Now that you
have read the Surfing
section and are in a position where you can get to the beach
with your surfboard. (If you have not read the Surfing
section Why Not! - get back there you 'orrible little
grommet!). You are now ready to have a go at surfing Pipeline,
the barrels of Kirra or huge Mavericks. Well hold on there,
maybe not quite yet. Before we go any further we should first
check a couple of things.
The first thing to consider is how
strong a swimmer you are, and how far you can swim. Paddling
around in the sea is not the place to be if you are used to
wearing a rubber ring to keep you afloat at the local swimming
pool. As with all sports there is an element of risk, and
the sea is an awful lot more unpredictable that a football
pitch or tennis court. One thing to always keep in mind, even
when you are a competent surfer, is that you should never
be out further than you could comfortable swim out to and
back in from if you did not have your surfboard - your legrope
could break at any moment an you may find yourself going from
a nice paddle back into the beach to having a really long
swim.
Being physically fit goes without saying if you are
looking to take up surfing seriously. A good surfer will make
paddling, carving and wave riding look effortless but there
is a lot of physical work involved in paddling around, getting
up on your board and doing manoeuvres (but lets not get ahead
of ourselves!).
Safety should always be in the back of your
mind, which is a reason that you should never be surfing alone.
You never know what might go wrong even on the smallest of
waves - its good to have someone who can help you out should
you get into trouble.
One final little thing, as with swimming
you should never go surfing straight after a meal. Give it
at least half an hour before eating before going for a surf.
If you are up for a surf first thing in the morning you should
wait until after for your breakfast. Well, if that has not
put you off surfing then lets get going with the things to
know section. Things To Know Before Surfing >>
Now that you
have read the 