Developing The Necessary Surfing Skills

By Damian Papworth


Surfing is one of the leading water sports as it is more than just an exercise, it is considered by those that do it to be a lifestyle and to some it is their religion. Surfing is a great workout as well as being a fun and exciting sport to take up, but you need to develop some surfing skills in order to do it well.

Surfing requires a lot of upper body strength and you can do some exercises out of the water in order to build up your paddling power in the waves. A lot of surfers are turning to yoga in order to help them build their strength for surfing as well as helping them to improve their balance too. Doing some simple weights for your upper body will also help you to paddle faster and more powerfully in order to catch waves better.

Other skills that surfers need to have in built in them is weather watching and beach conditions skills. While rips can be very dangerous for swimmers if they become caught in them, many surfers use rips to get out the back of the waves more quickly and with less effort. A rip is where the water that has broken on the shore is sucked into a little channel that goes back out to sea. Since this water is pulling offshore, you can use it to pull you out more easily.

You can spot a rip by looking for an area of water where the waves are not breaking and a darker color of water due to being deeper there. Sometimes depending on the weather, the water is sandy as well. Swimmers should try and stay away from rips as they are a leading cause of rescues on beaches.

There are some essential surfing skills that you should work on developing in order to become a better surfer. In order to get yourself into a position to be able to catch any waves you will have to be able to get your surfboard behind where the waves are breaking. To do this you need to use the Eskimo roll manoeuvre or duck diving. Eskimo rolls are where you roll your board on top of you as the wave approaches to break on top of you. Duck diving is a more advanced skill and it involves pushing hard down on the front of your board and dipping under the approaching wave.

There are some basic skills that you will have to develop in order to be able to surf and find it enjoyable rather than frustrating. Some of these skills include paddling, catching waves and then standing up smoothly on the board. Directing the board comes later when you have the basics down pat.

When you have got some of the basic surfing skills down pat, you will really start to have fun with the sport and learn something new every time you head out.




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