Oncoming Waves To The Paddling Position example essay topic

HOW TO " SHow to Catch Waves It's taken some time but here we are at Surfing Lesson One. Now, there are a few different approaches to this lesson, and most of the time it begins with lying on your board in the sand and practising what is called the 'pop-up'. Popping up is the term used where the surfer has caught the wave and goes from the paddling position, lying on top of board, to the upright stand up position. We are going to skip this at the moment, and it will be covered in Surfing Lesson Four. We are going straight in to the water and catching the white water part of the wave (where the wave has already broken). For more detail about waves in general take a quick look at the Waves page.

It is more fun getting straight into the waves and having a mess around than getting all sandy on the beach. Waves To Start Surfing On For your first days surfing the waves should be small, being easy enough for you to walk out to where the waves are breaking, and not have to fight your way off the beach being constantly battered by waves (remember that surfing should be fun! ). Make sure that you are not holding your surfboard in a position where a wave could knock it back into your face and cause you an injury. Hold the board out at arms length with a hand on each rail. Jump over the oncoming white water as you walk your way out.

Keep a look around to make sure you are not about to get washed into someone's path, or that you are not immediately behind someone who may lose hold of their board - it can be quite scary seeing an oncoming wave complete with 9 foot of long board wrapped up in it! At all times keep one mind on the safety aspect any all should be OK. Keep going out until you are at a comfortable depth. We are now in a position to start catching waves. Oh, perhaps the wave on the left is not quite the right wave to start on.

Catching Waves Place your board at your side, nose facing into the beach. Keep an eye on the waves that are coming towards you and pick one that looks like it is big enough to pick you up and take you in. If you are on the ideal beginners board the wave will not have to be that big, and you will hardly need to paddle at all. On a very small, light board you may have to work a little harder.

Just as the wave is about to reach you, push the surfboard towards the beach and at the same time pull yourself on to the board, so you are lying flat on top of it - not too near the nose of the board or you will end up going straight underwater. When you are lying on top of your surfboard, paddle with both arms as the wave starts to pick you up. You should feel the board rise in the water as the wave picks you up and your speed in the water increases. With a bit of luck you should have caught your first wave.

Surfing In More Detail Great, so now you can catch the Whitewater waves in to the beach, but what is next? Obviously you want to be standing on the surfboard when you are heading into the beach - after all, that is what we are here to do. Next we need to have a look at how to position yourself on the board, and how to comfortably paddle around. As you progress with your surfing you will be out in deeper water and will have to control your surfboard while you are out there, and to learn how to get through larger breaking waves.

Lets find out more about paddling the next Surfing Lesson, #2 - Paddling Paddling On Your Board Paddling, if you do not know already, is the bit that you do when you are in the water but are not standing up and riding a wave (duh!) - it is pretty much all the other bits! It is very important that you are good at paddling because if you are not good enough to get out beyond the breaking waves to the line-up then will never get a decent ride on a wave, and if you are slower at paddling than everyone else then you will never get a wave when you do finally make it out back to surf with other surfers. In this lesson we are going to have a look at paddling, and how you position yourself on your surfboard when paddling. Don't worry about all the oncoming waves crashing into you and washing you back into the beach like a piece of driftwood. We will come to deal with that bit in a later lesson. OK, how do you paddle your board?

Paddling Position On The Surfboard Paddling a surfboard is done pretty much the same way on both a short board or a long board. With a long board you can employ a slightly different variation to the paddle but we will come to that. First we will look at the position you need to be in on the surfboard, and this is probably best done with a picture -Position of the surfer while paddling. Body weight needs to be positioned along the centre of the board. Feet need to be raised slightly off the end of the board. The body needs to be far enough back to keep the nose of the board about a couple of inches out of the water.

If you are too far forward on the board you will find the nose of the board keeps dipping underwater making it hard to paddle, and will find yourself always tipping forward. Too far back and you will find it harder to paddle and your board will keep popping out in front like a torpedo (much to all your friends amusement! ). It takes a little time to find the most comfortable position, and will depend on both your height, weight and length of your surfboard. Paddling The Surfboard Paddling the board takes a little bit of balance. To begin with you will probably find it easier if you have your legs slightly apart when paddling, giving you a little bit of extra balance.

Reach out with one arm at a time, stroking your way through the water. You do not have to dig your arms too deep. Keep the movement of your arms nice and smooth, pulling the board through the water. Simple eh! Make sure that the nose of your surfboard is not dipping under the water at any point. On a nice flat day you should be able to practice without the interruption of waves.

(It may look a little strange for anyone observing on the beach though! ). Sitting On Your Board If you have seen surfers when they are beyond the breaking waves, waiting for their next wave, you may have noticed that they are no longer lying prone on their surfboards but are sitting up on them. This is to enable a surfer to get a better look at the oncoming waves. The next thing to learn is how to sit up on your board, and get ready to paddle for a wave from this sitting up position.

Don't be put off by how easy some surfers make it look! Lie on your surfboard in the paddling position as though you have just paddled to the line-up. When you are comfortably balanced, take hold of your board with each hand on the rail as if you were getting ready to do a push up. Draw the board from underneath you, pulling it forward through your legs. As the board is sliding underneath you (making sure that you do not let go - your surfboard will ping out in front of you as if it had a mind of it's own) bring your knees up and arch your back into a sitting position.

Here, as with everything else in surfing, it is a question of practising balance. To smoothly sit up on your surfboard as the waves are rolling past you takes practice. Use your legs out on either side of the surfboard to aid your balance and hold yourself upright. Lean too far to the left or right and you will fall off your board.

