Category: Surf lessons

Keep trying
You’ll probably slide or fall off the first few times, but don’t be deterred.
Some people can learn in an afternoon, while others take a few weeks to get the hang of things.
Keep trying and you’ll eventually make it.
Avoid getting to your knees and stopping.
If you’re going to commit, commit and stand up.
Going to your knees is like saddling the horse but not riding it.
Enjoy the surf, enjoy the ocean and have great fun meeting great surfers and friends.

If you feel yourself falling, or if the wave dies down, jump away from the board towards the ocean and away from your momentum.

A good idea is to fall to the side or the back of the board, covering your head with your arms as you fall.
Go with the flow, letting the wave carry you.
Swim upwards gently and feel what’s ahead of you to avoid getting hit by the board.
Try to land flat so that you won’t injure yourself in shallow water or on a reef.
Once you have safely surfaced, pull your leash and climb back onto your board to prevent it from scything or flopping through the water, which can cause serious injury to you or others.
Climb aboard, rest on your belly, and regain control.

Most wipe out injuries happen as a result of the board hitting the surfer. Always remember to bail to the ocean side of your board.
You don’t want to be between the beach and your board when a wave has control of the board.
If you are riding for the very first time, it’s great to rent a foam surfboard rather than a fiberglass one, as they are softer and less likely to cause you injury while learning.

Use the channels to get out of the way. After you wipeout or bail, you need to get out of the way so that other people can surf. Don’t paddle up the middle of the break where other surfers will be coming. Instead, paddle off to the side first, to keep the wave zone clear.

Keep your feet planted on the board, your knees bent, your arms loose, and your eyes looking in the direction you are going.
You’re now surfing your first wave! Stay focused and let it carry you in to shore. Keep an eye out for others in the water while you are surfing.
At first, you should ride each wave straight in.
This is a slower way to ride than angling on a wave, but it is easier to get the hang of it.

Try turning when you’re ready.
You will probably want to try angling your board across a wave. Lean into your turn with your body, keeping your center of gravity on the board.
Use your body to gently dip one rail of your board into the face of the wave. This creates friction/drag that will turn the board. Once you catch the right angle, maintain balance and ride down the curl of the wave.

Pick the direction you want to ride across the wave (left or right) early. If the wave is low enough, begin paddling in that direction before the wave hits.
For larger waves, wait until you are getting pulled up onto the wave.

Identify a target spot. You want to be waist deep in the white water, where the waves have already broken. This is the best place to start when you’re a beginner. Don’t plan on paddling too far out where more advanced surfers might be waiting for a set, but make sure you are in deep enough water to keep from hitting your head if should you fall off your board.
Pick a reference point. Choose a landmark on the shore and glance at it periodically as you move into deeper water. This will help you gauge your distance from shore, and can help to reveal any hidden currents that might be moving you.

Paddle to your spot. When you’re ready to go out into the waves, walk your board out until you’re about waist- or chest-deep, then lie on the board and paddle straight into the waves.
Paddle straight when you are paddling out. If you hit the waves at a glancing angle, you will lose the forward momentum you’ve built up. Stay perpendicular to the oncoming waves and “cut” through them instead.
As you “cut” through a wave, it helps to do a push-up with your upper body as you go over or through the wave.[23] This prevents the wave from pushing you back to shore.

Turn your board and wait for an appropriate wave.
Sit back on your board until the nose is up out of the water.
Kick your legs in an egg beater motion to turn the board around toward the shore. Position yourself in your sweet spot and get ready to paddle for the wave using long, smooth, deep strokes.
When you see a wave coming, get into position as near the peak as you can without appearing to be a “wave hog.”
When you are satisfied that you are in a good position to catch the wave, paddle like you love it!

Start paddling and try to catch the wave.
When you have a good sense of the speed and motion of the wave and you feel that sense that you’ve caught its momentum, take off using the techniques you’ve been practicing.
Keep looking forward as you paddle.
When you turn around, you lose power.
Be quick. You want to catch the wave before it breaks, so you have time to get up on the board.
Be patient. If you miss a wave, just paddle back out and wait for the next one.

Learn basic surfing etiquette before you head out.

Knowing the basic rules of the surf will help you make sure that your first time out is fun and safe.

Here are a few basic safety rules to keep in mind.

Respect the right of way. When there is more than one surfer paddling to catch a wave, the person who has paddled closest to the peak has the right of way for that wave.

Don’t “drop in” on others. Paddling to catch or dropping into a wave while someone is already riding closer to the peak is considered rude and potentially dangerous.

Remember to scan the line of the wave for other surfers before you try to catch it.

