Greetings from California

[Salacia]

Hi folks!

I'm Salacia, just a California girl who finally decided to bite the bullet & learn to surf! I'm incredibly new to all of this so it's all taking a long time* and I've got a long way* to go but I'm really excited and I can't wait to learn from this fabulous community!

*To give you an idea, I just figured out the vision part of this for me & I still need to work on my swimming (b.c the last time I swam was like 10 yrs ago) and build upper body strength (the last time exercise was part of my schedule was 5 yrs ago lol).
So yeah, like I said, long way to go & I'm not being naive about it but this site gets me super excited & motivated so I really wanted to join!

If any of you have any advice, pointers, exercises, (realistic time frames for when you're beach ready) etc. please lmk! I'd love to hear them!
Here's to learning & making progress!

[dtc]

Main tip: enjoy! Enjoy the frustration, the minor triumphs, the major breakthroughs, the challenge, the water, the sun. All of it

Ok, there are hundreds of practical tips you can be given, but my three are

1. remember swimming is both great for paddling fitness (and upper body strength) but also safety. My rule of thumb is that you should be able to swim at least 400m in a pool without stopping before you venture out in surf of any size (small waist high waves or if you aren't past standing up depth are ok thought). If your leash breaks, you need to be able to swim back, and swimming in the ocean is not like in a pool. 400m is just a bare minimum.

2. as a beginner you will struggle with the pop up. So practice it on land and in the white water, until you can do it right and fast. Until it becomes muscle memory - then after that, you can forget about it and will forget you ever struggled. There are plenty of threads on here about the pop up, do a search.

3. the other 'classic' beginner problem is nose diving (perling). Its 85% of the time caused by not paddling fast enough (which may be due to many factors), 14% of the time by being in the wrong place when the wave breaks and 1% by being too far forward on your board. Again, plenty of threads. The point is that beginners think nose diving is due to the nose being too close to the water so they go back to lift the nose upwards, which is the totally wrong thing to do (its actually caused by the tail of the board being lifted up, not by anything related to the nose).

oh, tip 4 - any problems, any concerns, queries or just want to say something or relate a story - don't be afraid to type it up and ask or tell us. We will do our best to help - sometimes we even actually help!

[oldmansurfer]

Some other tips is learn to read the ocean. Look for currents and think about how that will affect you getting in and out of the ocean. If you aren't in shape or have joint problems, ride a bigger board, it will be easier to catch waves and if you don't catch waves you can't learn to surf.. Get your swimming skills up because for safety you need them but paddling for surfing will help with your swimming also. Welcome to the forum. We don't bite (not very hard anyway)

[dtc]

Some other tips is learn to read the ocean. Look for currents and think about how that will affect you getting in and out of the ocean. If you aren't in shape or have joint problems, ride a bigger board,

Actually, those are better tips than mine!

If you dont know much about the ocean, do a google search for 'Dr Rip', an Australia scientist who studies ocean rips and currents; he has a website and book and some videos etc about safety in the surf and how you spot a rip. The book is well worth reading for anyone who spends time in the surf or around beaches, its not just rips but how beaches are formed, how waves develop and break and so forth. Its very interesting.