10 COURSE PROGRAM SURFING
SURF ETIQUETTE
There is an order in the water that, if followed, will contribute to safer surfing and more fun. Know your skill level and stay calm. Always be courteous and spread Aloha by bringing a smile to the lineup!
PRIORITY TO SURFER: FURTHEST OUT OR WAITING LONGEST or FURTHEST INSIDE OR CLOSEST TO THE PEAK
SURF HISTORY
Surfing’s roots go back all the way to the ancient culture of Hawai’i where it once was weaved into the fabric of the society through rituals, songs and stories. He’e Nalu or wave sliding was considered “the Sport of Kings” and played a huge role in the social structure as royalty and kings often used surfing to maintain the status quo and reserved the best boards and surf spots for them exclusively.
Due to some unfortunate cultural clashes with European missionaries who started to frequent the Hawaiian Islands in late 1700’s banning most activities that were any kind of fun, surfing was almost forgotten for more than 150 years. In the early 20th century only a handful of native wave sliders remained on the shores of the Pacific paradise and surfing’s societal status and importance had decayed. Luckily for us one of these surfers was Duke Kahanamoku, a great waterman whose swimming skills brought him around the world to compete. While visiting California in 1912 and Australia in 1914 he demonstrated the art of surfing at local beaches and so became surfing first ambassador.
After a slow expansion through the 20’s 30’s and 40’s, surf culture spread to new frontiers during the end of the 1950’s, partly due to US servicemen being stationed at bases in odd corners all over the world. Though it wasn’t until the 1960’s that surfing turned from being an underground culture to becoming a mainstream activity and started to spread from the surf-crazed Southern California to rest of the world via music from artists like the Beach Boys and Dick Dale and movies like “Gidget” and Bruce Brown’s “The Endless Summer”. A bushy blonde hairstyle and striped shirt are still seen as “surf fashion” and come from the Californian surfers wardrobe.
If the first 40 years of modern surf history were slow the last 40 has been an absolute explosion, with more and more people from all over the world are being drawn to the thrill of sliding across the water every year. Local competitions have evolved into worldwide tours being broadcasted live via Internet. With so many new practitioners traveling around the globe returning to their home as surfers stoked for more waves, new spots are being discovered in the most unexpected places.
Whether we surf to stay fit or use it as a reason to meet new people in new places or maybe you are a restless soul looking for adventure, the reason why we surf is still the same as it was when the Hawaiian kings slid across the water, we enjoy it. Join the fun. Live the search. Welcome to the tribe.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Being a surfer means being close to nature, our passion of riding waves will always be at the mercy of Mother Nature’s health. As you will learn, surf is the result of complex global weather systems that at first might seem hard for us to have an impact on or even less, change. But as most scientists now agree on, human behavior plays a huge role in a speeding climate change. Surfers are extra sensitive to pollution and
irresponsible waste management since more or less everything consumed, thrown away or sprinkled over plants eventually ends up in the sea, making our time in the water less pleasant and sometimes even puts our health at risk. In the long-term, climate change pose a threat to many world-class breaks; as water temperature rise, coral reefs will die making them more porous and they become subject to erosion and rising sea levels might come to hide certain lowtide reefs
preventing them from breaking at all. Not good news.
It is clear that our actions have an impact on the environment we live in, so if you think about it, it’s really just a question of what kind of impact we want to make and act accordingly.
Consume sensibly, rather spend more money on one good bikini set or pair of boardshorts that will dry fast, last long and can be used out of the water. Same for wetsuits, boards and other equipment make them last.
Consume responsibly, look for clothes and products that are made with care for the environment. Many surfbrands have their own sustainable line like Rip Curl Planet with clothes made of organic cotton or recycled materials.
Consume collectively, you don’t use everything all the time, maybe there are some things that you can share with your friends?
Repair rather than replace. The rip in your wetsuit can be fixed, so can your t-shirt, shoes and car. It is almost always better for the environment to repair something as it generally creates less waste.
Re-use before you recycle
Buy second hand and sell second hand. Don’t throw stuff away.
Support your local business as far as possible, transporting goods across the world makes a huge debt in the environmental account.
Walk or ride your bike to the beach, it’s a great warm up and saves both money and fuel.
Ride collectively, stack as many friends in one car that is possible and/or legal, split the cost of gas and save plenty of CO2 emissions.
If renting a car, try to go electric, hybrid or at least diesel.
Long travels by plane emit massive amounts of greenhouse gases and looking for carbon offsetting
SURF SCIENCE
WIND
Waves are born by wind as big storms stir up water far out at sea. The wind itself is a result of the sun heating up the Equator with more concentration than at the poles, causing the surrounding air to heat up. As the hot air gets lighter it rises in updrafts and travels towards the poles as high pressures while the pocket underneath it is filled with colder, denser air returning from the poles as low pressures. Because the earth rotates, the heated air spins in circular patterns. When warm air collides and slides over a cold air mass, the low pressure strengthens resulting in faster spinning winds. In winter the temperature difference between the Equator and the poles increases and so the contrast between colliding air masses have greater effect, lowering the barometric pressure, creating instability and, thankfully for surfers, creating big winter storms that stir up plenty of water.
The same thing happens on a smaller scale every day as land heats up faster than water, hot air rises on land during the day bringing in cool air from the sea in the from of onshore breezesAt night the process is reversed, land cools off quicker than sea sending out cold air in the form of offshore winds.
SWELL
Waves are born by the wind agitating the water surface creating ripples. A bumpy surface makes it easier for the wind to grip and agitate the ripples further, making the waves grow exponentially. It’s a snowball effect that will increase the waves height as far as gravity allows it for as long the wind keeps blowing. Storms that move over longer period and distance will produce bigger waves. The wave energy created will travel on its own and spread across the ocean much like the rings on a pond when you throw a rock into it.
Swell is what we call this collection of waves created by the same weather system or storm(s). The longer distance a swell travels the more the energy will spread out which consequently makes the swell hit a broader part of coastline with proportionally smaller waves. During their travel waves of different wavelengths will group together due to different speed. Therefor sets arrive at the coastline with waves of similar size.
Groundswells are are born far out on the oceans, move like the low pressures that create them, from the West to the East and can travel vast distances and still arrive with great power. They are the most consistent of ocean swells.
Windswell or localized swell is the result from strong regular winds that have enough fetch to kick up rideable waves. Waves will rarely have time to group into sets as they often
SURF SCIENCE
WAVES
TIDE
Waves made for surfing need to be breaking, preferably in a successively peeling manner. This happens when the sea bottom becomes so shallow that it slows down the bottom part of a wave to the point that the top part overtakes it and falls over. If the bottom is sloping gently the wave will slow down gradually and break later with less force. Waves like these are called spilling waves and can be great for surfing especially for beginners who need more time to stand up and gain control of the board. If the bottom is of a more contrasting character going from deep water to shallow more suddenly, like on a reef shelf, the wave is more likely to plunge or pitch with great force. Plunging waves are not always suitable for surfing although they often tempt experienced surfers by being steep and hollow. Waves are also affected by the local wind conditions and will break earlier if sped from behind by onshore winds and become steeper and break later if delayed by offshore winds.
