Want to Learn to Surf? 10 Things You Must Know!

[Jules Surfgirl]

Hi awsome tips! Thank you! Now i will be preperd for my Holiday withe WaveSisters (http://www.wavesisters.com) in Lanzarote! Keep Surfing! Jules

[jaffa1949]

There is an amazing amount of basic information that will really help from TonyG, have a read and a think about what he is saying.

[Trying2getanswers]

I am trying to find out information or opinions for that matter. I was wondering if its too early for a six year old girl, my daughter, to start taking surf lessons. When the spring and summer come around here again she will be seven. If the opinion is that she is old enough can anyone also recommend a wetsuit that would be good but not break the bank as she will be growing quickly I would imagine. We are located on the east coast of the u.s. close to New Jersey. Any response would be greatly appreciated. I told her that if she wanted to take lessons that I would take some with her so that she felt comfortable around new people.

Thank you in advance
Kevin

[jwoz]

I am trying to find out information or opinions for that matter. I was wondering if its too early for a six year old girl, my daughter, to start taking surf lessons. When the spring and summer come around here again she will be seven. If the opinion is that she is old enough can anyone also recommend a wetsuit that would be good but not break the bank as she will be growing quickly I would imagine. We are located on the east coast of the u.s. close to New Jersey. Any response would be greatly appreciated. I told her that if she wanted to take lessons that I would take some with her so that she felt comfortable around new people.

Thank you in advance
Kevin

I say it's never too early to start & most surf lesson outfits will have wetsuits that should fit her. If you are looking to buy her one for the summer Craigslist or Ebay are probably your best bet.

[oldmansurfer]

I would say make sure she can swim really well in the ocean first.

[jaffa1949]

Does your daughter or do you want her to surf?
What ever the case, small doses, that are FUN, learn with her.
It is all up a great thing to share as a family sport!
Swimming and water confidence is important. Surfboards of any sort are not lifesaving devices nor are leashes.
So swimming is vital.
Six is not too young but it does need to be something she is keen to do.

[Trying2getanswers]

Thank you all who responded to my questions.

She has shown an interest in learning to surf. And she is actually a pretty strong swimmer.already Mothers genes. She loves the water and the beach. And I thought taking lessons with her would not only make her feel more comfortable around other cause daddy would be there. But also it would be one more thing in life we could share. And as far asthe wet suit goes that qas to help protect her a little as she is a little stubborn as far as the time to out on some sun screen lol. Hat would mean she has to get out of the water. She would have to toughen up a little for the scrapes and bruises I would imagine she would get from learning.

Again thank you all and if nothing changes in her kittle mind I will let you know how lessons go if we get to take some in the up coming year.

[jaffa1949]

Only one answer here go for it! Why not learn to surf as a family.......... she'll break out on her own when she is ready, but seaside surfing holidays together

[dtc]

Thank you all who responded to my questions..

As someone who has just gone through this (and still going through - kids are now 8 and 10):

1. I highly recommend starting her off bodyboarding rather than surfing. Its much easier to learn, she can do it on her own fairly quickly but it will still teach her lots of important things for surfing (like waves, being dumped, feeling the wave catch you etc). To be honest, my kids found that even large bodyboards were just too hard to handle surf of any size, even whitewater; so a surfboard will just be ripped out of her hands constantly. Indeed, I suggest buying the lightest cheapest bodyboard you can find to start off, rather than a quality one, because she can handle a light board by herself. Which means you dont have to spend your time pushing; but also means she feels confident rather than worried about the board flying around and her being dragged about by her own board (so the cheap ones at the supermarket with barbie or clownfish are the ones to start with - this is only for a year or so, you will then move onto 'proper' body boards). No need for fins, she will be jumping into the wave rather than paddling into it for a while.

2. if you do want to push for surfing, then you need a flat beach with a lot of white water. Even a beach with small unbroken waves will be too hard for a 6/7yr old to learn on, you need white water. Get a 6-7ft softboard and push her into the white water and get her to practice standing and riding into the beach. I doubt, even as a good swimmer, she will be able to paddle into a wave by herself for several years. Get a good quality softboard, as the cheap ones are basically large bodyboards and arent very stable; plus in 3 or 4 years the board can become her actual surfboard. I have seen kids around 8 riding unbroken waves, but not paddle into them (and, for this reason, I'm not sure surfing lessons are warranted unless you want to spend your whole time swimming her out and pushing her onto the wave).

