How to Catch Waves
It's taken some time but here we are at Surfing Lesson One.
Now, there are a few different approaches to this lesson,
and most of the time it begins with lying on your board in
the sand and practising what is called the 'pop-up'. Popping
up is the term used where the surfer has caught the wave and
goes from the paddling position, lying on top of board, to
the upright stand up position. We are going to skip this at
the moment, and it will be covered in Surfing
Lesson Four.
Lets get straight in to the water and
talk about catching the white water part of the wave (where the wave
has already broken). For more detail about waves in general
take a quick look at the
Waves page. It is more fun getting straight into the waves
and having a mess around than getting all sandy on the beach.
Waves To Start Surfing On
For
your first days surfing the waves should be small, being easy
enough for you to walk out to where the waves are breaking,
and not have to fight your way off the beach being constantly
battered by waves (remember that surfing should be fun!).
Make sure that you are not holding your surfboard in a position
where a wave could knock it back into your face and cause
you an injury. Hold the board out at arms length with a hand
on each rail. Jump over the oncoming white water as you walk
your way out. Keep a look around to make sure you are not
about to get washed into someone's path, or that you are not
immediately behind someone who may lose hold of their board
- it can be quite scary seeing an oncoming wave complete with
9 foot of longboard wrapped up in it!.
At all times keep the safety aspect in mind and everything should be OK.
Keep going out until you are at a comfortable depth. Keep a look out for waves that are breaking towards you.
We are
now in a position to start catching waves. Oh, perhaps the
wave on the left is not quite the right wave to start on.
Next Up - Catching your First Wave
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