You might have noticed that if you go to the beach by lunch the shoreline is a lot further up the beach than it was at breakfast and by dinner it has retracted back down again. This tidal difference is a result of the moons gravitational force challenging the Earths own gravity attempting to pull the world’s oceans off the planet making them bulge. The sun also has a gravitational pull on the oceans, its effect is smaller but significant. A full moon means that moon and sun are aligned and the result are larger tide differences called spring tides, the same happens when the moon align with the sun on the other side of the Earth in a new moon. When the sun and moon are at a 90° angle to each other the pull is almost equalized resulting in small differences called neap tides. Exactly how big the differences are depends on underwater topography and latitude and can vary vastly from place to place.
As the world spins around its own axis the gravitational pull changes location letting every point of every ocean’s surface experience at least one tidal shift a day. Most coastlines have two daily tides meaning there water will come in (flow) and go out (ebb) twice under the period of 24hr50min which is the time it takes for the Earth to rotate until the same point is aligned to the moon again.
Before going surfing it is good to know if you are in area with big tidal differences as certain surf spots can be very tide sensitive and also to know when the good tides will occur. The best way to do this is to invest in a Rip Curl tide watch that has over 500 beaches pre-programmed to save the trouble.
SURF SCIENCE
WAVES
ARE BORN BY WIND AND IT DOESN’T TAKE MORE THAN 250km OF OPEN WATER TO PRODUCE 2.5m (8ft) HIGH WAVES IF A LOW-PRESSURE FUEL THE WINDS TO BLOW STEADY AT 11m/s FOR 18 HOURS.
Today there are several tools letting us gaze into the future and helping us to decide when to skip dawn patrol and when it is a good day to call in dead from work. The information that concerns us the most is: Height, Period & Direction. In addition to this we will need to know a little about our local spot, the local wind direction and strength as well as have our tide chart figured out.
HEIGHT
Have a look at a swell chart or wave height map. Spot the red and purple blobs and see how they will travel over the next couple of days. These are obviously the roots of the swell and depending on their intensity and how far away they are the size of surf arriving at our coastline will be either smaller or bigger accordingly. Knowing the size of the swell before it arrives at the coast is good since as it reaches shallower water it will be affected by the contour of the sea floor. Swell height, as we shall see, is not always the same as size of the breaking waves but it gives us an indication.
PERIOD
Depending on the intensity of the storm a swell will have a longer (more energy from the wind) or shorter (less energy) period. The period is measured by buoys and tells us how long it is between each wave crest on average. Long periods can sustain the energy and travel farther without decaying than short period swells. This means that a long period will provide waves with more power, the waves will travel faster and since their energy travels deeper the bottom will compress them earlier and so long periods means larger waves. Example: a 3ft swell at 10 sec interval creates insignificant waves while 3ft at 18 sec indicates some solid, fun walls.
SURF SCIENCE
DIRECTION
0ft 0.0m Flat
1ft 0.6m Ankle high
3ft 1.0m Waist high
4ft 1.3m Shoulder high
5ft 1.6m Head high
6ft 2.0m Overhead
8ft 2.6m Double overhead
12ft 4.0m Triple overhead
20ft+ 6.6m+ Huge
Swell will travel across the oceans at a certain direction depending on how the storm that created it was moving. In reports the direction is usually given in actual degrees of the compass and tells you which direction the swell is coming from not traveling to. At the same time we can have a look on a map and see in what direction our local surf break faces and from this we can start to draw conclusions of how the waves will be when they hit that reef or sandbank. This obviously has a lot to do with how the shape of the sea floor and even if a beach facing straight West will have larger waves when a swell from W arrives, the waves might actually be better if the swell is comes in at an angle. This will create either a concave or convex refraction as the waves bend either in towards the reef (concave) or pass by and bend away (convex) in a fanned out appearance. Concave refractions forces the energy of the wave to compress and become steeper, more hollow and powerful as well as shorter and more intense. In a convex refraction the wave will only break at point that is slowed down by the reef letting the rest of the wave continue to roll on. The wave will be longer but with less power though sometimes they are bigger at the end section than at the start, this is what happens at point breaks.
WAVE HEIGHT
As surging waves start to shoal they grow, how much depends on the swell period or amount of energy and the contour of the sea floor. So the size of the waves in the swell is not the size of the waves that we surf and the waves that we surf are constantly changing so getting a proper measurement isn’t easy. Generally waves are measured from their bottom bend to the crest in feet or set relative to the human body creating scale that varies widely depending on who the surfer is.
In conclusion: How big that wave you surfed actually was will always be exaggerated and debated around the campfire and after all is said and done we all know that it was big enough for a good story.
Swell shadow
The Waves, once you know the height of the tide you should check the wave height for comparison. Small waves at low tide will break with less intensity, compared to big waves at low tide and so on. Ideal time is high tide with big waves that break gradually. Make sure you are aware of big waves, so you don’t head too far out and get in trouble.
Dangers, when you have your conditions scoped out take a moment to consider possible dangers in the area where you will be surfing. On a beach these are usually other surfers, swimmers and more hidden things like rocks on the bottom and rips. Take the necessary precautions for preventing any accidents and enter the water with respect as well as confidence.
THE BEACH
The Tide, always check the tide on your Rip Curl watch. If the water is high up the beach towards land; this is high tide. If the water is a long way out, far from land then it’s low tide. The best time to surf on a beach break is from mid tide to high and then moving back down to mid tide. The higher the tide, the deeper the water, the more gradually the waves will break. Low tide means shallow water, the waves will break faster and more intensely.
The Wind, check the direction of the wind. If the wind is blowing onshore this will cause uneven, messy and choppy conditions. If the wind is blowing offshore then it is good, as wind will smoothen the face of the wave and even increase the size a little bit as the wind catches the face. Side shore winds will push the currents in the same direction.
Waves move across the ocean, when a wave meets resistance such as a sand bank, it causes the wave to break. The wave then pushes up on the beach, because of the angle of the beach the water is sucked back out. Water trapped in the gutter moves along the beach left and right; this is known as a side shore current.
The Rip is a channel that pulls water back out into the ocean and every beach has a rip somewhere. It is nature’s way of circulating the water along the beach. On a beach the rip will move from day to day as the sand is constantly moved around.
If you are unaware of the dangers of the rip, you can get in a lot of trouble. Swimmers often get caught in the side shore current and pulled along the beach into the rip. Now they are unable to stand and are ultimately dragged out into the ocean. Everyone’s first reaction is to start swimming towards the beach, however this is the wrong thing to do.
The safest way out of a rip is by moving parallel to the beach out of the rip. Most rips are 10 to 20 meters wide and can be 50 to 100 meters long. Don’t fight the current instead move across to where the waves are breaking, then in!
