Julian’s Top 5 Tips for Beginner Surfers

Posted on , updated on by Julian Price
There’s no denying that surfing is tricky stuff. Actually it is really hard work, it’s a sport where you are always progressing, you never hit a point where you are like “ok that’s me done, I’m the best I can be” which is awesome but can be quite frustrating and even more so when you are just starting out. So here are my top 5 tips for beginner surfers including (very important) the top 5 mistakes beginner surfers make:

Top 5 mistakes

  1. The stance. This is always a huge mistake made and it’s usually that you don’t have your feet wide enough apart. Just think logically, if you have your feet a solid distance apart you will be more balanced on the board.
  2. Looking down. Get your head up guys! Imagine riding a bike down a mountain, you’re not going to look at the handlebars are you? You’re going to lift your head up and enjoy the view. It’s the same with surfing, so enjoy it! You will also have a lot more stability.
  3. Taking your hands off the board. You see this a lot and it looks as if you are ‘flying aeroplanes’ whilst trying to keep balance. If you keep your hands down by your side until the very last minute you will have more balance.
  4. Prone position. The prone position is the lying down position on the board, a fundamental basic that needs to be mastered. If you are too far forward, your weight will be off balance and you will ‘nose dive’ or if you are too far back, your weight will be too heavy on the back off the board making it very hard to catch the wave, which is what it’s all about.
  5. Paddle timing. This is a biggy, if you paddle too soon, your too far out in front and the wave itself can fizzle out. Or if you paddle too late, you may flip over with the wave and eat sand for breakfast…

Top 5 tips

  1. Don’t do any of the above ha ha!
  2. Get fit… It’s simple, the fitter you are the more you can achieve in the water.
  3. Man up / woman up! You gotta believe you can make that takeoff / drop/ section/ barrel or whatever. Otherwise you will never know.
  4. Try different breaks, mix it up and don’t get lazy. Get in at unfamiliar spots it keeps you sharp and gives you a better understanding of and respect for the ocean.
  5. As crazy as it sounds have a time out appreciate what’s around you! What I mean is sometimes we can be so focused on getting the next wave that we stop to notice all the amazing things around us.

Ive had it where the best thing about a surf  isn’t the waves but something else like the amazing sunset that lights up the sky, or maybe it’s the feeling of being out in a thunderstorm and feeling the rain on the soles of your feet, maybe if your lucky its seeing a pod of dolphins at first light, or maybe just the feeling of catching a moving wall of the ocean all the way to the sand, it’s all pretty incredible. This may sound a bit hippyish but these kind of things happen and when they do you gotta appreciate them.
That’s what surfing’s all about, loving what you do and not just loving the waves, sure catching waves is ‘the icing on the cake’ but it’s only one part of the whole thing.

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