A good little read before you go

It happens to all of us. The calling to venture out of our learning haven of white water to the unbroken waves beyond. You know when you’re ready. Ready for your next challenge and to experience the thrill of riding along empty wave faces. It’s an exciting time and, if you do it right, there will be no going back. It is that point of no return where your love of surfing will skyrocket like you never believed.

A good way to prepare yourself is to learn the 3 following things

1. how to catch and ride green waves – get some practise first on the small green waves that roll into the white water
2. how to safely get yourself and your board out through white water
3. the etiquette that comes with surfing out the back

Time spent in the white water teaches you a lot about what you are comfortable in and capable of. Be attentive to your intuition and wait for the right conditions to venture out in. Listen to those warning bells going off when you sense that the waves out the back are out of your league.

Small days are by far the best. And so long as you have your fundamentals such as paddling and popping up sorted, and providing you are on a longboard, you will be surprised at how small a green wave you can actually catch.

Learning how to read, catch and ride green waves is much more complex that surfing white water, so it does come with it’s challenges. But with the right advice, you can avoid typical traps and progress quickly. Heading out there and discovering as you go is fine and is what the majority of surfers do. Our beginning surfers package is a good option if you want to feel more prepared. It has an extensive module dedicated to reading, catching and riding green waves. It trouble shoots, inspires and fast tracks you through what is often the most challenging stage of your surfing journey. The beginners package also has a module that teaches the skill of getting out through white water on a longboard.

Surfers naturally all gravitate towards that spot on the beach where the waves are consistently breaking. This can sometimes mean that there is a crowd to contend with. These spots are commonly called banks or bars – as in built up sand banks on the ocean floor which causes the swell to break on that same spot over and over again.

When you are new to green waves, a good option is to take a friend and find your own spot rather than worrying about how to negotiate your way around a crowd. Although the bank you go to may not be as good, the fact that there are fewer people out to contend with, makes it much easier to concentrate on having fun and catching waves.

But there is no avoiding the time when you find yourself sitting amongst a cluster of other surfers all seeking the same wave as you. Within this arena of unbroken waves, comes a protocol that every surfer out there is expected to know and follow, even the newbies. Protocol, rules, etiquette, which are designed to ensure fun, fairness, safety and harmony.

The hard way to learn is to paddle out with no knowledge whats so ever. Make mistakes and get put in your place. It is very clear when a surfer doesn’t know, or is just ignoring the rules and very little tolerance (and waves) are given to them. And sorry girls, there are no exceptions to any of the rules for females.

Our beginners package is currently including an additional free module that explains all surf etiquette beautifully, with pictures, diagrams and simple explanations. Understanding of the etiquette will make you feel at ease about your rights in the line up. It also means that you can predict the movements of other surfers, which helps you to make good choices about which waves to go for. And above all, you can concentrate on having fun, knowing that you are contributing to the good vibes in the water.

So before you head out into the big open sea, make safe choices and empower yourself with as much good advice, tips, information and knowledge as you can.

And as you go, take a moment to salute the white water farewell while you wholeheartedly embrace the next chapter of your surfing journey. Go well.

Continuously missing waves when you are learning to surf is frustrating.

Thankfully this is easily fixed with a few simple adjustments.

The main reasons for missing waves are

• You are not paddling hard/long enough into waves
• You are paddling into waves that aren’t ready to break
• You are lying too far toward the tail of your surfboard (you might be worried about nose diving) This weight at the back of your board works against the forward momentum that’s needed to catch a wave.

1. Do I need to paddle harder or for longer?

This is often tricky to identify and the two issues are intricately linked. Basically strong/efficient paddlers don’t need to paddle for as long to get themselves into waves. Their board promptly matches the speed of the wave and they are ready to pop up much earlier than a surfer who has an inefficient paddle.

While you work on building your paddle strength, you will need to start paddling for longer to get into waves. Sometimes just 2 more paddle strokes is all that’s needed. A wave won’t pick you up unless you are matching it’s speed. The sensation of being picked up by a wave can take some getting used to and paddling for longer isn’t a natural reflex for most. A lot of people hesitate and want to slow down to feel safe. Funnily enough this puts them at risk of going over the falls or dose diving. Staying relaxed, going with the flow of momentum and putting in at least 2 more paddle strokes might be all you need to do to see yourself getting in more waves. In the mean time, you should work on your paddling technique and strength so that you can enter into waves earlier. Read on.

Paddle strength is something you naturally develop in time and obviously the more you are getting in the water the quicker you will improve.

But you don’t necessarily have to be strong to be an efficient paddler. In fact, efficient paddling requires around 30% strength and remaining 70% comes from correct body positioning and correct paddling technique. It is very easy to spot a beginning surfer having trouble piecing these foundations together correctly. And working it all out yourself takes a lot of trial, error, time and not to mention all of those missed waves and frustration in the process.