How to spot the rip, look for consistent gaps which appear in breaking waves, or what looks like a big sandy mushroom in the water. Small white cap waves appear at the end of the rip or top of the mushroom, indicating the moving current hitting the still water. A rule of thumb is to look for where the waves break consistently then look to each side where they don’t break and you have spotted the rip.
The rip is your friend, and is very handy for surfers who use it to move themselves quickly from the beach to deeper water. It takes less energy, as you won’t have to fight the white water of breaking waves at the same time as the current pushes you out. It’s a conveyor belt and the closest you will get to a ski lift in the ocean.
HANDLING & PADDLING
THE SKILLS TAUGHT IN THE FIRST COURSE ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS YOU WILL LEARN IN SURFING AND ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A FAST AND SAFE PROGRESSION.
HANDLING OUT OF THE WATER
• Carry your board so it doesn’t damages or gets damaged. Don’t drag it over hard surfaces.
• Carry the leash in your hand so it doesn’t get stuck or trips someone.
• Keep the fins intact by carrying them “inwards” behind you and put the board down gently when placing it on the ground.
• If you have a board with wax, keep it out of the sun so the wax doesn’t melt.
HANDLING IN THE WATER
• Hold the board by the tail and walk beside it not behind it.
• Turn the board around the side of your body facing the beach.
• Always keep a 5-meter safety space away from other surfers.
• Don’t ever throw your board away when there are other people around you.
POSITION YOURSELF CORRECTLY
The board should be as parallel to the water surface as possible. If you are too far back the tail the tail and your feet will create a drag. Too far forward and the nose will dive when you catch a wave. Once you have found your balance make a small mark on your board so you know where you should be. Keep your head up, your chest high and your feet together.
THREE STAGE PADDLE
The three-stage paddle can be used with all size boards and waves. The three stages are similar to three gears or speeds, which will lift the board up, helping the surfer commit physically and mentally to catch the wave.
Stage 1 is the line-up; take two or three slow paddles to line your body and board up with the direction of the wave.
Stage 2 is the power paddle, reach as far forward as your arm can stretch, then pulling
your arm deep and long through the water, to increase your board speed.
Stage 3 is a full explosion of power, giving it everything you’ve got to propel yourself mentally and physically on to the wave.
Take it easy. Paddling is about technique, not strength. One long powerful stroke is more efficient than many small splashy ones on the surface.
JUMP UP & CONTROL
DON’T RUSH TO STAND UP, STAY COOL AND CONTROLLED. MAKE SURE YOU ARE BEING CARRIED BY THE WAVE AND POSITION YOUR ARMS FOR A SLOW JUMP UP. THE SLOWER YOU GO, THE FASTER YOU WILL
RIDING THE WAVE
JUMP UPS
• Your jump up should always be slow and controlled.
• Always look where you want to go.
• Keep your body weight low and centered over the board.
• Thinking too much can create hesitation: Just go for it! You can correct your positioning once you are up and riding the wave.
1. Stay low, raise your upper body slowly into a ¾ stand.
2. Keep your knees bent and eyes up at all times looking forward.
3. Move your upper body weight forward to your front foot to increase the board speed.
4. Move your body weight back to slow down and stop.
5. If you are about to fall, lower your body, roll off the tail of the board into the wave. Never dive.
6. Allow a 5 meter safety space from other people and cover your face with your arms when fall-
STEP FORWARD & STEP BACK
Once you’re standing on the board you want to be able to control your speed. If you want to increase the board speed, maybe to help in a tight turn or to accelerate around a bad section of the wave, simply step forward. When you have achieved the speed and need to slow down, step back again. Practice stepping forward and stepping back, make sure you keep your head and eyes up and take slow sliding steps one foot at a time.
BEACH BREAK
ON A BEACHBREAK WAVES BREAK OVER A SAND BOTTOM. ALONG THE LENGTH OF A BEACH SOME WAVES WILL BREAK BETTER THAN OTHERS DEPENDING ON THE SHIFTING SAND.
There is a great variety in the shape and form of beaches and consequently the waves at different beach breaks can vary a lot. Waves break when they eventually hit a bottom shallow enough to expend their energy. This means a beach with a gentler slope will have slowed down the wave
making it break softer and creating a spilling wave while on a beach with a steeper angle the waves roll in at a faster speed hitting the bottom more suddenly and will break harder creating a plunging wave.
Legian is considered a soft beach break and just like any other beach break it can be divided into three parts:
The shore break, The beach break: where the waves push up on the beach and is pulled out back to sea again by gravity.
The inside or the impact zone: where the waves do all their breaking. This is the most difficult section of the beach and it is the area that we have to move through as quickly as possible.
The outside or out the back: is where the water is deep and the waves don’t break. This is a great place to recover from your paddle out. If we see a wave approaching we can choose to either paddle over it or, swing around, catch it and ride it.
PADDLE OUT & TURN
AS FUN AS IT MIGHT BE TO PLAY AROUND IN THE WHITEWATER, THE GOAL IS TO SURF THE UNBROKEN WAVES. THERE ARE A FEW GO-TO TECHNIQUES TO GET THROUGH THE WHITEWATER AND OUT THE BACK.
SETS & LULLS. Waves come in sets, ranging from 3 to 7 waves normally. If you watch the sets you will often note a pattern as in 3, then 4, then 3 again. The gap between the sets is known as a ‘lull’ and this is the secret to getting through the Impact Zone/Inside, wait for the
lull before starting your paddle out. If you are a good paddler, you can often make it through the Impact Zone without being hit by a wave and reach the line up with your hair still dry. Attempting to paddle through sets often results in tiring quickly and being pushed back into the
SET LULL LULL
PUSHING UP & SPINNING
• Paddle at the wave, place your hands beside your chest in the chicken wing position.
• Lift your upper body as the wave is about to hit the nose of your board.
• Sitting up: Slide your hips forward and straddle the board like riding a horse.
• Spinnig: Grip the board with the one hand and paddle the board around with the other. Try and use your feet as well.
THE ESKIMO ROLL
Even though we start to paddle out during a lull we sometimes meet breaking waves in the impact zone that will push us back or knock us of our boards if we don’t approach them the right way. If it is a smaller wave, pushing your chest up is often enough to be able to go on but if the wave is bigger we will have to do an Eskimo roll. Prepare yourself by approaching the wave with a bit of speed, then when you are about a boards length away from the wave, grip your rails tightly,
raise your chest and roll over. Slowly blow air out your nose and pull the front of the board down towards your chest. Wait until the wave passes over you and then roll back up. Push and pull with opposite arms, placing your chest back on the board as you roll back up.
The Eskimo roll is an effective way to avoid being pushed back by waves that have already started to break, don’t roll under a wave that is about to break on top of you as the full force of the wave will hit you.
