how do you train?

[wat4zz]

hello,

i have a question for the more advanced surfers, maybe they can give a glimpse inside their training outlook.
how do you schedule your surfing training?
do you train like 50 bottom turns, 50 cutbacks, 50 airs, 50 barrells etc. or something like that?
how often do pro surfers surf?
how much offdays?
how often and how long should a beginner surf to avoid injuries?

[jaffa1949]

Nature provides the surf schedule, conditions apply.!

Apart from that non Pros have go to earn enough to eat buy surfboards, maintain a relationship, nobody sponsors them.
Weekends nor holidays often do not coincide with good surf.
There are flat spell, some countries are not lucky enough to have good supply of quality surf.

It is impossible to do 50 repetitions of a movement as a training as riding a wave is a connection of movements that flow into each other to make the wave.
Often at a spot Pros will read the wave to fine tune manouvres but they need to read the entire wave, and oddly enough competition daysmay present an entirely different wave to the practice days before.
Most Pro surfers start very young , do junior and adolescent competitions, they surfers who learn with the most varied conditions and Lehrling support seem to do better over all.they surf as often as possible, there are elite training courses with on land gym and other fitness and movement Program often with sponsorships from product manufacturers.
Much like skiing and other big sports. The are two professional levels of surfing and seeding like tennis, there is a round the world circuit for the almost elites and the elites, they are very very good!
Their attitudes to training and off days is often guided by a coach now.

BTW , the Pro Tour is littered with surfers who were very good , but didn’t quite make it at some stage, often with sad personal effects after their fall.
Sort of like rock and rock.

Die Antwort ist alles zusammen “ Wie lange ist ein Stück Schnur?”

You need to just go surfing for your beginnings and then progress to you happy level.
Your answer is in the waves!

[wat4zz]

It is impossible to do 50 repetitions of a movement as a training as riding a wave is a connection of movements that flow into each other to make the wave.

Read in the book Surfing: The Manual: Advanced, that there was a dude that did 100 bottom turns or so every day after he came from school

.....The are two professional levels of surfing and seeding like tennis, there is a round the world circuit for the almost elites and the elites, they are very very good!
Their attitudes to training and off days is often guided by a coach now.

Ya there are so many great surfers right now.
While I'm still train paddling and standing up on waves I looked much surfing on youtube in the last months.
When I will travel i planned to surf monday 2 hours morning, 2 hours evening, thuesday same, wednesday same, thursday just 2 hours morning, then friday fitness training (abs, ankle, knees, squats etc.),saturday chest, back, arms, shoulders, sunday one day rest and then same again.
You think thats okay or too much?

BTW , the Pro Tour is littered with surfers who were very good , but didn’t quite make it at some stage, often with sad personal effects after their fall.
Sort of like rock and rock.

that is the problem when people get a fixation on a thing,
whatever thing that might be, relationships, beliefs, sport, jobs
and identify themselves with that, being a surfer or whatever,
tripping, that they would need approval for themsleves, through this or that

You need to just go surfing for your beginnings and then progress to you happy level.
Your answer is in the waves!

To my happy level, yeah thats nicely said and true,
still these are interesting things to absorb for me.

[jaffa1949]

Assess your body as you go, there is a thing I call Frothers’ Syndrome, wher an Urlaub comes but once a year and the first three days the surfer goes out for hours and hours and the fourth day can not move or paddle because of sudden muscle fatigue and or cramps.
Pace yourself there are techniques to review your body in new learning processes, great idea!

My routine, Chi Gong, yoga a little Pilates and swimming but then I’m 70+ and still doing it ok

[wat4zz]

nice, keep it up til' your 140!

[waikikikichan]

there was a dude that did 100 bottom turns or so every day after he came from school

So everyday after school, meaning just for a few hours before the sun went down, he was able to catch, bottom turn and ride 100 waves. Say he surfed from 3pm to 8pm. So a total of 5 hours. Each hour he needed to catch at least 20 waves. Thus every 3 minutes he was on a wave. Minus the time paddling back to the peak................ that kid must paddle insane and have unreal stamina. ( and bummed out all the locals )

Usually when I go out for a few hours, I only get a 10-12 waves.

