Surfing Tips?

Question

I'm going on this Adventure Residential Trip thing next week with our school. We do loads of activities there and one of them is surfing- one problem- I've never set foot on a surf board in my life. Most of my friends have surfed before and I really don't want to make a fool of myself in front of the whole of my year group. Does anyone have any tips? Anything at all that will help me? I don't have time to go to the beach and practise before we go being that we're leaving on Sunday and I'm bogged down with homework :S So every little helps. Thank youuu! :D

Oh btw if it helps I'm 13 (nearly 14), I'm about 5"7 and weigh about 7.5stone. And I'm a girl. :) Thanks x

Answer 1

go there, know and accept that you are a beginner, know and accept that you are going to fall, and when that happens don't be afraid to get back on the board and try again.  as long as you keep trying, your friends will like you and give you mad props for trying to learn.  Remember they all had to learn at sometime too, no one was born pro.

make sure you have a longboard when you are learning. and for your hieght i'd say you would want a 8 to 9 foot longboard.

Answer 2

In such a short time, there is really no training you can do to prepare yourself. Maybe, on the floor put down some lines of tape about two feet apart to represent the rails (sides) of the surfboard, and practice popping up. The pop-up is basically a fast push up that gets you to your feet (check the link below for more info).

Other than that, just go with the right mindset. That mindset being to just have fun. When you make a mistake, laugh it off. The best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun.

Answer 3

don't use a hardboard, go for a foamboard first and go for a longer board (no shorter than 7') and just surf the whitewash on the inside, cuz when ur just beginning ull baely be able to stand let alone surf the face of a wave and go with other people that have little or no experience at all so u can laugh 2gether when u fall and don't feel stupid

Answer 4

If you live near a swimming pool, pick up lap swimming as a hobby. The muscle action used in the crawl stroke uses the same muscles as surfing, so if you're a strong swimmer, you will have less problems than a beginner as far as paddling goes (which is usually what most beginners have the most problems with). Running also helps tons for building up cardio fitness. Pick up a skateboard to help balance if you plan to get serious. Pretty much when waves are small, I'm doing a lot of 3 of these activities and it works for me to keep me ready for the next swell.

Also, let your friends know it's your first time out. They'll understand, everyone including the world champion has been a beginner once. Just relax and have fun :) Realize you won't be a pro instantly, the learning curve for surfing is pretty steep. Just keep doing it, and before you know it, you'll be making leaps of improvement in the first month or 2 (granted you're going often)