THE EASIEST MANEUVER IN SURFING IS MAKING TURNS, BUT IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO TURN THE BOARD WE NEED TO BUILD MOMENTUM BY GENERATING SPEED.
HOLDING THE LINE
FOREHAND TURNS
• The forehand turn leaves you facing the wave.
• The key factor is the movement from the front foot to the back foot before and after the turn.
• Use your upper body, arms and eyes to turn the board.
• Once on the angle, lower your body weight over the inside rail to hold your angle
• Always look where you want to go
You will discover turns are great fun and the best way to gain or loose speed when you need to! The more speed you have when commencing a turn the easier it is therefor you need to learn how to increase your speed even more. This requires balance and control. The tighter the angle you get the board on to the wave the faster you will travel. However if you go parallel with the wave you are no longer moving forwards, you will stall the board.
ARM SURFING
In order to generate more speed we need to combine the steps of angling our board and stepping forward with moving the board up and down the face of the wave. Try turning your board on the angle then fully extend your body and arms up into the air, immediately lower your arms and compress your body down to the inside rail again. Repeat this motion by lifting and lowering your arms and body weight. This will pump the board up and down the face of the wave generating speed from the motion of your body. Similar to playing on a swing set when, you bend your knees as you swing up and down, exaggerate the motion as much as you can.
THE WAVE IS YOUR SOURCE OF ENERGY AND CLOSER YOU ARE TO THE POCKET THE MORE POWER YOU WILL GET, LEARN TO KNOW THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WAVE TO UTILISE IT THE BEST.
TAKING OFF AT THE PEAK
Position yourself so that you are ready to paddle really hard when the peak approaches. Make sure you are not too deep so the peak crashes on you nor too far out on the shoulder so the wave will pass under you. As you take off angle your board in the wave direction. Don’t be shy, attack the wave when you see it coming and paddle to get into position. Try to get the timing right by watching how the waves behave before paddling out.
Practice moving your board from side to side on a wave to find more power, speed and riding time on the wave
RIDING ON YOUR BACKHAND
Surfing on your backhand means you won’t see what the wave is doing as you can on your forehand. Learn to feel the wave and try to visualize the line you need to take to not wipeout. Stay centered by adjusting the weight between your front and backfoot. Square your shoulders to the wave so that you are as open as possible to the direction that you are riding.
GRAB RAIL TAKE OFF
Taking off on a wave on your backhand may seem hard at first but if you use a technique called the pigdog where you grab the rail of your board to get into the right direction you will see it is just as easy or easier than taking off frontside.
Experienced surfers often use the pigdog technique to help them hold the line while riding the barrel on their backhand.
Take off on your backhand with your trailing (outside) hand grabbing your outside rail. Keep your back leg bent or drop the knee to your board and drag your leading hand along the top of the wave.
Surfing over a reef means more consistent and predictable conditions than when surfing on a beach break. This is due to the fact that a reef is immovable meaning it doesn’t change as water pushes over it, at least not on a scale that matters to us. Reefs come in many varieties, they can be lava mounds or fingers, granite shelves or made of coral. With a harder and sharper bottom is important to use the right equipment, be sure to wear a helmet and/or booties to protect yourself.
THE CHANNEL
Most reefs end abruptly creating a deep channel where the waves won’t break. The channel works the same way as a rip and is your safe zone when surfing on reef breaks. When you paddle out use the channel. When you want to rest use the channel. When you have fallen off paddle to the channel. Figure out where the channel is by looking at how the waves break from the beach. Where the waves roll but never break is your ticket, also look what other surfers are doing as they might have an idea.
ETIQUETTE IN THE LINE UP
Follow the tribal laws explained in the Etiquette section of this book and learn how to read the line up. Remember, you can always sit wide in the channel where the waves don’t break and read the sets and where the peak is..
When you are ready paddle to the line up:
- Be courteous to other surfers, spread the Aloha! - Talk to the guy/girl next to you.
- Respect the locals
- Know your experience level.
- Stay cool, calm & collected.
- Smile
PULLING OUT
As the bottom on a reef break generally is hard and sometimes even sharp it is very important that you pull out correctly as you exit a wave. If the wave is not closing and you can ride it to the end the best way to pull out is to go over the shoulder. As you approach the end of the ride turn your board slightly up the face and ride over the back of the wave, paddle to the channel.
Never jump or dive headfirst. Use booties if the reef is shallow and a helmet if the waves are heavy.
YOUR BODY AND THE WAVE
As you have already learned staying low and stepping forward will help you go faster, while standing tall and leaning on your back foot helps you turn the board. When you have enough speed, using your upper body, torso, shoulders and eyes will help you to turn the board sharper and rotate more on the fins.
RAIL TO RAIL
Using your eyes and upper body to turn the board from side to side, from 45 degree left to 45 degree right. Lift your head higher as you turn the board. If your body weight is too far forward when you turn, the nose will sink into the water and the board wont turn. By compressing your weight once you have made the turn, you will increase your board speed. Extend your body weight again to transition to the opposite rail.
FOREHAND TO BACKHAND
Practice by bringing the board to the toe side and hold a good line, lower you body generating more speed. Then all in one motion extend your upper body, while placing more weight over the backfoot, rotate using your arms to your heelside, look to the whitewater. As you pass the 90 - degree angle, lower your upper body over the center of the board. Hold the heelside turn to generate speed before
CUTBACK
To make your first cutback you need to be moving in the wave direction along the bank. Now use the same technique as above turning back to the broken wave. As you approach the whitewater lift your upper body rotating back to the bank of the wave.
Using your eyes, look at the bank, as you turn look at the whitewater, now look back at the bank and turn to the wave direction again. Remember to place more weight on your back foot in the turn and for speed weight to your front foot.
NEW BOARDS
The shape and size of a board will give it different qualities that will change how you surf. A smaller board will be faster when you surf and easier to maneuver but less stable and slower when you paddle for waves. As you progress it is good to try as many different boards as possible to get a feel for the differences between different lengths and fin setups. That way you will know what suits you the best when you go to buy your own board.
JUMP UP & CONTROL
You are on a new board, it is most likely a bit more unstable than what you are used to so as always it is extra important that you don’t rush to your feet. Remember, the slower you go, the faster you will learn.
• Place your hands in a chicken wing position.
• Slide to your feet placing your front foot in between your hands.
• Stay low and correct your stands but keep your eyes up, look where you want to go.
• Don’t think too much, go with the feeling in your backbone, you know this now.
FOREHAND TURN
A smaller board will not carry you as easy as a big one, you need to give it more speed by turning it in the direction the waves is breaking. Once you get the speed, the smaller board will be a lot easier to handle.
• Place your weight on your back foot
• Rotate your torso by pulling your back arm backwards.
• Lean slightly to your toeside and look where you want to go.
• Lower your body weight to keep balance and shift your weight back to your front foot to gain speed again.
BACKHAND TURN
Start making turns going from your forehand to your backhand using the techniuques you learned in Level 1 - transitional turns.
