What you need to know when beginning to surf…Surfing Essentials.
Have you ever sat at the beach and watched surfers dance effortlessly on waves? It looks mesmerising doesn’t it.
Now, the truth is, in most cases, there has been thousands of hours spent in the ocean. Catching waves, being dumped by waves, paddling for waves and missing waves, being hit by your board, being hit by someone else’s board, laughing, smiling, getting frustrated and in the end falling in love with the sport and lifestyle of surfing
Surfing is a bumpy road. However, it is also teaching you the most important life skill…resilience.
If you want to be a master or even proficient in anything in life, you must be resilient. You need to learn that falling flat on your face, and bouncing back, is extremely important. Surfing will challenge your positivity. It will challenge your skill set. It will challenge your fitness.
However, with persistence and resilience you too can surf and dance on the waves like those other surfers you watched and know all of the Surfing Essentials.
Here’s Squizza’s top tips to get you surfing:
- Jump in the ocean every day.
It’s a simple theory. The more time you spend in the ocean, the more you will learn and understand the ocean. The greater your understanding of the ocean, the greater the curve of your improvement. - Make sure you understand the unwritten rules of surfing etiquette
There are a few main rules you need to understand when it comes to surfing that you must know. The reason these exist is primarily to keep everyone safe in the line-up. See our Surfing Etiquette Blog to find out more. The main thing to know here is if you make a mistake, a simple, ‘I’m sorry’ and a smile, will defuse majority of situations. - Do one thing for your surfing every day.
There’s hundreds of things you can do for your surfing, especially if the weather isn’t great. Here’s a few ideas. Practice your pop-ups technique at home, stretch for 10 minutes, jump into a Yoga class, watch some beginner ‘how to video’s’, or simply go for a swim in the waves and feel the energy of the ocean (don’t forget to swim between the flags) - Drop the ego
Noun: a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance
Forget about what anyone else might think of you. Especially other surfers. Every surfer in the water has gone through the beginner stages. The more you drop your ego, the more fun you will have and faster you’ll learn. This is especially important when it comes to a warm-up on the beach! - Balance surfing with healthy food habits
Most surfers see the sport as a healthy lifestyle choice. Surfing is a very physical activity which will challenge your fitness level. Above all, don’t forget to drink loads of water before and after surfing, as a good rule of thumb drink 0.033ml per kg of body weight (I start the day with a 700ml glass of water to re-hydrate after sleeping), and have a balanced wholefood diet to maximize your energy throughout the day. That’s right, stay away from processed foods!