How many tries did it take you to ride your first wave ?

[jagotrading]

I want to try surfing for the first time and i was wondering how many times it took you to catch your first wave? And also how big was the wave? (By the way i snowboard a little if that helps at all lol)

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[Surfer513]

for me it took a whole summer if I remember correctly. I was very young. and that's just one factor that plays into it. age, athleticism, etc. etc. etc. these variables become relatively null once you start to get better.

on a different note, in my opinion, snowboarding and surfing are completely different. I thought since I was a surfer, snowboarding would be a breeze...I was wrong. tried it a few times and I couldn't pick it up. just not me, and I wasn't willing to put the time in. snowboarding (correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm anything but an expert on snowboarding) is all in your ankles, and surfing is all in your waist, footing, and that sort of thing (depending on board, wave, style, etc.). they really aren't as parallel as many think.

[esonscar]

Snowboard to surf = no skill benefit at all for surfing !.
Catch ocean wave (white water or green) just a few hours with someone who does not mess you about (rare these days) and who knows what to tell you to do.

[prawerski]

I started surfing two summers ago and I rode my first wave without falling my first day out (6 hour surf sesh)... It was really small 1 - 2 feet and I remember being super stoked only to find that the next three times that I went I could not replicate it... Surfing is long a process, I think anyone here whose done their time can attest to that. I've spent countless hours eating sand, but after two summers of hardcore commitment I surfed my first 15ft wave 2 months ago. Depending on your athleticism and your board (I learned on an 8'6" MacT) it will take more or less time, but you can progress fast if you're committed. Most of my surf sessions have been incredibly long, especially in the early stages.

[Eddie]

To be totally honest, i do not recall how many hours of time in the water i spent, though I do recall the 1st time I made it out to the lineup. In fact the wife and i were just talking about it this weekend when we drove up the coast and came across the break where it happened for me. I had spent almost 6 months trying to make it to the outside, I would try and try till my arms felt like they were on fire and then I would face my bitter disappointment and head back into the whitewash to practice popping up and working on balance and turning. Then something happened, that i was not ready for. I dug in and gave it all i had, expecting to look up at that last set rolling in and pushing me back to that point where I always knew it was pointless to push on. Nothing.. no set, no wave breaking in front of me, I was so stoked i actually let out a hoot. I made it to the outside.
Now came the easy part, so I thought. (still makes me chuckle when I think about that.) The swell was solid head high, I lined myself up just to the right of where the wave was breaking and waited for the next set. It was glassy, (for Oregon standards) and looking back, was actually very favorable conditions. I paddled hard, felt the glide and popped to my feet. Being the 1st time i had ever actually dropped down the face of a wave, verses being pushed by whitewater, I discovered and interesting tidbit of knowledge. Put more weight on back foot, instead of the front foot. Yep you guessed it. My nose dug in hard, I pearled and got my 1st experience being worked by a wave. I paddled back out and repeated said move 3 more times, before that tidbit of knowledge sunk in. On the 4th attempt I managed to make the drop and do a turn. Granted the ride was far from being very long, though it was one of my most memorable ones.
Suggestion for you. It is not about how fast you can complete the journey, it is the road you take and weather or not you can find enjoyment on that road getting to your destination.
Some of the most fun times I have ever had surfing were on days when most people in their right minds would not even suit up let alone paddle out. Scoring a clean face ride on a soupy blown out day, can sometimes be more rewarding then going out on a picture perfect day and scoring ride after ride.

[The_Rush]

Some great stories here. All these experience made me realize a simple yet powerful principle. If we want the glorious results then we must put in the time.

[esonscar]

Glorious ? - nope, just the stoke.

[Surfer513]

Some great stories here. All these experience made me realize a simple yet powerful principle. If we want the glorious results then we must put in the time.

Exactly, you must put in the time. that's the key to it. your body will get accustomed to the thrashing that the Ocean can give, and you will start to get the feel of what's "easier" to paddle out in, and before you know it everything will line up and you'll be absorbing the wonderful energy of the Ocean.

[curtistaxi]

I was about 8 or 9(1977) and had skateboarded on the street quite a bit and some boogie boarding in the whitewash. I pushed off the sand bottom with my foot and jumped up and rode the whitewash all the way until the skeg hit the sand. It was a 70's singlefin shortboard red in color I bought at a garage sale for $5.This was my first try. I have seen others that take 1 year or more but they were over age 35 with no skateboarding skills.It depends on each individual. I have taught people to surf that ended up becoming much better at it than me with way less years of experience so natural ability is a huge factor.