• Place your weight on your back foot
• Rotate your torso by moving your front arm front arm in an arc ending with pointing over your front shoulder.
• Lean slightly to your heelside and look where you want to go.
• Lower your body weight to keep balance and shift your weight back to your front foot to gain speed again.
Try to find a board that gives you a bit of a challenge but enough comfort and confidence so that you are able to practice your skills with control. When you get time to practice see if you can find a smaller board than you are comfortable with and give it a try then go back to a slightly bigger and you will see how quick you will build your confidence on that one.
THE PEAK
The most speed on a wave will come with your take off. Taking off at the peak will so give you the most energy possible and help you to easier maneuver your way down the line. Surfing is a lot like riding a bicycle in the way that it is a lot easier to control if you have more speed, try turning a bike while standing still and you will quickly understand the benefits of having a bit of momentum.
TAKING OFF AT THE PEAK
When taking of behind the peak you need to find a good place to sit in the line up. Try reading the waves from the channel before you paddle in. Look for higher parts on the waves coming in, see if they bend and if they peel or break in sections. The first part of the wave breaking is the peak, find it and sit close to when waiting for the next set.
• When you see a set coming get in position and get ready to start your three-stage paddle.
• Stay close to the peak, don’t shy away from it.
• Angle your board slightly in the direction the wave is breaking, this will prevent your board from nose diving.
• Lift your head and chest as you take your last strokes and take off with control.
• Don’t stop paddling until you feel that you are being carried by the wave.
GOING DOWN THE LINE
As you feel the wave is starting to carry you stop paddling and look down the line of the wave, in the direction you want to surf. Slightly angle your board in that direction by putting slightly more weight on what would be the inside rail. Don’t rush your jump up, if you have caught the wave and you are traveling in its direction there is plenty of time to make sure you have control.
Slowly push up and angle your board tighter to the wave for more speed. If you are on your forehand you can put your backhand in the face of the wave to control balance and speed a little better. If you are going on your backhand, grab your rail and stay low until you feel you have found your balance.
To take off before the wave breaks you need execute your three stage paddle so you have enough speed:
1. Paddle into position, monitor the wave and line up your board perpendicular to the wave direction. 2. Build up speed by doing stronger & faster strokes, chin and chest raised, look towards the beach. 3. Explode, push with your chest for extra weight forward and look in the direction you want to take off.
BOTTOM TURN
If we want to harvest all the speed that we get at the take off we need to wait with going down the line and keep our board pointing almost straight down the face as we take off. The steeper angle downwards will make us go down faster and in order to stay ahead of the whitewater we start turning our board upwards again as we reach the bottom in something called a bottom turn, possibly the most important maneuver in surfing.
THE BOTTOM TURN
The bottom turn is a drawn out arc at the bottom of the wave and if executed correctly will send the surfer travelling upwards the face of the wave with all the energy created during the take off.
• As you take off stay low and go down the face, almost as if you were going straight towards the beach.
• Compress your body, stick your hand into the face of the wave to make the turn easier.
• Look up towards the shoulder and extend your body as you travel up the face.
• Imagine the arc being drawn from your take off, down the bottom and up again.
• Pull out by going over the shoulder of the wave. Paddle out and repeat.
If you are taking off on your backside stay low as you go down the face of the wave and look over your front shoulder and push with your heelsto commence your bottom turn at the trough of the wave. Help your turn by grabbing your outside rail with your outside hand, still compressed, aim for the shoulder as straight up as possible. Don’t get greedy, pull out and practice another take off to faster get your technique right, it will help you to make turns faster.
SPEED UP & TURN
When travelling up the face of the wave after your bottom turn the speed of your board will decrease. Approach the crest of the wave extended but compress your body as you reach the shoulder and lean to the heel side of your board while putting a little bit of pressure on your back foot. Your board will turn and your speed increases as you start going back down. Your upper body basically does all the work here and the more you use your arms the faster you will go. When you get far out on the open face use the speed to execute a cutback turn to travel back towards the pocket and center of energy again.
The Roundhouse Cutback, is basically the shape of the figure eight drawn on the face of the wave, executing both a 180-degree forehand turn and a 180-degree backhand turn.
FRONTSIDE
• Execute your bottom turn, leaning into your toeside.
• Center your board while going up the face, getting ready to transition your weight to the heelside.
• Get your arms in position to draw and semi- circle from the back of your board.
• Lean on to your back foot, straighten your back leg.
• At the crest of the wave; helping with your arms, rotate your body all the way around so you look and travel towards the whitewater. Stay low. You are now surfing on your backhand.
• Pivot around your backfoot and help the rotation by sticking your backhand in the wave.
• Look where you want to go.
BACKSIDE
• Execute your bottom turn, leaning into your heelside.
• Center your board while going up the face, getting your arms ready to turn on your toeside..
• Stay compressed and make an arc back towards the whitewater, help by sticking your backhand in the water.
• Set yourself up for making an arc on your heelside by following the steps of the Forehand cutback. Use your arms to guide you.
• Pivot around your backfoot. while looking over your front shoulder for direction.
• Grab your toeside rail with your backhand for more stability..
SURF CONTEST
“The best surfer is the one having the most fun” – Duke Kahanamoku.
Surfing and competing might be thought of as a clash with rules and scores being too serious and not representing the essence of freedom that usually is associated with the sport. However, it is hard to deny that competitive surfing has pushed and keep pushing the boundaries of what is thought of as possible in surfing. The great variety in board design and approaches to riding waves that we see today is mainly due to the evolution in competitive surfing.
Competing is also a fun way to push your own limits and progress when surfing with your friends.
A surf contest is usually set up in either fourman heats without priority or two-man heats where surfers take turns in getting to choose the best wave. A heat lasts between 20-35 minutes depending on the consistency of waves and surfers are usually allowed to catch a maximum of 15 waves during that period. Five judges observe the performances from the beach and scores each surfer’s wave on a scale between 0-10 from which an average is calculated excluding the highest and lowest scores. The two best waves of each surfer is
added together making a possible heat total of 20.0, which happens very rarely.
Waves are judged on four main elements:
• Wave selection, size and quality
• Commitment and degree of difficulty
• Combination of maneuvers
• Overall impression and flow.
There are many contests being held around the world all the time and the 10 most prestigious are part of the World Championship Tour where the 34 highest ranked surfers in the world compete against each other at legendary surfspots in often exotic locations. Today surf
MIND SURFING
Mind surfing is the first part of a surf session and is just as important as warming up the body we need to awaken our motivation and stoke.