[wat4zz]

i will look into the book tomorrow and check out what exactly is written there

[oldmansurfer]

If you have the right wave and the lack of a crowd you get to choose which wave you catch and do what the wave will allow you to do. So some waves you might be able to do 30 or more bottom turns on one wave but generally those waves are in hard to get to places or extremely crowded and a beginner isn't going to do that many because they will make mistakes and fall off the wave before 30 or more. And then you spend 20 or so minutes paddling back out. My advice to everyone who is learning to surf is to keep working on your bottom turn. It's the bottom turn which will set up what else you can do on the wave. Keep at it till you can make a hard bottom turn and project down the wave but have a variety of other bottom turns that you can do. It is the basic maneuver that keeps the wave from passing you by but also sets you up for the next maneuver. However it's very unlikely that you can do 100 a day every day unless you have really nice waves and no one else out. I quit surfing for around 12 years and restarted and it took me about 3 years till I felt like I could do a decent frontside bottom turn but I only surfed 26 hours a year (30 minutes a week). This might seem like a long time but I knew what it was supposed to feel like and although I surfed very few hours a year I caught many waves during those few hours. Even now the wave determines what I can do or practice on a wave. But the better you get the more options you have. So basically there is no fast road to being a top surfer. It's slow going and a road with many turns and setbacks and most people who take that road never reach the pro surfer level. So just forget what the top surfers do as it won't make you a top surfer. That takes time and effort and knowledge gained from spending time in the ocean.

[Lebowski]

I suggest you just relax. You're obviously full of enthusiasm which is good but you're asking lots of questions about advanced surfing, and from what I gather you are a complete beginner.

I don't know how old you are but it may already be realistically too late to become a pro surfer. Most pro's start when they are small children and live right by the ocean, meaning they can surf literally everyday. They have parents who drive them to contests starting young. When they start winning some competitions they will be noticed by potential sponsors.

You live in Germany right? Your (already tiny) chance of becoming pro just reduced by 90%. If you are already an adult then you will need a job to live. Nobody is going to pay you to train if you're not already a top class surfer.

I don't mean to dampen your enthusiasm but your questions are a bit like someone who is taking driving lessons asking which F1 team we think they should drive for.

[wat4zz]

nah' come on.
you think im tripping, but let me explain you that
these are just normal questions in my case
i have some health issues, with which i can't do a job right know,
so im just absorbing informations, like i said.

especially if you dont have much time in the water it's joyful for me to know exactly how to paddle etc. ,
(saves time and it's fun to be quicker in the wave)

nice if someone lives by the ocean and have everyday access and time to learn things on your own, but if you dont have that access?

to go prepared, with healthy and flexible joints, a plan what i will do,
how to train and execute maneuvers properly etc.,
i think i can get much out of my travel this way

thanks also to the forum members for giving me tips

but thats up to everyone personally how someone wants to approach things.
for me personally fun in the water is fun and reading about things is also fun
but there might be someone that dont likes to read much and wants only to try things spontanously, which is also same fun

even if someone dont wants to get a pro, you can still learn from pros and have fun to get better
much of the things you read on forums, books etc. is in fact from people that read about pros
btw. someone could be interested in surfing without surfing at all, many people watch surfing without doing surfing
fun is fun

and the age is irrelevant to be an 'excellent' surfer btw.
some people might surf 10 years everyday and someone 3 years everyday and is still 'better'
if one (and im talking of people in general, not you) would think only a child could learn with enthusiasm and can adapt easily to new things,
then you are talking of persons with 'rigid behaviour' patterns,
who could not bring out their own inherent motivation and creativity, to learn things fun and smooth

if someone wants to get better in things then this might not be the right outlook on things
and someone might restrict ones own potential and fun with that outlook,
because it doesnt matter if a kid is 5 years or a kid is 25 years or a kid is 50 years old, to learn a thing and get better and better.
what matters is that you want a thing, that you like to be creative with a thing and thats it.

but also someone that thinks he needs to be the best surfer of em all might have a problem right?
because at the end of the day there is no best surfer, best man, best women or best being.

