in other boardsports and these abilities become innate. I did a three day beginners surfing course on holiday this year, and this girl on the course stood up on her first wave without a hint of a wobble, turned a bit to lengthen the ride and then rode it to the beach. Nobody else did that - her friends (all the same age, similar zero surfing experience) took hours, if not days, to get to that stage. It turned out she was an experienced snowboarder. I experienced a similar thing due to my windsurfing and SUP experience. Needless to say, this advantage doesn't go much beyond the instincts to balance and control a board, but nevertheless, there are some advantages, no matter how small. For sure, there are disadvantages too - as a windsurfer I can't help but point my front foot forwards and I'm having to work hard to stop it.

Every sport is made up of a large number of separate abilities/facets, some unique to the sport, and some cross-over between sports. This is also how sports are classified: for example surfing is a 'carving' sport, along with skateboarding, car and motorbike racing, windsurfing, snowboarding and skiing. Anyone who's done one of those carving sports finds it easier to pick up another. Sure, each one has unique facets too (reading waves is unique to surfing and wave windsurfing), but there are similarities, for example balancing on a board and controlling it with your weight. I've instructed in motorsport for many years now and it's pretty obvious who does related sports and who doesn't. Amusingly, I remember decades ago when my sister bought a Wii games console, my technophobe Dad absolutely kicked arse on the skiing game, despite never having skied before and being generally useless at computer games - he was an experienced windsurfer, and the principle of using his balance and weight to control something beneath his feet was well dialled in, whereas it was pretty new to the rest of us.

I think it's a bit harsh to criticise this skiing guy on this thread; there are bound to be similarities that make him want to leap ahead, but then other things that are alien. That's just natural.

Beginner77 wrote:I think it's a bit harsh to criticise this skiing guy on this thread; there are bound to be similarities that make him want to leap ahead, but then other things that are alien.

I posted this not to criticize the video guy, but as a warning to others. Even a pro ski instructor that makes how-to videos has a hard time learning to surf. So when newbies say they ski, snow, wake, skate, freestyle stunt superbike, etc, that them being good at those disciplines ( and fast learning curve ) will transfer over to surfing .............. NOT !!

The riding of the board is the easy part, relatively speaking.

Big H wrote:The riding of the board is the easy part, relatively speaking.

Agree, I still struggle with turtle roll. Loses my board nearly every time and it becomes a projectile. Hence why I only go out when it is clean glassy waves and the interval are long.