Before you paddle out have a look at the waves you plan to surf. Are they breaking left or right, do they break in sections, if so can you get around them? Are the waves steep with a short face in front of the curl or do they break for a long time with big open faces? Different waves allow for different kinds of surfing and you will need to adapt what you have learned to the current conditions. Picture yourself surfing the waves as you look at them and you will automatically get feel for how to approach the
GOING ON YOUR FRONTSIDE
Taking off on your forehand gives you the advantage of seeing what the wave is doing down the line, it makes it easier to plan your movements. When doing turns you will need to exaggerate your movements a lot to create enough momentum and not get stuck mid-way and wipeout. A drawn out bottom turn will help to create that momentum., stick your backhand in the wave to turn sharper upwards. Keep your eyes on the shoulder/lip of the wave and that’s where you will go.
GOING ON YOUR BACKSIDE
When riding on your backhand it has a lot more to do with feeling what the wave will do. Staying low usually helps and try looking over your front shoulder towards the shoulder of the wave. This will automatically give you a good momentum for making a top turn as your torso is already rotated and all you need to do is turn your head and torso down towards the trough of the wave and the board will turn off the top. Use your backhand as support by sticking it in the water and pivot around it. Remember the grabrail.
Study the movements of a surfer from a picture in a magazine or surf movie, look at the knees, the arms, the position on the board. Get inspired and visualize yourself making the same moves, with practice you will.
Whether you are out free surfing on your own or participating in a contest with your surf buddies nothing is more fun than getting long rides where you manage to combine a series of maneuvers. When you know how the wave will break, after watching it from the beach before you go out, this will get a lot easier. Your wave reading skills will also improve by just being in the water observing the
• Read the wave, and visualize how you want to surf it
• See yourself making a bottom turn, top turn, bottom turn and a cutback
• Visualize your position on the board for each move before you paddle out
• Set a goal for yourself and work on getting there, if it feels right you know you have made it.
• Try making the same line over and over again
• Focus on the moment, do each movement with control
• Be patient and take it slow, ask your instructors for pointers and directions
• Don’t think too much, ride with the flow of the wave
• Look at the pictures of you to improve your performance for the next day
• Smile
CANGGU REEFS
TUGU
REEF
Tugu reef is formed by lava entering the sea water, cooling and solidifying; this phenomenon is known as a ‘lava mound’. The three take off points work on alternate tides and wave heights. The paddle out spot is 20m to the right of the rocks. Paddle out via the channel, as waves very seldom break here. The channel is also the pull out and paddle back route to the take off points. Always head for the channel, paddle back wide around the waves and take off points to avoid surfers, also being caught on the inside during sets.
The left inside take off is the easiset wave to ride and also runs the surfer striaght back into the channel. If you take off from the left outside you must be prepared to avoid other surfer on the inside and also to be caught on the inside if you dont make the take off. The right hand take off is for experinced surfers and can be a very exciting and fast wave.
OLD MAN’S
Old man’s is also a lava reef formed probably at the same time as Tugu with the difference that it takes the form of thinner strips on top of each other, resembling a finger, therefor a reef like this is called a “lava finger”. There are three take off points that work best on the low to mid tides unless the swell is big when high tide also provides fun walls. The paddle out spot is at the end of the concrete wall as the channel there provides a controled and safe entry over sand bottom. As always the channel is the way back out after pulling out or falling off a wave.
The outside peak has a short right and a longer left and on the inside a fast left sometimes forms depending on the tide. When you are surfing the lefthanders be aware not to surf too far so you end up against the rocks in front of the temple.
SANUR REEFS
SERANGAN
Serangan Reef is a deep water coral shelf. The water behind the break would be 10m deep and 1 to 2m deep over the reef where we are surfing. The break we are surfing has 3 take off points. The outside ‘A - frame’ peak has a left and a right. The right is a fast take off then slows quickly into the channel. The inside left is very fast and carries a lot of speed over very shallow reef. The inside right is the best to start on and can be a long ride if you stay in the pocket. Always paddle back out through the channel and avoid other surfers.
OKA POINT
A point break will always create a big wave as the water pushes up quickly from deep over the shallow point. Oka Point is a coral reef break and can be very shallow on the inside.
Oka Point has two take off points, the right outside is a wrapping right-hander which will connected up with the inside A - frame section, so be prepared to make it around the section or pull out into the channel .
The A - frame take off point is best surfed only on the right. If you take off left be prepared to battle your way back out from the inside to the deep channel.
BABY REEF
Baby Reef is a deep water coral shelf which wraps around into the Serangan Harbor. To the right of the lighthouse is a channel which we will use to paddle out threw. Start by surfing the inside right and left take off points surfing back into the channel.
The left inside and outside take off point which wraps back into the Serangan Harbor must be approached from the harbor channel. Remember the reef is shallow so always fall on to the wave, avoid jumping or diving into the water.
STAYING FITS
Surfing is demanding it requires balance, stamina, strength and patience. If you haven’t been in the water for a long time or if you are new to surfing it’s a good idea to get your muscle memory going before hitting the waves. You should always warm up to prevent from injuries and to be more agile in the water so you can make the most out of your session. After and in between surfs it is important to stretch and keep doing fitness exercises so that you are well prepared for any kind of conditions the ocean might throw at you.
ones to get soar so make sure you give them a good stretch after each session. Remember to not go too deep into your stretches and stop immediately if you would feel any pain. Never stretch without first warming up the body to keep from stressing and/or injuring the ligaments.
Staying fit: Keeping your strong core will make your surfing a lot easier and a lot
losing control of the situation. To stay calm you need to feel confident and the more you know about the conditions and your own body the more comfortable you will be. Prepare yourself mentally by confirming that you can hold your breath for 20 seconds and take comfort that you are never likely to be held under for more than 5 seconds when you wipeout. Go swimming in the waves and open your eyes under the surface. Enjoy it, explore it and most important: stay calm.
After your first couple of surfs you will feel pain in the muscles of your shoulders and arms. You will probably have developed two soar spots on your ribcage where you lay when you paddle. This is completely normal and will pass as your body is adjusted to these new movements and positions. Power through it and you will see that after about three days the pain will start to disappear and everything will start to get easier.
Stretching: Your paddle muscles are the first
more fun. By regularly doing a few simple exercises you can improve your balance and stay fit for your next session.
When you are out in the water there can be a lot of thins happening at once and if you are not used to this it is easy to feel as if your
STAYING FITS
Surfing requires both physical and mental fitness. Having a strong core will help your balance and is just as important as having a proper breath in order to stay calm and focused. Staying fit by running or swimming, lifting weights or taking a spinning class is great but no other activity will complement your surfing in such a holistic way as yoga does. Yoga when practiced frequently will make you stronger, more agile, help your balance as well as increase your mindfulness and build up your stamina.
There are several different kinds of yoga and the only way to find out which one works for you is by trying them and deciding for yourself. All disciplines focus on a correct breathing that starts by closing the mouth and breathing deep in through the nose. Let the air fill your entire lungs from deep in the stomach up to your chest. Exhale slowly through the nose and feel the difference each breath makes. Practicing this will help you to stay on top of things in all stressful situations.