you could surf pro contests and try to be the best of all time, fearing a loss and crying if you loose
or you could just surf a pro contest like you are having a fun session in the water, enjoying the ride of your 'opponent' (wtf?!) as well,
enjoying the partying people, just enjoying a good day you know
in fact you could enjoy everyday like this and live a healthy normal life
you could surf with tremendous speed while having fun and you could surf psyched out like gerry lopez while having fun

part of oneself is in fact being happy and having fun regardless of you perceiving yourself sad or whatever,
because there is never just 'one emotion' going on
which is also the reason you get back in perceiving your happyness (which is always 'there') more again,
after the sadness passed by

me personally i enjoy a thing/hobby and then go to the next thing/hobby and enjoy this same,
but sometimes there is a hobby that consumes more time, but dont needs to be a 'fixation' (in an unhealthy sense)

[jaffa1949]

USER WARNING

By its very nature of being natural surfing is addictive, get your endorphins with the dolphins.
Excite your glands amongst the sands.

Once bitten the rush spares no quarter
You need a fix of daily water.

Adrenaline gives living sparks
You surf immune amongst the sharks.

Land bound people do nought but shrug.
Clueless about the surfing drug.
One time partners become your Ex
Cause you found surf is better than good sex!

So in the end all you’ll gain
Is surf, eat, sleep and surf again.!

[oldmansurfer]

You can read and watch surfing all you want but you still won't understand it. The pro surfers make it look so easy. However the way they got there is an incredible amount of hours surfing. They don't need to do the training that a beginner needs to do they need fine tuning rather than coarse tuning a beginner needs. The surfboards they use are entirely inappropriate for a beginner. The waves they ride are also incredibly inappropriate for a beginner. Surfing is the interaction between a surfer and their board and the wave. There are extreme variations in those three things ; surfer, board, waves. It's a very complex sport. But I for one and perhaps many here love to talk about it. Your approach to surfing is a little different from most beginners we hear from. My own perspective on surfing is I enjoy the challenge of it. When it becomes too easy I find myself looking for ways to make it more difficult. One of the things I learned here on this forum and from reading books is that the experience that surfers have learning to surf varies to great extremes as well. There are certain standard or common experiences that perhaps most people have but outside of that it varies greatly due to the three variables surfer, board, wave.

[wat4zz]

thanks

...... is that the experience that surfers have learning to surf varies to great extremes as well. There are certain standard or common experiences that perhaps most people have but outside of that it varies ......

good observations.

what i noticed about the style of surfers is that some drive very forceful, some very compact, some rounder.
each style is in my opinion enjoyed in its own way and opinions differ from individuals and from time to time

kelly slater looks really like he is in tune with the wave, in harmony and flow with it, looking different then others.
also what i noticed is that surfers like kelly slater and john john florence have much better skills leaning on the outside rail and moving in the direction of the outside rail, they seem to really let themselves fall backwards
and trust the inbuild reflexes of their bodies also

stephanie gilmore looks also very flowy and zen like, she often uses just the right amount of movement and not more or less.

im sure that kelly slater must visualize this flow with the waves to tune into that kind of 'style'/expression
maybe even practicing maneuvers really really fast in one session and then very soft and flowy in the other,
then combining it together

gerry lopez was also talking about having a 'spiritual' connection with the waves and calling surfing: attitude dancing

i think expressing joyfulness (in its many facets) will make you surf or do whatever sport or acitvity, more yourself and more in flow

tested that out on my surf skateboard
first i wanted to know how to technically move with that piece of wood and tried to make the movements
more or less like a robot,
then i just expressed myself on the board and it was way smoother

so apart from learning the techniques and feeling all of your body and the surroundings,
the set impulse of your wish to really commiting to a wave and expressing oneselfs joyfulness in the movement
and into the surroundings,
i think will make the surf smoother and more joyful

weither one wants to ride very energetic and with full speed on one day,
or relaxed and slow on the other, just expressing that into the outside, into the movement

anyway, it's an endlessly learning and perceiving process that never stops


what do you think when you surf? do you visualize something?