[JoshAggars]

Loved your answer there Eddie. It really brought back memories for me when you said you dug in and gave it all you had as that was pretty much my first experience. I was getting nowhere, was really tired but out of nowhere just seemed to dig deep, grit my teeth and go... and I mean go! What made me laugh is I also let out the involuntary hoot as well! Can't say my first ride was as successful but it's still great to think back on.
I'd go with most people on here in that you just have to stay at it as everyone is different. I managed to be pretty decent after a couple of months but I've had friends who were faster and some who try and fail every summer to join us and stay rooted to their quest for mackerel pods
Just stay at it and you'll get there.

[Lodato]

First time I tried to stand up, I said, "HOLY $*(^, how do they make that look so easy?"

I learned on waste-head high beach break. Took me at least 15 sessions to ride one done the line. Just keep charging! The more you wipeout, the more you learn, and the faster you start riding!

[madcat]

2nd try out @ Pismo beach on a 9' 6" soft-top, for white water. Probably 4 hours later I used my friends (he was teaching me) 7' 6" Hybrid and caught my first face. I was a mildly sponsored skater for several years (blade not board) and the feeling of riding a kinked handrail was very similar.

After my first day I was hooked, I just wish I had the money to have gotten into it heavily sooner.

[zandvoortsurfertje]

I road my first wave about a year ago in Zandvoort, Noord-Holland in the Netherlands, it took me 3 tries to get up on a wave of about 1 meter, and NO snowboarding doesn't improve your surfing skills at all! lol

[theoallen]

I rode my very first wave all the way in, after my first day of surfing. It took a hell of a long time (8 hours) and i think i swallowed so much seawater, i was dizzy for ages. But just the feeling of riding that wave cancels all of that out, it is an incredible feeling.

And about the snowboarding thing, i snowboarded for 4 years, and i don't think it really helped me at all. In snowboarding you never have to pop up on the board and your feet are strapped to the board. While in surfing, it's all about balance!

[ABSurfer78]

I was taught by a Hawaiian named Dale in 1973. He took me out on a big Northeast swell. Once I got out, I asked him what next? He told me the only way to get back in was to catch a wave. He pretty much left me to fend for myself! I finally got up enough nerve to catch one, and it turned out I stood up and rode the first wave I ever caught. I took off from that point on. I guess it helped that I skateboarded a lot before I started surfing. Everyone learns at their own pace.

[Wave4Surf]

The very first time I served was in Bergen aan Zee in the Netherlands. The spot isn't too bad. Anyway, I went in the water with a long board and on those it isn't too hard to stand up. After I tried like 5 times on those small waves, I could stand on my board. (The way how I stood up was really weird: first I lay on my board of course, then I put my hands under my shoulders and lifted my knees slowly on the board. My feet followed my knees until I stood on my surfboard)

[Kaaimans]

A million times, but it was worth it. (I was also stuck surfing a pointbreak, so my feet got cut a lot.) To catch whitewash should take you a day or two. For the green waves, well it depends if you have any slow breaks in your area. (More likely than fast breaks, actually.) Since the only beachbreak in my town is a total closeout, except for about once every two years or so, lol, I had to go straight to the pointbreak. Oh and did I mention I came from inland and just moved to the ocean, and couldn't swim in a straight line... It took me a lot of effort, and almost 3 months of surfing every day, to catch my first green wave, since the waves where really fast. (I caught a lot that closed out on me, but a full length wave took a while.)

[DavidXY]

I started with slow breaks but I didn't manage to stay on the board for the first week. Or at least I remember from that week (there has passed some time since) mostly the feeling of falling into the water. Can be funny though, especially if you learn with some friends. Nothing's more annoying then having really good surfers around you who joke all the time at your failures. You should take someone with you who knows the stuff, or take lessons. To find out the technic all by ourself can be very troublesome.

[Ged]

It took about an hour. I'd hired a foam board at Santa Cruz. I guess I was pretty strong in those days so catching waves seemed pretty easy and standing up was achieved on about the 3rd wave. It was magic.

[Aloha]

First wave 3 foot although I buried the nose at the bottom of the wave and went arse over t1t. Second wave was your usual beginner style, getting up via the knee and going straight. I think it took a few weeks to go down the line properly.

I'm kind of cheating though as I had been bodysurfing and bodyboarding lots before and even used to stand on my boogieboard as a little boy.