Yoga doesn’t have to do anything with incense, mantras or chanting. It is just a great way to stay fit and prepared for surfing as it keeps both body and mind in shape. Visit your local yoga center
Surya Namaskar - the Sun salutaion. Doing a series of these each morning is a great warm up. Try to shift position with your breath keeping a steady pace of equally long in- & exhalations.
or gym that probably offers classes and get into it. Once you get the hang of it you can practice at home by yourself, cheap, fast and easy.
Knowing your body and its limits will help you to tackle tough situations out in the water with a confident mind. The more you know the better you will read different situations, whether it is about ocean conditions or your body’s oxygen supply, when you know what is going on you will find it easier to stay calm. There is no better way to become more comfortable under water than actually be under water and practice your breath holding. This should always be done in a controlled environment and under supervision of a professional. The best way is to take a course in freediving
SURFBOARD
There are several different styles of surfboards and they will all behave different in the water. The largest factors that separate one board from another are: length, thickness, width and fin set up. In addition to this details like: rail profiles, tail shapes, rocker or bend, bottom contour and material all play their part in altering the performance and is an endless but fun maze to get lost in once you start to feel the small differences.
Length
A longer board offers more paddling power, making it go faster with less effort from your arms. It will be more stable as you stand up but on the downside it is more difficult to handle as it is heavier and will turn slower. For a beginner it is best to start on a longer board to be able to develop the right technique for paddling and standing up without having to put too much energy in keeping
on shorter ones. Thickness is measured at the board’s thickest part in its cross section and given in inches.
Width
The width of a surfboard is measured at its widest point and is usually between 18-24 inches depending on the type of board. The width is a stabilizer as it adds volume and so flotation. Thinner boards will go faster on steeper waves but
the balance. Length is measured in feet as the profile of the board was projected to a flat surface.
Thickness
A thin board is light and will sink when you lay down on it and if you are not a great paddler this will be challenging. To catch waves easier a board with more thickness through the whole length will float better and give you more paddle power. However thick boards are hard to push down under waves making duckdives hard even
if the waves are flatter a wider board will carry you better through sections with little power. A narrower nose enhances maneuverability especially in larger waves and so will a narrow tail.
Fins
Today most boards have detachable fins which gives us the freedom to switch not only size but also the amount of fins we want for each session. This is a huge advantage compared to the classic glassed-in fins that also is a drag to travel with. Fins affect the board when riding and are insignificant when it comes to catching waves.
Single fins: Longboards traditionally only has one large center fin that gives the board great hold in the wave making it easy to glide down the line. A single fin will make the board turn slower but smoother.
Twin fins: Usually seen on retro boards with wide split tails. They make the board turn fast and easy as well as get a lot of speed as there is less without a center fin. In larger surf they are hard to control and can feel slippery.
Thrusters: Boards with three fins is the contemporary standard and provide the most balanced combination of maneuverability and drive. Since the fins are generally a bit smaller they let the board turn
SURFBOARD
Longboards – the oldest horse in the stable of modern surfing. A longboard is as the name implies long, 8-12ft (2.4 – 3.6m), and on average at least 2.5 inches (6cm) thick and 20 inches (50cm) wide. Stable, smooth and easy to learn on.
Mini Mal’s –looks like a longboard but is under 8ft and usually equipped with three fins. Once you can ride the longboard with control the mini mal is a great transitional board if you want to move down in size but keep the paddling power and stability. Sometimes the mini-mal is referred to as a funboard.
Gun – a board made especially for surfing really big waves. Guns look similar to shortboards, with their tail and nose being drawn out really long making them pointy at both ends. They range from miniguns at 7ft (2.1m) to 10ft (3m) rhino chasers and are usually thick as longboards to give the surfer lots of paddling power.
Shortboards – Since the introduction of the shortboard in the 1970’s it has undeniably become the most popular type of surfboard. Typically under 7ft and with a sharper nose than the longboards it is made for aggressive surfing in critical sections on or above the wave.
Fish – traditionally a shorter board with a lot of volume all the way through the nose and a characteristic deep split tail that makes the board loose and fast. Today a fish may come in many shapes and sizes but generally resembles a wide nosed shortboard and can be the perfect board to progress to after the mini-mal as they are smaller and turn quicker but are still stable and easy to catch waves with.
Alaia – A finless piece of carefully crafted equipment used by the ancient Polynesians back in the cradle of surfing. Traditionally made out of Koa wood and about 7ft long. The Alaia has seen a renaissance in 2010’s as surfers start to look back at the roots of the sport
VOCABULARY
Aloha - Hawaiian word used as a greeting, a send-off, a sign of affection and a wish of good fortune. In short, aloha means love, Hawaiian style.
Barrel - A tube inside a breaking wave underneath the lip or crest of a hollow wave. A surfer may be completely hidden from view during the barrel ride. One of the best maneuvers in surfing but very difficult to complete due to changing variations in every different wave.
Caught inside - When a surfer gets caught on the shore side of a breaking wave making it difficult to get out, results in getting tossed around and lots of paddling.
Choppy - Bumpy ocean and wave conditions that are rough due to strong winds and/or currents. Wind velocities are usually over 12 knots to create choppy conditions.
Clean - Good conditions, good waves, with a smooth or glassy ocean surface and very little onshore wind. Offshore winds blowing into the faces of the waves can create clean, groomed conditions.
Clean up set - A much larger wave or a set of waves, which break further outside than normal. A clean up set usually “cleans” the line-up of surfers caught further inside.
Closeout - When all parts of the wave - down the line or crest of the wave - all break at the same time. Not suitable for surfing.
Crowded – When a spot has a lot of people on it.
Drop-in - A term used when a surfer catches a wave in front of another surfer who is already riding which is a general breach of surfing etiquette. Don’t.
Eskimo roll – Another method for getting through broken waves used mainly by longboarders. Sometimes called a Turtle or Turtle roll.
Flat – When there are no waves to surf.
Glassy - When the texture of the ocean surface is like glass. Smooth water surface conditions because there is no wind.
Goofy foot – A surfer who surfs right foot forward and faces the wave on lefts, and faces away from the wave on rights.
Grommet – A young surfer, usually but not always under 16 years of age. The grommet represents the future of every homebreak. In him, the elder sees himself many years ago and therein exists an unspoken respect, that all parties are part of a rich heritage, tied to the ages.
Ground swell - A swell with a period over 11 seconds between successive waves. Ground swells are born by storms far out at sea sending out waves with a lot of energy making them able to travel far and wrapping into many different surf spots as opposed to wind swell.
Hang Ten - A longboarding maneuver where the surfer hangs ten toes of both feet over the tip or front of the surfboard. A very classy move that should be approached by first mastering the Hang five – five toes over.
Impact zone – Where the waves break. It’s a good idea to avoid this area when paddling out, as the waves are most powerful to paddle through here.
Inside – Depending on where you are it either refers to riding the barrel, sitting inside as in closest.
Kook – Beginner surfer. Sometimes also referred to as someone who can’t surf and is often in everyone’s way by getting out in conditions past their skill level.
