How to Train for Contest Surfing

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

Rate: (2 Ratings)

"While I'm free surfing, I'll occasionally pretend I'm in a heat and need to impress the judges. That's a good time to finish waves out and mix it up with new maneuvers," says Timmy Reyes, O'Neill Surf Team rider.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Step1
Have mock heats with your friends in the water and judge each other's waves.
Step2
Think about how you'd score your own waves, considering wave selection, number and difficulty of maneuvers, and length of ride.
Step3
Paddle aggressively for position while you're free surfing. Remember, competition will be even fiercer in a contest.
Step4
Surf your wave start to finish, milking it for all it's worth.
Step5
Be creative and mix up your moves a lot.
Step6
Ride without a leash so you're forced to lower your center, which will help with your recoveries. Grab your board in case you fall.
Step7
Perfect the maneuvers you're working on now but aren't comfortable trying in a contest for fear of falling.
Step8
Stay out for long sessions to get in the best possible paddling shape. Contests can be exhausting.

Tips & Warnings

  • "You can practice surf all you want. But there comes a point where you just need to start entering contests to see how you match up against the competition," says Timmy.

Comments

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Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 6/30/2006 Catch all the waves you can get - big/small, choppy or smooth, you need to be able to catch anything. Competitions don't always have the best waves, so be prepared.

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eHow Article:  How to Train for Contest Surfing

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