Lean too far forward and the surfboard will disappear out behind your - make sure you have got your mouth closed for this one! Lean too far back and we encounter that torpedo effect again. It should not be too hard to master this, but it does take a little bit of practice to become competent at getting into the sitting position. Catching Waves From The Sitting Position We have already had a quick look at catching waves in Surfing Lesson One. The same principals apply when you are out back sitting waiting for a wave. The only difference is that instead of using your feet to push yourself into the waves you will rely solely on your newly found paddling prowess.

When you have picked the wave that you want, use both your feet and arms to manoeuvre the surfboard back pointing towards the beach. From the sitting position take hold of the rails as you did before, then do the reverse of how you came to sit on the board - sliding your board back through your legs and straightening out your body into the lying position Seems easy enough when said like that doesn't it! As you become more experienced with paddling and sitting / lying back onto your board, going from a sitting position facing the oncoming waves to the paddling position facing the beach will become one fluid movement. Don't worry, we " ll be going into more detail about catching waves by paddling in another lesson. OK, get some practice and once you have mastered the art of paddling and you can out paddle the local swimming champ, take a look at Surfing Lesson Three, Duck Diving.

Surfing Lesson 4 - Standing UpStanding Up On Your Surfboard is the lesson that all you budding surfers have been frantically looking for on the Internet. Well here it is, and first we will concentrate on the position that you should actually be taking when you are standing on your surfboard riding the waves. What we need to do first is to find our whether you are a Natural Footed surfer or a Goofy Footed surfer. How you know if you are a natural or just plain goofy? It has already been decided by your natural balance and instinct. How can you tell which you are?

Think about how you would skid on a patch of ice. When you run up to a patch of ice to skid, which foot would be your front foot? The skid position that you take on the ice will be your most comfortable surfing stance. (There is no need to go down to the local ice rink to practice - or wait until winter before trying!

). If you would skid most comfortably with your left foot forward then you are a Natural Footed surfer, if it's your right foot that you have forward then you are a Goofy Footer. Now go out into the street and tell the first 5 people you meet that you like it natural, or that you are a pretty goofy guy / gal. The Pop-Up The Pop-Up is the move that will take you from the paddling position lying on your surfboard smoothly to the upright position on your feet.

It is a good idea to have your first Pop-Up tryout on the safety of the beach. This bit can be a bit embarrassing in public so maybe you can practice your Pop-Up technique in the comfort of your own front room. This move is really important in the development of your surfing, getting to your feet as quickly and smoothly as possible is what it is all about. The move is executed at the moment when you have done enough paddling to catch the wave you are going for (which should be no problem having worked your way dogmatically through each of the other lessons and not just skipped straight to this one! ). The Pop-Up is like doing a press-up, in that the first part of the move is to straighten your arms out in front of you, but instead of keeping your legs and body straight you need to bring your legs up and under your body, planting your feet in the correct positions for surfing.

You can practice by lying flat, straight out on your stomach. Place your hands by your shoulders, board width apart. In one flowing movement 'snap' up to a crouched standing position as quickly as you can. Practice makes perfect and once you have got it down on dry land you are ready to have a crack at the real thing in the water. The Pop-Up is not best explained in words but check out your local beach or watch Surfing Videos to check it out in action. One Knee First - A Little Shortcut If you are having a little trouble with the Pop-Up in getting to your feet then there is a short term solution to helping you get to the standing position.

Instead of going straight up onto your feet try sliding your front foot up the board, then pushing your body backwards until you are in the crouched position with both your feet in the right place. First place your hands on the rails when you have enough speed to catch the wave. Next, holding the rail, pull your legs up under you, twisting your body round to the correct angle. Slide the front foot up under you into the correct position - keeping your back foot and lower leg resting at the rear of the board.

When the front foot is firmly planted in the correct position come to the crouched position. That is all for the Pop-Up. During these lessons you have now learned how to catch a wave, how to paddle around and how to duck dive. With this lesson you now know how to stand up.

Now we are going to tell you all about positioning on the board when surfing. Check it out in our next installment of the... Parts Surfboard Bits And Pieces The picture below shows a short board but the naming of the bits is the same whether your board is a Longboard, Gun or Fish (See below for more info on these boards) The first thing to note is that the Nose of the board is the bit that faces forwards. The Surfboard sits in the water with the fins facing down, bit less about all that as I am sure that you have already figured that out by looking at the Surfing Lessons. Surfboard For The Beginner The best Surfboard For The Beginner is a Malibu. Why? , because the bigger, thicker Mals are easier to catch waves with and are more stable to stand up on The ideal board should be at least 9' long and be made of foam.

Foamier as they are called are the ideal board to start on and are used in surf schools to learn on. A Pop-Out is a surfboard that is made on a production line and is a cheap alternative to a custom made fibre glass surfboard. The Pop-Out is made of foam covered with thick fibre glass and are practically indestructible - great for running right up to the beach! The Pop-Out is a good beginners choice because of their cost and the fact that they float really well (they are a little more chunky that your average Thruster).

This has been just a quick look into surfboards and it makes them look very simple indeed, but there is a lot more that goes into the design and construction of a surfboard. Quick Wave Priority Re capo Furthest Out or surfer that has been waiting longest. o Furthest Inside - closest surfer to the peak of the breaking wave. o First To Feet or first onto the wave has priority. o Communication - make a call, Left or Right.