Read Before You Ride: Tips for Surfing Beginners
Surfing is a great hobby to adopt. It’s a physical sport that lets you get a lot of exercise. It’ll help improve your balance and tone your muscles, in addition to getting you outside more! The only downside is if you don’t live near water or live somewhere that gets incredibly cold. But, even if your hometown isn’t the ideal location for surfing, you can always travel to some of the great surfing spots all over the world. If you’re interested in surfing, but have never done it before, here are some tips for beginners!
Do some research
Before you attempt to surf, it’s important to get a basic understanding of what you’re about to embark upon. Learn the basic movements of surfing and exercises that can help you keep your balance. Also look into purchasing the right gear for yourself, but start out simple! You don’t need to buy all the most high-tech and top gear if you’re only a beginner. Look into the history of surfing and set realistic goals for yourself to meet. Don’t think you’ll catch a great wave and stay on your board right away! Surfing is a great hobby, but it’s also difficult. Make sure you understand the learning curve and then you’ll be a step ahead of many people believe they can hop right into it.
Consider taking lessons
If you’ve never surfed in your life before, it might be a good idea to enroll in official surfing lessons. If you’re on a budget and don’t think this route is the right one for you, then try to find a friend who enjoys surfing and see if they’ll help you out. You can also watch lots of videos online, but I think the best way is to have someone physically there to coach you through the motions of surfing.
Find a good spot
Whether or not you live near a place you can surf, you’ll need to know what’s right for you. As a beginning, many top surfing spots will be too difficult, likely even too dangerous, for you to even attempt. Do careful background research on areas before you try to surf there, so you know what kind of waves to expect and whether or not it’s appropriate for surfers who don’t have much experience.
Learn surfing etiquette
Having good surfing etiquette is necessary because it leads to positive relationships with other surfers and also keeps you safe! Some people don’t realize that it’s rude and dangerous to “drop in” on other people’s waves. This phrase means that a surfer steals another surfer’s wave. Some days, good waves are rare, but the biggest rule of surfer etiquette is that you don’t fight someone else for that wave. It’s highly inconsiderate and can lead to the two of you crashing and wiping out.
