surf practice

Paddle

Surfing all starts with paddleing. If your paddle technique and condition is lacking, you will have a hard time to get to the peak and catching waves. So especially in the beginning work on your paddleing. So what is the right technique? Your chest need to be off your board, your head straight and looking forward, feet close to each other and stretched and most importantly long and deep paddles. At days where it's flat, you can still go out and just paddle around. Consistently is the key to progress.

Waves

You can only improve by taking so much waves as possible. That sounds logic right? Well it's not that easy, because of course the ocean decides how the waves will be. It's important to get your ego aside, if you want to train your manoeuvres you need to adjust the choice of your board to the size of the waves. For example your usual board size is 6 ft, but the waves are 1 ft. At that moment please go to a bigger board for example 7'2 ft, you will catch way more waves and that means more practice and more fun. Also if you learn how to do these manoeuvres on a bigger board, it will be easier on a shorter board. But if you want to train you paddleing than you need to be on a smaller board, because it's harder. If you're intermediate and want to train on cutbacks, snaps and so on. Than it's smart to train on reef breaks, mostly reef breaks will have more mellow waves and consistent waves, this means less speed but also more freedom for manoeuvres and to learn how to stay close to the pocket (the most powerful part of the wave). Also you don't want to fall on a reef break so it's an extra motivation to stay on your board ;). As a beginner i can recommend you to stay as long as possible on a foam board, once you master the foam board you can change to a hard board. The problem is that to much people change to quick to a hard board, because of this they don't catch a lot of waves and will be stuck on their level.

Surf skate

We can't be always in or near the ocean. So if you're away from the ocean for some time and you still want to train your surfing, than it's a good idea to buy a surf skate board. They made the wheels flexible so the movement is similar to surfing movement, because of this you can keep on training, it's perfect to learn the technique for cutbacks and snaps.

Watching

With this i mean that by watching surfers better than you, you will also improve. This can be in the line up or by watching video's. Also if you want to improve try to go to line ups where you are the worst, it will humble you and motivate you. The only thing you can't do is be in there way, especially by locals. there's a lot of ego's in surfing an if you're in there way and take there waves they can get really mad. So before you go in the advanced line ups you need to know the rules of surfing to not bring yourself and the others in danger.

Work out

It's important to be in shape and to be flexible. So when you're not surfing, you should make time to stretch and to work out. In surfing you use your whole body, so the best way to train this is full body workouts and train with your own body weight. Your condition is also important so don't think you don't need to run.

Swimming

Of course you need to be able to swim. you can't go surfing when you don't know how to swim. But aside from that it's also important for your condition, the type of cardio while swimming is totally different from running or else. So make sure you know how to swim in the ocean, because that is totally different from swimming in a pool or else.

Vision

Surfing actually all starts by reading the ocean. If you surf on your own, but you can't see where the waves are breaking or you can't see where you have to paddle out, you will have a hard time. So it's really important to know how the ocean works, but aside from that it's a progress. By being in the ocean and the line up every day you will get vision and find the connection with the ocean. Once you have that the rest will come.