By its very nature of being natural surfing is addictive, get your endorphins with the dolphins.
Excite your glands amongst the sands.

nice jaff0r, thanks for the rhyming, always welcome

[oldmansurfer]

Kelly slater and John Florence do a couple of turns where they seem to fall backward off the board one is called a dropwallet and the other...…??? I forget LOL. Lots of other surfers can do those maneuvers as well. It requires core strength and balance and timing. It's an off balance turn so they need to complete it before they fall completely off the board by turning and the wave pushing forward help to get them back on their boards as well as incredible core strength and wave knowledge. It's very likely the pros are thinking things like "I wonder if I should have eaten that burrito right before surfing" or "I want to go in and eat a burrito but the waves are too good" or "that looks like a ramp to do an air up there think I'll do a rodeo flip" Most likely when they are in a contest they are thinking about making the points needed to win (what the judges want and what the waves are offering). Lots of surfing at a higher level is instinctual. When I surf it depends on the waves as to what I am thinking. If the waves are dangerous I am usually in a zone just aware and not thinking but very alert to any changes or activity. Most of the time when I am surfing I am in a zone not really thinking beyond something like "can I do a top turn from this position?" when I know I can I just do it. Once I took off late on a wave with about a 8 to 10 foot face. I was using my shortest board and it was difficult to catch those waves with that board. I had to be exactly in the right place. So I took off on a wave and it was late and I thought "late drop the wave is going to break in front of me....uh oh I am going over the falls..... that worked" I landed a floater from takeoff maneuver then when I did my bottom turn the board turned more than I wanted it to. Originally I wanted to jam it but because I was already doing stuff beyond my comfort level I changed my mind only maybe my body and my board still wanted to jam an off the lip. The board seemed to want to go back up the breaking wave and I thought "board wants to do an off the lip" and just went where the board wanted to go , then I did it and thought "that worked". I did a sort of off the lip foam climb because the wave was a double wave with the top portion broken already and the bottom portion breaking as I hit it. So it probably looked like I was a better surfer than I actually was because those were not maneuvers that I practiced. I just happened to do them at that moment.

[wat4zz]

If the waves are dangerous I am usually in a zone just aware and not thinking but very alert to any changes or activity. Most of the time when I am surfing I am in a zone not really thinking beyond something like "can I do a top turn from this position?" when I know I can I just do it.

ahh okey so you are in the moment, do what seems to be possible and enjoyment happens within the maneuvers

I landed a floater from takeoff maneuver then when I did my bottom turn the board turned more than I wanted it to. Originally I wanted to jam it but because I was already doing stuff beyond my comfort level I changed my mind only maybe my body and my board still wanted to jam an off the lip. The board seemed to want to go back up the breaking wave and I thought "board wants to do an off the lip" and just went where the board wanted to go , then I did it and thought "that worked". I did a sort of off the lip foam climb.....

sounds like a good experience

[jaffa1949]

A recommendation for wat4zz, a video called “Spoons a Santa Barbara Story”
you call rent or buy it as a download on Vimeo on Demand, it would give you lots of insight about the history of modern surfing.

[oldmansurfer]

sounds like a good experience

Yes it was a very good experience. I thought after that maybe I hadn't actually gone over the falls with the lip but from my perspective it looked like I went down on top of the leading edge of the lip. I was happy to still be on the board after either of those maneuvers and both was like super stoked. It should have been a nothing wave, a wipeout but I got two awesome turns out of it.

If I am on really small waves I might notice a woman on the beach in a bikini or something else not related to surfing but usually in those conditions I am focused on trying to do maneuvers or riding the wave as far as I can on the face (not whitewater). When the waves are easy I try to find some challenge that keeps me focused on surfing. My point was that sometimes the fun things aren't planned or anything you trained for. I have done an off balance turn a few times where I was laid back with my rear end touching the wave but unlike when Slater and JJF do those kind of turns the board lost the rail and was flat on the wave and required that I continue the turn rotating around my butt until the board was below me then stood back up on it. Fun but I didn't plan on it. In retrospect it was from standing too forward on the board so when I cranked a real hard turn the fins came out of the water and the board slid causing me to lay back but managed to keep feet on the board and momentum was already for a turn which gave the board without my weight on it enough momentum along with gravity I guess to come back down and around under me. In that situation just thinking "#@&* no......oh wait that works" I bet the turns Slater and JJF do were originally just mistakes too and with repeating the situations that caused them became a part of their repertoire.

[billie_morini]

Q. How do I train?
A. I go, "Choo choo!"

[IB_Surfer]

I don't train, but my buds say Yoga is awesome for surfing. For me I just try to surf at least twice a week

[JordanOlex]

Well, just frequently come to the sea side, use different boards.
Moreover, try yoga, it keeps your balanced