So naturally you want to fast rack yourself into good paddling. What are the secrets? How do I improve my strength? What does correct body positioning look like and how do I get my paddling technique right? Closely watching established surfers is always a good option. Another good option is our Surf & Nourish Beginners Package.

Our beginners package is made up of a series of simple, easy to follow, modules that isolate the different skills you need as a beginning surfer. Body positioning when you lie on your board and paddling are two of the key fundamental skills that require correct instruction. Both of these skills are covered extensively in it’s own module. You will establish good habits and learn the common mistakes to avoid. When you master these two key elements of surfing, you will soon be effortlessly gliding into waves with good function, confidence and style.

2. When you aren’t reading waves correctly

As a beginner, you will be doing all of your surfing in the white water. Embrace this is the safe learning arena for as long as you need to. The main thing to be sure about in white water is that the wave has broken before you try catching it. But on very small days, or as you improve and decide to venture out the back, you will need to know how to read unbroken waves.

Breaking wave provides a small window of opportunity to paddle in and take off. Some waves can trick you and look like they are about to break and then they back away. This can often be the case during a high tide. Learning how to read waves, predicting the take off spot and positioning yourself accordingly simply takes time. As mentioned in the paddling segment above, going with the forward momentum when a wave is picking you up is needed. However, if you are paddling too late into a wave, you are likely to nose dive. Watch the movements of the surfers in the line up catching all the waves. Notice where they position themselves, how early they begin to paddle in, how they look over their shoulder to gauge what the wave is doing and adjust their paddling accordingly. You can also check out our beginners package. It has an in depth look at the different stages of a breaking wave – from swell bumps, to green waves to white water and how to read, catch, and take off on them.

3. When you aren’t positioned correctly on your board

If you are worried about nose diving, you will probably be placing your body weight too far down the tail of your board to compensate. This is like having your brakes on and waves will simply pass by underneath you. Reposition yourself by sliding forward. Arch your back to allow space for an imaginary soccer ball under your chest. With your shoulders lifted and your back slightly arched, maintain this body position while you keep the nose of your board sitting about 5cm out of the water. This might mean that you have to slide either forward or back on your board again.

You will now have more available weight at the front which means you encourage forward momentum. You want your weight to be available but adjustable to stop nose diving. So maintaining the right body posture is key here.

Once you are sure you have caught the wave, quickly press maximum weight into your hands, fully arch your back and straighten your arms. You can stay there and glide for a split second to establish your balance before popping up. Our beginners package has an extensive video tutorial that shows you how to catch and ride green waves and demonstrates this technique.

Once you have established the correct spot on your board, you can use a marker pen to put an X where your chest should be placed so that you don’t have to review this each time you jump onto your board and start paddling.

The individual modules in our beginners surf package collectively make up the knowledge and skills required to get you going. It provides you with unlimited access to video tutorials, diagrams, simple explanations and beautiful imagery. You can work through the order of progressions, or flick back and forward between modules whenever you need to refine or practice an aspect of your surfing.

Sign up to Beginners Package and let us inspire you in all aspects of your surfing journey. From successfully catching waves, to attaching a surf leash correctly, to perfecting your pop up. Join our sisterhood of surf and inspiration, and let us fast track you to finding beautiful flow in the ocean.

Here it is, nice and simple. The 10 essential pieces of equipment that you will need before heading out for your first surf.

Plus a little bit of extra information to make the technical side of your surf equipment easy.

1. LONGBOARDS give you volume and stability which is what you need to get going. Foam longboards (foamies) give you the protection against bumps and bruises and their rubber fins cope with being ridden into the sand. There are a lot of variables out there to the classic longboard shape. When you are looking to hire or buy a surfboard you might find yourself having a conversation about different board dimensions / litre-age /volume / your weight / surfing ability etc. It can get technical. Our e-book has a free height/weight formula that will guide you towards finding the perfect learning board.
2. WATERPROOF SUNBLOCK
3. BIKINI or one piece. If you are surfing in warm water and don’t need a wetsuit, make sure the swim suit you use is secure.
4. WETSUIT Obviously the need for a wetsuit is dependent on the water temperature where you are surfing. A bikini underneath your wetsuit makes getting changed in carparks much easier.
5. TOWEL
6. WAX If your board already has wax on, rub a little more on for added confidence.
7. WAX COMB These are very handy little tools. Using a wax comb to rough up old wax on your board can be done if you don’t have any wax. You will also need a wax comb to remove old wax.
8. FINS Old boards have glassed on fins. Check that the board you are using has fins in tact. If not, a fin key might be needed to screw fins into the fin plugs. Sounds technical but is super easy.
9. LEASH Make sure it is securely attached to your board with a strong leash string (below)
10. LEASH STRING

Sign up to our beginners package to get further help with the technical side of surfing. Our surf equipment video tutorial keeps it simple and gives you confidence. We show you how to apply wax, removing old wax, correctly attach a surf leash and put in and remove the 3 different types of fin systems.