Leash - The leg-rope attaching the surfers back leg to the surfboard keeping them from parting after a wipeout.
Line up - The area where surfers sit waiting for waves. Generally just outside of the break line or impact zone.
Lull – The inconsistent period of waves between sets.
Over the falls - The worst kind of wipeout when a surfer is sucked back over the top of the wave as it breaks so the surfer free-falls down with the lip. Regular foot – A surfer who surfs left foot forward and faces the wave on rights, and faces away from the wave on lefts.
Set – A series of waves approaching the lineup. Waves almost always arrive in sets, and the time in between sets are called lulls.
Shaka - The universal surfer’s hand signal where you stick out the thumb and pinky and fold the other three fingers in and usually rock the hand back and forth. Originated in Hawai’i and popularized by surfers in the 1960’s.
Shorebreak/Shoery – Waves that break very close to the beach, usually with a lot of power as a result of the steep angle of the beach.
Sideshore - Winds that approach the waves from the side rather than directly from the land or ocean.
Spot - A designated place, sandbar, reef, bay or rivermouth where waves break, also referred to as break.
Stoke – Sense of boundless euphoria that can only arise after surfing leaving the surfer extremely happy or thrilled.
Wind swell – A type of swell with a swell period of less than 11 seconds between successive waves. Also called localized swell as they are born close to shore creating short periods of surf.
Wipeout –The classic term for falling off your surfboards while riding. Some are more serious than others but they all suck when they occur though many spin off into great stories at the campfire.
For more surfterms visit www.surfline.com
VOCABULARY
Backwash - When enough water is pushed up onto a steep grade of beach that it actually generates a wave as the water rushes back out to see. This normally occurs on high tides but is possible pretty much anytime there is a lot of energy in a swell washing up a steep beach. Surfing in backwash can be difficult and sometimes dangerous.
Bail out / Bailing - Abandoning or ditching ones surfboard before getting wiped out by the wave either paddling out, or while riding the wave.
Bells Beach – Legendary right-hand point break, outside the small town Torquay in Victoria, Australia. A world-class surf spot famed for its fat fast walls as well as being the venue for the world’s first professional contest and being the birthplace for Rip Curl Wetsuits (hence the slogan “Born at Bells”).
Bottom turn - The initial turn made at the bottom of a wave to initiate the ride. Bottom turns will most often be sweeping, powerful moves that enable the surfer to establish speed and direction for the ride. Probably the most important turn in surfing as it sets up all of the other maneuvers.
Consistent – When waves are coming in very frequently so everybody gets lots of waves.
Crease - Damage to a surfboard caused by heavy general impact, in which the surfboard flexes further than the glass and resin allows. A bad crease may shatter glass around the rail and lead to a complete break in the affected board
Curl – The top part or lip of a wave that is breaking toward the shoulder of the wave.
Cutback - A classic surfing move used to change direction when streaking ahead of the curl of a wave with a powerful turn back towards the breaking part of the wave. Cutbacks are an important element in surfing as the maneuver repositions the surfer closer to the power of the wave.
Dawn Patrol - Early morning surf session before the sunrise. This time usually offers the least crowded and cleanest conditions before the winds pick up.
Ding - Damage to surfboard caused by dropping or collision with another hard object or surfboard. Dings must be dried out and repaired immediately otherwise water will weaken the strength of the board.
Epic – Near perfect conditions
Hammered - A heavy wipeout where a surfer is dumped hard by the wave, often by the lip of the wave. Similar to drilled.
Inconsistent – The opposite of consistent. Waves being
few and come rarely which means long wait between sets. Often generates the comment “you should have been here yesterday”.
Left - Wave breaking towards the left from the vantage of a surfer riding the wave. From a beach viewpoint, a wave breaking toward the right as the onlooker is facing the ocean.
Lip - The top part of a wave that begins to break and pitches out. This is where most of the power of a wave is located to perform the biggest maneuvers and/or to get barreled under. This is also the part of the wave to avoid if you’re paddling out.
Locals - Long time regulars at a particular surf spot or area. Locals may or may not live at the spot, but they do surf there or are accepted by the local surfing community as one of their own. Locals can be very protective of their surf spot and outsiders need to be very aware to the fact that they are visitors.
Peeling – When a wave break perfectly from one end to the other.
Pocket – The center of energy on a wave, just in front or under the breaking lip.
Quiver – The surfers equivalent to a golfers set of clubs. Different waves and different conditions call for different type of boards. A prepared surfer usually has a quiver that makes him/her able to deal with everything the ocean delivers. Ranging from the intermediates humble collection of 2 boards for a round the world trip to the seasoned pros 16 boards made especially for a certain wave.
Right – Wave breaking towards the right from the vantage of a surfer riding the wave. From a beach viewpoint, a wave breaking toward the left as the onlooker is facing the ocean.
Section – A part of the wave that breaks prematurely ahead of the original curl of the wave. The curl of a perfect wave will peel without any sections.
Shaper – The surfboard worker who planes and sands a blank to the desired shape prior to glassing. Often, but not necessarily the designer.
Stick – Slang for surfboard.
Trough – The lowest part of a wave as it begins to break.
Waterman - A person boasting total mastery of all oceanic endeavors, the revered waterman can fish, dive, surf, windsurf, kayak, bodysurf, interpret complex weather data, save the odd drowning man, etc. Generally built like a tank and typically soft-spoken.
When you are out in the water look towards your instructor who will signal feedback to you about the most common things that can be improved. If you have a specific question ask your teacher for helpful comments.
INSTRUCTOR SIGNS
Eyes up
Don’t look down on your board or at your feet, raise you chin and look where you want to go. Find a visual target on the beach and feel your position on the board. Where you look is where you will go.
Straighten your back
If you bend your back your backside will stick out and your center of gravity will not be aligned with the centerline of your board, where it should be. Stand proud with an open chest.
Use your arms
Exaggerate your movements more by using your arms and torso. You will notice a big change when trying to get more speed and doing turns. Your arms also helps you to keep your balance.
Bend your knees
By keeping your knees bent you will be able to keep your balance and compensate any bumps or lifts from the wave. Your bent knees are your suspension- stay low for more control.
Slow down
Take it easy, don’t stress your jump-ups or maneuvers. The slower you go, the faster you will learn and the cooler you will look.
Chest up
When paddling, raise your chest by arching your lower back more. It will provide more power for your paddle. If you nosedive it is usually because you are not arching your back enough.
Too far forward
Correct your position on the board by moving back so your nose comes out of the water when you paddle.
Too far back
Correct your position on the board by moving forward so that you create less drag with the back of your board.
STOP
If you see your instructor holding out his hand when you are paddling for a wave you should stop and not try to catch that wave. Maybe someone else is alrady riding it or you are not in a good position to catch it.
Break / Class over
Catch one more wave and then return to the beach/boat for some helpful instructions and a debriefing of the last session.