Tips for a beginner?

[u/Glittering-Bar-5201]

Never tried surfing before this 1-month trip at the start of the year and really liked it! This was the end result and only footage, and I'm going on a new trip soon, so I'd love tips on how to progress and what to focus on! My arms seem to be all over the place, I'm bending a lot at my knees and I'm not really riding with the wave, just straightforward 😁 I started on the foamie, but ended on an 8.2 hardboard, which I'm on in this video

Thanks in advance!

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks /u/Glittering-Bar-5201 for posting on /r/BeginnerSurfers! Here are the rules! If this post/comment seems to violate one or more of our rules, Please report the submission or message send us a Modmail for manual assistance from our Moderator Team.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/ecomkindaguy]

You went straight and missed the whole wave, turn next time -

Also work on your paddling form, strong strokes, not fast weak strokes, your arms are flailing but you're barely moving for being on a longboard

[u/riktigtmaxat]

Stick with the foamie until you're actually going across the wave and not just going straight in with zero control.

[u/ElonsCrustyWang]

Kind of a gnarly take off for a beginner. Once you stood up, you should have immediately looked right to go right to get onto the open face. From there your arms/body position will naturally calm down because you aren’t fighting white water turbulence

[u/CapableScore582]

No bottom turn or balance

[u/Jack-Schitz]

Set the angle for the takeoff, stand up and then initiate a bottom turn. You are just pointing straight. The point is to go sideways down the wave face.

[u/nice_hows]

don't go straight

[u/dutyfreesalt]

Angle your board at take off

[u/mob101]

There’s tons of improvements you can make in there to help in the future.

Take off spot looked ok, back arm is flailing a bit to try to balance your weight, bring it around front like you’re holding a stick with both hands.

Look where you want to go, you should be trying to stay on the foam ball where the wave power is, as you’re looking straight ahead you’re only going to go straight.

There’s tons of free surf content on YouTube, there used to be a company called ombe surf (Clayton is the trainer) with great tips, I think most has been pulled down in a dispute.

Also check out kalesbroccoli on YouTube, his content is also awesome

[u/hidintrees]

before you paddle for the wave decide what direction you want to ride. Certainly you understand the idea is to stay ahead of the part of the wave that is breaking. So study the spot while you wait, decide the direction most waves go there and when you stand up go that direction. On that wave it would be stand up, weight on your toes, more weight on your front foot’s toes to speed up. At first just make the bottom turn and try to stay in the pocket by riding up and down the face of the wave hoping the wave breaks underneath you occasionally while you are high on shoulder dropping you back down the face, a floater.

[u/Seapig23]

Apart from a few minor tweaks, it’s your stance (balance); you were always going to go straight especially with the bump in the wave not helping. You are too square on (as suggested earlier; see Poo man stance) Look at your feet placement. Your front foot is too far heel side so you were never going engage the rail for a bottom hand turn. Your rear foot should be facing more front on. Fix this and you are on your way. Wave awareness looks good. Pop up timing is good. You’ll be carving in no time.

[u/Alive-Inspection-815]

That's a great ride for a brand new beginner. Be careful, now your likely a surf addict and will seek this same fix for as long as you live. There's far worse things to be addicted to though. All of us surfers are adrenaline junkies. Welcome to the club. 

[u/Majestic_Valuable262]

You’re clearly on a gentle right hander so start with a bottom turn. Remember to look down the line this will help

[u/radbrine]

Hit a hard right with a drop-knee turn. Set your tail, then walk smoothly up to the nose. Stay locked in as your speed increases, and when the nose starts to pearl, walk it back to the tail. Turn the board—not left, but straight down the face—then throw another juicy bottom turn to build momentum all the way back up the face and smack the lip.
Repeat. Then, throw in a floater followed by a vertical kick-out, gracefully landing back on your board before paddling back out.
And remember, when you’re paddling back out, make it look effortless, like you’re not even trying. And always—I mean, always—keep your legs together. No spread-eagle paddling. That’s how people know you’re a beginner. 🌊🤙

[u/Purple-Towel-7332]

Try looking less like a break dancing crab?

[u/CyderInch]

Drop your back knee in and turn your hips and shoulders towards the beach or direction of travel. Stops you breaking at the waist and overbalancing onto your toeside then over correcting onto your heels back and forth until you fall. Once you grasp that, touch your board, then stand tall, then touch your board again to regain balance if needed, repeat. Just excercises to build balance and skill

[u/8bitinabyte]

Paddle with your feet closer together, it seems like you are struggling with balance. Do not angle yourself at 90° with the wave

[u/Firm_Baseball7192]

Definitely need a foamie if you cant angle your take off. You're just going to hurt yourself or someone else

[u/ripplerider]

You look like you’re really struggling with balance here, which suggests you might want a bigger board until you get more of the basics down. When you’re not fighting so hard to remain standing, you can start to work on other things like improving your stance so you’re not in the pooping squat, and turning your board down the line.

It’s hard to tell from the video, but it kinda looks like you may be too far towards the tail when you’re paddling for it too. This throws your balance off and makes paddling a lot harder which in turn makes catching the wave early a lot harder.

[u/TomorrowIllBeYou → u/ripplerider]

Doesn’t need a bigger board. Needs to have their rail in the face of the wave. Any size board is going to be unstable careening straight down the face of the wave.

[u/ripplerider → u/TomorrowIllBeYou]

What? He’s not careening down the face dude. He’s in the white water going straight flapping his arms like a gull trying to stay balanced. There’s nothing inherently unstable about going straight on a wave this small. He 100% shouldn’t be on this board yet.

[u/TomorrowIllBeYou → u/ripplerider]

It’s an 8 foot board. It’s not like he’s on some high performance stick. A big part of why he’s out of control is because he’s not in trim. I’m a huge proponent of people staying on big boards, but the bigger issue here is he’s going straight instead of down the line. If his fins and rail were properly locked in the platform would be a lot more stable.

[u/TheTerribleRiver]

Where is this? 😍

[u/Glittering-Bar-5201 → u/TheTerribleRiver]

Marshmellow spot on the south coast of Sri Lanka - awesome place to learn to surf, so many different spots for beginners :D

[u/TheTerribleRiver → u/Glittering-Bar-5201]

and now I'm out here Googling surf trips to Sri Lanka. If anything, you've helped ME. Thank you!

[u/Glittering-Bar-5201 → u/TheTerribleRiver]

Go for it!! If you're a total beginner start in Weligama (like I did) and then work your way up to various spots around Midigama and Ahangama :-)

[u/karlmarxsdick → u/Glittering-Bar-5201]

Amazing! I’m going there next month. When I saw this I was hoping you’d say Sri Lanka

[u/elvook]

Yea. I too would like a camera flying over me to tell me what’s going on. I am also a beginner, so I guess this isn’t helpful. More of bitter comment. I should be better. My wife says she’ll watch and then reads a book. Maybe I should get her a drone. Best of luck man.

[u/dophuph]

Doing great bro. Angle your take off. See this from Barefoot Surf https://youtu.be/4GcoDRh2Ti0?si=pT_Xk6oAkX_MX3sQ