5 years in and this is what I’ve learned
I (48M) started surfing 5 years ago. I had no prior experience with surfing or skateboarding. I did snowboarding - I had no surfing muscles. It was exhausting. My arms felt like jelly. First 3 years I did push-ups, running, shadowboxing, kettle bells. What helped me the most was upper back muscle exercises - paddle with your shoulders and back muscles instead of your arms. Might be true for swimming too. Burn outs is no joke - develop your core muscles and hamstrings to pop up. I’m pretty in shape but surprisingly this part of my body was severely underdeveloped. Made balancing and pop ups very tough. - don’t go out on windy days. Waves get smushy. I didn’t know better and just went out at certain time every weekend. Mornings are the best where I am before 9am - surf til you reached the rip current and paddle back out using the rip current. Being a kook I would ride the wave straight in and paddle back out up the middle. Boy was that exhausting - breathe in slowly 3 times and out slowly 3 times to have good cardio. I learned this from watching a running YouTube video - practice your pop up on land using slow motion so it develops muscles you might not have. Do many many reps. Hold certain positions for 20-30 seconds - practice on a skateboard and eventually graduate to a ramp. Wear pads and helmets - wave quality matters. The better the waves the quicker you learn - you can’t duck dive a big board. I weight 145lbs and anything over 40L in volume is tough for me. Just turtle roll. I use a side roll most of the times for small waves - get comfortable getting rolled on bigger waves. Learn to relax while under water. Pull your leash so your board comes to you as you are ascending up - always cover your head when you come up from underwater - always bring alcohol and band-aids because you will cut yourself with your board, someone’s board or coral - on bigger wave days 5+, surf the edges, closer to the rip current and not the peaks. This way it doesn’t close as fast
Just sharing stuff that I had to learn on my own.
ADDITIONS: Out in the surf I had a tough time figuring out where the rip currents were. Now I just look for the area where the waves closing out ends. It’s where it fizzles out. Paddle to there.
- Never let your board go because you can hit someone with it