How to Prepare and Train To Surf For the First Time

Are you going to try surfing for the first time? Here are some key exercises to get you ready. These tips will maximize your success and fun.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Swimming pool

1. 
    
   95% of the energy spent surfing, especially for a beginner, is spent while paddling.

   First, recognize that 95% of the energy spent surfing, especially for a beginner, is spent while paddling, NOT standing up and riding a wave. If you can't paddle out to the lineup, you can't surf. Note that I said "energy", not "time." Most of the TIME is spent sitting, waiting for waves. Most ENERGY is spent paddling.

2. 
    
   Paddling a surfboard is best simulated by swimming

   Develop paddling strength: in surfing, you paddle medium distances, but often against incoming waves. And you paddle while holding your head up to see where you are going. This is best simulated by swimming "heads-up" freestyle, like the way water polo players swim around a pool. Begin by swimming one pool length heads-up, catch your breath, and do a normal freestyle to give your neck and back a rest. Repeat for a 10-minute session, and rest for 5 minutes. Work your way up to swimming 100 yards at a time (4 typical pool lengths) heads-up.

3. 
    
   Step 1 to popping up to your feet is to raise your upper body by pushing up with your arms and arching your back.

   Practice popping up to your feet: what makes surfing very hard -- one reason among many -- is that you have a very small window of time during which you need to pop up to your feet from lying on your belly. This requires great timing and strength. The timing is impossible to learn on land, but you can develop the quick-twitch muscles required to pop to your feet. Popping up is done in 2 steps: raising your upper body by pushing up with your arms and arching your back, then quickly tucking both of your feet under you simultaneously. Be sure to arch your back -- do not raise your arse into the air. And do not get to your feet one foot at a time. Practice the 2 steps slowly at first. For one session, repeat 20 times, rest for 5 minutes. Repeat the session 5 times.