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Before You Start
Attitude
Positive thinking, respect and determination are what make the difference, and as long as you know your limits and stay safe, you have nothing to fear.
Get your head on right before you get in the water and you will find your progress is much quicker, and you will get much more from the whole experience. Respect for other ocean goers and ocean dwellers and an appreciation of the ancient and noble art you are about to be a part of is a good place to start. Surf with Aloha. Leave your stresses at home and surf with peace and positivity.
You don’t have to be brilliant straight away – you won’t be – but you should be positive, confident and focused. ‘I can’t’ is no good in the ocean. You must. Don’t flap around giving it a try – get stuck in.
Swimming
Although you don’t need to be an Olympic swimmer to learn to surf, you should be able to swim confidently. You’ll need to swim to safety if you get separated from your board, and more importantly you should feel comfortable in the water and enjoy it so you don’t get scared and won’t panic when you’re out of your depth.
Lessons
Whether or not to take lessons is a question which splits people into two camps. Some people will tell you to just grab a board and get out there, and others will disagree, insisting you’ll learn much quicker with a few expert pointers to start you off. It depends on the type of person you are – only you know how you learn best, but we recommend a lesson to get you going. A good surf instructor will help you with balance and positioning, get you paddling properly and teach you about wave action – all things which will soon become second nature but are difficult to grasp at first. When you have a good basic knowledge, everything else will make sense much more quickly.
Stance
Something an instructor will want to find out straight away is if you are regular or goofy. Don’t be offended, it’s not a personal question, it refers to the way you stand on a board and you don’t need an expert to tell you, you can find out on your own right now. Stand up, and let yourself start to fall backwards. Instinctively you will stick a foot backwards to stop yourself from falling – the foot you have moved back is the foot you need to have at the back of your board.
Alternatively, put on a pair of socks and take a run up at a shiny floor – the way you skid is the way you will stand on your board. Regular footers have their right foot at the back and face to the right as a board moves forward, goofy footers have their left foot at the back and face the left. You are what you are – and you must find out before you start. Learning to surf on the wrong foot will be as useful as trying to write with the wrong hand – uncomfortable and messy.