Very popular and busy beginner surfing locations don’t usually have these strict rules and multiple people will often ride the same wave (sometimes referred to as a “party wave”).

If two people are waiting on the same wave, whichever person catches it first and is closer to the peak has the right of way.

Once you’ve taken off, keep your knees bent, your arms loose and extended, your feet planted on the board, and your torso leaned forward to lower your center of gravity.

Avoid the tendency to adopt a squatty stance when learning. Balance is side-to-side, not front to back. You will notice that experienced surfers usually ride with their feet much closer together.

The proper stance includes focussing your eyes looking in the direction you are going.

Paddle around and get comfortable in the water. Find your “sweet spot” on your board, to take it into the water and paddle.

Your board should plane across the water, the nose slightly above the water. A good “go-to” balance position is having your toes touching the leash string.

If your nose is too high up, you’re too far back on the board. If it digs water, you’re too far forward. It is essential to find the sweet spot, as that is where you will achieve maximum paddling efficiency.

Paddle with long, deep strokes from as far forward to as far back as you can comfortably reach.

The best way to practice and prepare for hitting the beach is with another person nearby who knows more about surfing than you do, and can provide feedback and advice.

If you have a friend who surfs, ask for help. Pay an instructor. This is the most reliable way to learn the basics of surfing in a clear, methodical way. For a reasonable fee, he or she will teach you all you need to know and give you pointers that will help you get out into the surf and having fun quickly.

Practice on the ground first. Attach the leash to your back foot and to the tail of your board, then lie belly-down on the board so that your body is lined up straight down the middle of the board.

Next, practice your paddling motion with both arms to get a sense of the muscles that you will be working.

If you’re right-handed, your back foot will generally be your right foot. This is called “regular” stance. It’s called “goofy” stance when the leash is on your left foot. When in doubt, just do what feels most natural.

Take a little bit of time to practice on the sand – this investment will reward you on the water.

Practice “Taking off” on the wave and standing up on the board takes a bit of practice.

While lying on the board, bring your hands up from paddling and place your hands below your chest, palms on the flat of the board while your fingers curl over the sides of the surfboard.

In one quick motion, push your body up with your arms and tuck your feet up and under you.

Place one foot where your hands pushed up from and the other at least a shoulder’s width behind.

You may find it easier to get up to your knees first and then bring up one foot at a time until you are in a standing position.

TRhis is a little slower than the jump up, but it works effectively for someone not ready for the jump up.

Do not grab the rails, or edges, of the board during your take off, unless you want to get a nice gash on your chin when your hands slip off your rail.

If you find your hands or feet slipping when you try to get up, you may need to rub more wax on your board.

You can practice jumping up as often as you like to get your body muscle memory prepared.

Surfing is a popular sport in Sri Lanka, and for beginers it is warm and there are many gentle waves, possibly better than almost anywhere in the world.

Come to Bentota and get some lessons from these great instructors. Then rent a soft surfboard before buying your own surfboard.

Choose between fiberglass boards and soft surfboards, sometimes called “soft tops” or “foamies.”

Soft surfboards are lightweight and much cheaper than epoxy or fiberglass boards. Soft boards are extremely buoyant and durable, making them a good choice for beginners.

Your size and weight will contribute to determining which type of board you should learn on.

The more weight you have, the bigger the board volume you will need. You may not have a good experience learning to surf.

Try out a longboard while you’re first learning, these are the oldest and longest type of surfboard commonly available, ranging from 2.5 to 3.7m in length. While they’re not quite as manoeuvrable or versatile as other types of boards, longboards are often recommended for beginners because of their ease of use.

The more volume a longboard has, the easier it is to balance and paddle into waves. This makes for more enjoyable experiences for most learners.

Later, you can try a funboard, these are hybrid boards which are a bit shorter than longboards, typically 2 –2.5 m. Funboards combine the smoothness and stability of a longboard with some of the agility of a shortboard.

Work your way up to a shortboard, these are less than 2m long, with a sharp nose and multiple fins. It takes more practice to master a shortboard than longer types of surfboards, but it is considered the definitive high-performance board for the pros.

Fish boards are even shorter than shortboards and much wider. The fish board’s flatness and small profile make it ideal for riding small surf that other boards sometimes struggle with. It’s a great board for intermediate and advanced surfers.

Get some surfboard wax, this is an important and inexpensive product that can be rubbed onto the top of a surfboard to increase foot grip, allowing better balance in the water.

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Get a leash for your board that will keep you and your board from separating in the water. If you wipe out, you don’t want to be stuck out in the breaking waves without a board. You also don’t want your board floating freely into other surfers or smashing up against the rocks. A runaway board can be very dangerous for anyone in the water.