3. as to wetsuits, I found that the short arm/leg ones werent much use, because the arm and leg holes were much bigger than the actual arm/leg, so it let a lot of water in - provided sun protection but not much else. If you are somewhere warmish I recommend instead a 2 or 3mm full sleeve rash vest (for kids you can get one with a full length front zip, which is easy to get on/off) and dont worry about the legs. If colder, then a full length wetsuit is a much better option. But just get the cheap one (there are plenty on ebay or your local walmart or equivalent). The kids will grow out of them in a year or two and will probably only spend 20-30 minutes a day wearing the suit, so longevity isnt really an issue nor is flexibility etc. Some of the cheap ones are a bit rough on the inside but you can sand them down (literally - use a really fine grain sandpaper). Sometimes there are good sales on - a local store had a '2 for 1' sale over my (Australian) winter, so I bought a size 10 and a size 12 wetsuit - so keep an eye on those kind of things for the longer term.

Of course I dont suggest not trying her out surfing, but I do think its a progressive thing and starting off with bodyboarding then white water surfing then venturing a bit further when she is bigger is the way to go. Probably by 10, perhaps younger, she will be ready and (more importantly) physically able to start learning how to surf by herself, rather than being assisted at every stage.

[Bezerker]

Thanks for this very informative post.

[cwall]

I hope this isn't too much of a thread hijack, but I'd like to post about the "unwritten rules".

I've been surfing for about a year and feel pretty comfortable in the water. I'm still unsure about how to conduct myself on super crowded days (which are most days here in LA). When in doubt I usually just give way, but I'm starting to get frustrated when the following happens: I let people taking off closer to the pocket have the wave only to watch them turn around after and paddle back in front of me in the lineup. I'm all about non-aggressive behavior in the water, but at what point do you just say "screw it" and go for it? I don't want to cut anyone off, but at the same time I think its BS when people try to claim every wave. And its not like I'm surfing at some secret spot that the locals are trying to protect. Trying to be respectful here, but still want to surf!

[drowningbitbybit]

I hope this isn't too much of a thread hijack, but I'd like to post about the "unwritten rules"

Those rules aren't unwritten - they are very clear! In fact, many of the beaches around here have a big (surfboard-shaped) sign explaining them!

I let people taking off closer to the pocket have the wave only to watch them turn around after and paddle back in front of me in the lineup.

This is up to you - if you sit on the shoulder, then that's exactly what will happen every time. He's not going to sit further out on the shoulder and wait for you, particularly if you might miss the wave, which you're likely to do on the shoulder.
So next time the surfer gets his wave, paddle over to the peak and sit exactly where he was until the next set comes through and make sure he can't cut in front of you (if he still does, then he's snaking you and dropping in is fine, but expect a bit of a shouting match afterwards).

Easier said than done as it was requires a lot of assertiveness (but not necessarily aggressiveness) but sadly there isn't much charity in the water.

[benjl]

Hey Jaffa / other experienced surfers

I wish to consult with your surfing guru-ness again

Thank you again for all of your advice, seems to have been spot on with my other questions/problems. I have now sorted the wax problem with my board and spent a lot of work building up that hard base coat and then multiple layers of soft wax on top. It now seems to be mildly sticky even after an 1.5hr surf session!
I've also now spent about 8hrs on my 6'2 fish with the quad set up since I last messaged you and all seems to be going well. I can consistently drop down 2-3ft wave faces without the 'speed wobbles' now and often jump off the board when ever I feel like instead of wiping out. I can also start going across the wave and have taught myself how to pump the board to get speed. Seems that the surf bug bit me bad when i started a couple of months ago!

