Learn How To Surf In 10 Minutes

Hey guys welcome back to How To Rip. Today's video is for anyone who's ever wanted to learn how to surf. We're going to keep it simple, direct and to the point. Giving you the information that you need to be able to catch waves and have success and experiencing what surfing is all about. Popping up, taking off and riding waves. So let's do it. Something like this one. On the waves and looking. The first thing we're going to talk about is picking your beach. You need to pick somewhere that is safe for a beginner surfer. Now we don't actually need big waves to learn. In fact it's the total opposite. Check out these examples. It's only ankle to knee high and I'm having plenty of fun catching all the waves I want and it's ample to allow you to practice catching the waves and taking off. In addition to this you want to make sure that you've actually got other people with you. In this case I've got someone looking out for me and that's all good. If you're unfamiliar with the surf beaches in your area, you're not actually sure where is the best spot to surf, go into your local surf shop and have a chat with them and they should point you in the right direction. For a little bit of extra advice check out the video that we made which is all about surf safety. You can find the link to that video in the video description below. Now that you've selected a safe beach which is appropriate for you and your skill level, now you need the right equipment. Now surfing equipment is complicated but for beginners it's quite simple. We have recommended fishes in the past, a high volume fish. Now the reason we recommend a high volume fish opposed to something like a longboard or a foam board is because they give you the opportunity to progress your surfing on it so you can start turning them a little bit easier. Whereas something like a longboard or a foam board, they don't really allow for progression as much. However if we're talking about a complete beginner who's wanting to learn and just get out there and take off on waves, catch waves and they're not really fussed about buying a board which is going to last them for a few years. In this case we're going to recommend a long foam board or a longboard. The reason for this is mainly because of their buoyancy. They're incredibly buoyant and also having extra board in front of you as you can see here makes it easier to catch waves provided that you're in the right spot on the board. Of course every surfboard has fins on the bottom of it. This isn't something that we really need to worry about as beginner surfers so don't really worry. As long as there's fins underneath you're sweet. The other thing to remember is a leg rope. Now in some of the footage that I've used here I'm not actually wearing a leg rope. That's because where I was surfing there was no one out in the water and I'm quite confident in my ability to control that board should I fall off. However for the beginner I would definitely recommend that you use a leg rope. Have a look at this you can see how it works. It's attached to the back of the surfboard which then comes to your ankle. You want to put the leg rope on your back leg. Another thing that you have to learn is how to wax a surfboard. Now we cover this in greater detail in one of the videos that we made. You can find the link to that in the video description below but you must make sure that you wax your surfboard before you go out to ensure that you've got a sticky board to stand on. You can find surf wax at any surf shop. Now when choosing the right longboard or foam board for you wherever you hire it from or buy it from they should guide you as to what's best for you. However we're looking to go big. As a learner with the intention of surfing and having a higher success rate you need to go big. As you can see this board is huge for me. I think it's about eight foot, far bigger than I ever ride and the volume would be massive. I don't know how much but it'd be far bigger than I usually ride. So go big to ensure your success rate. Alright so now it's time to hit the waves. First thing we're going to do however is just make sure that we know where to lie on the board. If we're too far forward the nose will go in making us fly over the top. If we're too far back the nose will sit up like this and that's not ideal. You're not going to catch waves and it's just not going to work and it looks ridiculous. So where you want to be is somewhere in between. Now every board is different and it's hard to have a set rule for this. You're just going to have to jump on the board and practice out in the water to find a sweet spot. Once you've found the sweet spot it's time to get out there. Now beginner surfers can be a little bit worried about the ocean especially if they haven't spent much time in there and the waves can be a little bit intimidating. All we're looking to do for a beginner surfer is to walk out and to waste deep water like this. That's as far as we need to go. Now to actually get out there the easiest thing to do with these long boards is to grab the nose and lift it up. As you can see here it just makes the waves go straight underneath easy. So what sort of wave are beginner surfers looking for? Well this foamy mushy looking wave is what we want to begin with. The reason for this is because it's the easiest to catch and it's the most forgiving. Once you nail a white water take off that's what