I went surfing for the first time last week at Manhattan Beach. It was super hard to say the least. I went with a few of my friends and they basically just left me to myself and told me to just "keep trying" and that I'll get it soon enough.

Well, I had a huge surfboard and it took me like an hour to even get somewhat far from the sand, pathetic I know (wave after wave just kept coming after me and they would hit me and blow me way back and I would lose any forward progress I had made).

It then took me another hour to figure out how to stand or even put my knees on the board to stand up. Finally I was too tired though and came back onto land and just passed out for like half an hour laying on the sand starting up into the sun.

Anybody got any pointers on surfing? Should I just hire an instructor instead of messing around by myself/having my friends "teach" me?

www.google.com

With a large board you can't duck-dive to get through the waves so the best thing to do is right when the wave is coming flip over upsideown and the waves will go right over you instead of forcing you back to shore. Other than that it's really hard to tell someone how to surf, you really just need to get the feel for catching waves...just practice catching the wave, dont worry about standing up at first, once you've caught a few and are confident then try to stand but do it in one fluid motion...the more time and steps it takes you to get up, the less likely you're going to be able to ride it out.

surfing has got to be one of the toughest beginner sports

If waves are over 3' dont even try to learn that day, you really have no chance.

Do you consider yourself a strong/intermediate swimmer??
You will need to work on your swimming skillz if you want to become a good surfer.

I went surfing for the first time a few weeks ago. My friend and I got a lesson. If you have the money I'd recommend getting at least the one lesson. First thing we did was lay our boards down on the sand and he taught us how to stand up properly. After we practiced a bunch of times and he thought we were alright he took us out into the water. I have no idea what I would've done if he wasn't there because like you I would've had no shot at even getting the board out far enough.

What the instructor did was drag our boards out for us and had us get on when we were a bit into the water. Then he'd spin us around when a good wave came and tell us when to start paddling with the wave, and then he'd yell out at us when to stand up.

Oh and thanks to having the instructor I was actually able to get up on the board 3 or 4 times during the 45 minutes we were out there.

I don't think I'd pay for another lesson, but I'm definitely glad I did the one.

how much did that one lesson cost?

If you have the opportunity, do your initial surfing at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. It`s probably the most beginner-friendly wave in the world.

Couple of pictures of my local breaks in New Zealand... keep going, keep trying, surfing is about the journey not the destination. It is because I can keep improving that I keep surfing and have done so for over half my life.

$1 on Party for any correct guesses of the surf breaks...

is that Raglan?

Its hard to answer about the lesson without knowing how much your friends know and how douchy they are being as far as explaining the basics to you.

There is very little an instructor can do for you as far as the actual mechanics of surfing (getting the board to plain during takeoff, standing, maneuvering etc.)

If you have some experience in the ocean as far as feeling wave movements and knowing when the best time to catch a wave is,(i.e. you don't want to be catching it too early or too late) then there isn't much an instructor can do for you. If you're a beginner in the ocean as a whole, then it might be worth it to get the lesson to learn to position yourself in the ocean to actually surf.

You said you got yourself a big 'ol board. That will be the easiest to learn to surf on and what I would recommend. But it does have the disadvantage of being harder to get through waves heading out. A previous poster suggested turtle rolling to get through waves. I wouldn't suggest that except on a rogue huge set for two reasons (1) if its big enough that you need to roll then it isn't a day to be learning on and (2) as a beginner you probably aren't good a recovering and getting back on your board quick enough to make headway for the next wave.

When the waves come, just make sure to flatten out and get a little weight toward the nose. This might seem counter-intuitive, as it will likely mean you will take more water in the face, but the wave will have less drag on you.

same experience as OP. cannot wait to try it again. for me, getting into better shape cardio-wise would likely lead to very significant progress.

$80

When you're starting out don't try to surf waves. Practice on the foamy whitewash that the waves create after they've crashed. Good luck!

OP,

I have been surfing over 15 years, and it is really really fun. Definitely my favorite outdoor activity.

When I show my friends how to surf, I tell them to work on their paddling. Paddling is the key to surfing. You need to have good upper body and decent lower back strength, and be able to put yourself in a position where it is easier to stand up. Go out on a day less than waist high, and just commit yourself to paddling. You will get better trust me.

Ruebs,

That looks absolutely phenomenal. Wow. My local breaks are C-Street in Ventura, Silverstrand in Oxnard, and I rarely go to Rincon. Just too crowded for me. This is California btw.

Sorry .. wrong Island... but here's one for you of Manu Bay which is the first point of 3 at Raglan from when I lived up that way

Don't live here, but thought this place in Munich was cool:

[QUOTE=Ruebs;6579164]Sorry .. wrong Island... but here's one for you of Manu Bay which is the first point of 3 at Raglan from when I lived up that way

Complete guesses in no particular order, here i go:

dunedin
tomahawk
Aramoana
long beach
cross roads
Murdering Bay
St Kilda Beach
Wainakarua

Wtf is this a joke? Looks like Escape from L.A.


I reallllly want to learn how to surf. Sounds like even a long weekend devoted to it might not even be enough to get the basics down.

K this post was awesome.. I really want to try surfing. But I like in canada, I need a vacation.

Move down the road to Montreal LDO.. http://2imagine.net/eng/school/surfs...urfschool.html

Good advice in the thread, I would say try to practice on the whitewash as much as possible, it really helped me get comfortable with standing up and paddling before dealing with the ever changing and confusing monster that is a breaking ocean wave.

Surfing has a huge learning curve when beginning compared to things like snowboarding but I feel it's the most rewarding, catching waves, even small ****ty ones feels amazing when you're starting. It also will put in some killer shape with muscles that you didn't know existed showing up.. but yeah, it took me quite a while before I could go out and get at least a few waves every session.