I guess my question is what would be the most important thing to work on next? What's the best advice for starting to work on turns? My board also has a kickpad which I haven't really tried to use or understand yet.
Other than that, absolutely loving the surfing buzz and the feeling when getting that open wave face.
With the shorter board and having to go further out the back to get waves, my wave count has defintely dropped but the quality of wave has improved.

Any more feedback or advice would be much appreciated to improve my skills.

Cheers

[dtc]

For me I would say, once you have 'mastered' the basics of catch wave, pop up, go down the line etc, the next focus is the bottom turn (not just an angled turn to down the line, but down the wave and an actual turn at the bottom), at various angles back up the wave (eg turn up 30 deg, 45 deg, 70 deg up the wave). The bottom turn sets up everything else.

Then next is the top turn (bottom turn up the wave then turn back down the wave). From there you can do reentries and all the rest. But these are down the track.

How to do them - well there are quite a few internet sites with this info so I wont repeat the stuff here.

How to practice - most people seem to get the best value out of picking one thing (say bottom turn) and then going out for a session (or 10) and just doing that no matter what. Every wave you do a bottom turn. Dont worry about anything else; I spent a session once doing bottom turns and then straight up (well, not that straight up cos I'm not that good, but up) the wave and over the top, never even tried to ride down the line. I did pick a day of close outs because I'm not going to waste a good day!

The kickpad, if placed right, is usually at the proper place for your back foot. The raised pad bit is to rest your foot against when you weight the back foot and (mainly) so you can ensure your foot is in the right place without looking (because you can feel it resting against the pad). At least that is what I understand, not being someone who uses a kickpad.

[oldmansurfer]

so you learned to go fast so now is the time to learn to slow down. A good hard bottom turn straight down the wave then turn at the bottom but don't go down the line look for a possible tube ride especially if there are tubing sections that day and learn to stall and to take speed off on the bottom turn. Or if it isn't walling up do a cutback or slashback or some maneuver to change the direction you are traveling. This then needs to be combined with a turn back in the direction the wave is breaking. The bottom turn sets it all up. When I restarted surfing it took me about 3 years of surfing 30 minutes a week (26 hours a year) to feel like I had a good bottom turn. It's much faster for many who surf more than that. Oddly my backside bottom turn was good much quicker than that maybe only took a year (don't ask me to explain that one). I guess if you can weight and unweight and pick up speed maybe your bottom turn is good enough too. In my day it would be cutback next, then maybe an off the lip turn and all the while looking for a tube ride.

[oldmansurfer]

I am currently working on cutbacks myself. It's a little difficult to work on them because it requires the wave to be a certain way but when the opportunity presents I am cutting back. I still fall a bit but getting better. My backside cutbacks are not so good.

[benjl]

Regarding the comment about the tail pad and foot placement, I have pasted a photo of where it was put on my board when I got it?
I find that my back foot is always positioned just infront of the far left part of the pad and doesn't often end up on the pad itself?
I've consciously moved it on to the pad a couple of times on waves but it's definately not a natural placement when I pop up?
I guess I would have to pop up further back on the board to do this although that would mean my paddling wouldn't be as great from lying further back on the board?

I caught my first wave today where I managed several turns (funnily enough on my back side) which is not natural to me. It was a pretty massive ride, maybe 15 seconds and stayed on the wave face as it peeled and broke twice. I could manage some carvey turns but not the fast, slicey turns that good people can do. Maybe this would help if I really got my back foot over the tail pad?

[jaffa1949]

Stop fretting about the tail pad, it is in the right place, your feet when you pop up are in the right place you are allowed to move your feet when you start to do bigger turns you will find that different positioning comes into play.

WHAT ARE THE RIGHT POSITIONS??? the ones that feel right and work for you, they will change with different waves and different boards.
Just set out to try different things do them a number of times if they don't work do something different.
Don't think too much, spend more time in the surf until it happens.

[Malibulongboards]

Great post. If I had to narrow this down to two. Figure the first two. GET A BIGGER BOARD and don't scrimp on the wetsuit. These two factors will have you surfing for life instead of just a couple times and quit.
Good Luck!
Matt


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12VbmPTCAOk

[Amber88]

ive always been interested in learning how to surf and i think ive found the right community to help me.
Not that edited url