the foamy stuff's called is white water. Once you've nailed that well later on you can progress to catching the actual wave before it's broken and then riding straight down the face. So before we try and pop up we're just going to practice actually catching the wave because this in itself is one of the hardest things to do for beginners. So we're going to do the same sequence walking out with the nose of the board up letting the waves crash underneath. Once we're waist deep we're going to turn the board around with the nose of the board facing the beach. If you're not sure which is the nose and which is the tail just remember that the leg rope is attached to the tail pretty simple and the fins are at the tail. Once you're in position and you've seen that white water coming you want to give yourself a bit of room to move. We're looking for maybe five meters we can see that white water coming it's going to give us time to jump onto the board find our position and then start paddling. Remember we're looking for big long strokes cupped hands and kicking our feet just to make sure that we get as much speed as possible. Now we're not going to stop paddling until the waves picked us up and it's pushing us along and for this stage we're just going to belly board in just to get used to the feeling of what it feels like for a wave to pick you up and push you along. Practice this until you're confident catching waves and from that point you can take it to the next level. Now we're going to hit the waves and practice popping up. Just before that now you're comfortable actually catching waves on your belly that's a big hurdle that we've now passed but to get used to the pop-up we're going to practice on the sand. It doesn't actually have to be on your board because you can damage it just draw the outline of the board roughly you can even trace the board that you're surfing and then use that make sure however that you put a line down the middle that will help you know where exactly your feet need to be. Using this real example you can see how the sequent works. Now to talk you through how to pop up this is what we're going to do. You've caught the wave you're confident you can stop paddling your hands then go onto the rail of the boards you lift your chest up now by doing that you create room for your legs to come through. From that point you're going to bring your front leg forward that's different depending on whoever you are if you like to have your left foot forward or your right foot forward but regardless the front foot comes up and then from there your back leg comes behind it. Now your width wise you're looking for them to be roughly shoulder width but everyone's slightly different some are slightly wider some are slightly narrower but too narrow and it's silly too wide and it's silly again so once again practice makes perfect and you'll eventually find where they need to be but shoulder width is a good goal to have. Once your feet are on the board then you can take your hands off and get low looking for a low sort of crouch position from there look and point towards the that's where we're heading remember where you look and where you point with your front arm that's where you're going to go and this stays true for the rest of your surfing career. Now where should your feet be on the board now if they're too close to either side of the rail it'll make the board twist and you're going to fall so that line down the middle of most boards which is called a stringer you can use that as a guide and you basically want that stringer to run through the middle of your feet. Once you've practiced this on the sand it's time to go out into the surf and do it for real and hopefully that if you follow the steps right you're going to nail it and you're going to feel the sensation of surfing for the first time and it is incredible and I guarantee that you'll be addicted if not don't worry there's lots of a failure along the way that's cool it's part of it. One thing to be aware of is that if you should fall which you probably will because everyone does remember that when you're coming back up to the surface that you put your hands over your head like this just in case the board's floating above your head this is just a safety thing to do in case the board hits you. Another thing to be aware of when you're falling off is how deep the water is and what's underneath you now as beginners there should be nothing but sand underneath you so that's safe however if it's shallow you can still hurt yourself so it's important to either belly flop or kind of jump off and land on your feet and be ready for that landing on your shoulder or a leg a straight leg or your head clearly isn't a good thing so avoid that at all costs. Remember that where you look is where you go and to progress your surfing from a whitewater takeoff to then going on an angle it's simple you just look and point where you want to go either to the left or the right with your front arm looking and pointing to where you want to go. Thanks for watching the video today guys I hope that this helps you get out into the water and succeed in learning how to surf. Please comment below to let us know how you go and let us know if you have any issues along the way remember to like the video and subscribe to our channel. If you are interested in progressing your surfing we actually offer some online coaching you can contact us here for any further enquiries.