- Watch surf movies, paying lots of attention to the body movements (watch also in slow motion!)
- Watch yourself surfing on video. Compare what you see to real surf movies and try to figure out what the differences are.
- Meditate over surfing moves: first watch them in slow motion, then visualize (imagine) yourself doing them, eyes closed, slow motion. Pay attention to all the details of your body, the board, the wave.
- Concentrate on just one improvement goal at a time
- If you haven’t lived and practiced surfing for years on a several-times-per-week base, stick to big boards (longboard, funboards, etc.). If you still really want to become a short board surfer, downsize board lenghts VERY gradually, kind of in 2-3 inches at a time, riding each board for at least 100 hours (preferentially not spread over years!). And, be warned: only move on to a short board if you’re able to practice your paddling at least 3 times per week!
- Watch the wave while paddling. General rule: 20% attention to the front, 80% attention to the wave.
- Watch positioning and wave choice of the better surfers (both from the beach and from inside the water)
- Don’t go for a wave as long as you don’t know whether the wave is going to be e left, right, close-out, etc. Force yourself to stick to this rule, so you’ll quickly become a safe “wave reader”.
- Don’t try to do tricks that are beyond your skills, you’re losing your time!
- When surfing, keep your eyes on the wave, always!
- At no instance is it just up to you to try a particular move. Instead it’s the moment of the wave calling for that or any other move, so learning to constantly read the wave and to judge what can be done is a required skill to learn any new move.
EasyDrop instructor Carlos Zuqueto performing a nice cutback
My 50 cents on the most logical order of techniques to learn and improve surfing
- correct paddling
- sitting on the board
- turning the board while sitting
- eskimo roll (turtle dive)
- pop-up technique
- “take off” (foam waves + longboard)
- weight shifts to control tip and tail (foam waves + longboard)
- small steps to control tip and tail (foam waves + longboard)
- turning to front and back side (foam waves + longboard)
- peak reading and positioning (from beach)
- wave reading and line up (at the outside)
- catch green waves on top and go straight (real drops)
- bottom turn
- rail to rail (keeping the speed line)
- top-to-bottom turns
- cutbacks
- cross stepping and hanging (for longboarders)
- off the lips, snaps and re-entries
- floaters
- planning and connecting moves
- tube riding
- aerials
Local surfer Hongus Araujo, flying high
A word on speed
- General rule: no speed = no maneuvers
- There is no speed to get on the bottom of a wave (= where most beginners and many intermediate surfers tend to position themselves after the drop), so move back to the upper half of the unbroken wave shoulder, to get speed. Once you are able to do these constant moves up and down on the surface of the unbroken waves, you are actually “ripping” (aware: once you’r ripping you will most probably quit your job and move to the ocean…).
Naturally, you’ll learn all this + more from our pro-team at EasyDrop: http://www.easydrop.com
Aloha
Benjamin – Director at EasyDrop