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How To Use Bodyweight Strength Training For Surfing

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How To Use Bodyweight Strength Training For Surfing Correctly

Now that you are surfing, you are understanding that it does require a lot of muscles, stability, and balance. You are probably wondering how to use bodyweight for surfing strength training the right way. Of course like any other sport, the more you work out, to get better at that sport, the faster you will progress. Strength training intimidates many people, especially surfers since we are trying to stay lean but at the same time strong. People envision red-faced men and women with bulging muscles grunting and lifting heavy weights. While this may be true for some individuals, the vast majority of people who strength training do so for improved health.

Benefits Of Bodyweight Strength Training For Surfing

Strength training has been shown to burn more fat and calories. It actually improves cognitive function, reduces blood pressure, and improves bone density. Even in older men and women it can reduce bone loss and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Strength training for surfing improves mobility, boosts confidence and can be for just about any surfer trying to stay healthy and have better muscle definition.

Strength Training For Surfing

 

Strength training has also shown more lean muscle mass, healthier cholesterol levels, lower stress levels, better sleep, more energy, increased oxygen. Those are some amazing benefits that strength training can offer you.

The fear of getting bulky is just one reason that people avoid strength training. However, unless you have a unique genetic makeup and you’re willing to lift weights for hours a day, that’s not going to happen to you. If you are just wanting to work out to get more muscular and better in surfing, strength training can be worked around that, it does not mean heavy weights all the time.

To Workout Or Not To Workout For Surfing

Most individuals will have an excuse or more to not workout and not put in the time to better their health and overall surfing. Some excuses are lack of time, no gym memberships, not knowing what to do as a workout, no motivation, or just simply too lazy to do it. Well, guess what? You only need to work out for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. So pick 3 days that you will work out and set aside only 30 minutes. You will benefit so much from those 30 minutes in and out of the water. You do not need a gym membership or even weights to do these workouts. Strength training can be done with absolutely just your bodyweight. So all you need is a little space and yourself.

People also hesitate to train because they’re uncomfortable in the weight room at the gym and just don’t know what to do exactly. The good news is that the first step to strength training, whether you want to go to the gym or not, is often to use your own body weight to get stronger. Your body is heavy enough to give you a workout, you don’t necessarily need to add more weights. Strength training is defined as a workout that can be done with weights but it is not mentioned once that it cannot be your bodyweight. Take that advantage and workout with just your body!

Bodyweight Surf Exercise HIIT Workout For Beginners

Think about the basic push-up. The push-up is a bodyweight exercise. And most average people cannot do a single push-up. The movement strengthens your core, your shoulders, your chest and your arm muscles. It’s a comprehensive strength-training movement and it only uses the weight of your body.

How To Use Bodyweight Strength Training For Surfing Sample

The following are also strength-training movements that you can do at home with your own body weight as part of your strength training work out.

* Pull-ups (you can do this movement at your local playground on the bars too)

* Squats

* Lunges (bringing both of your legs at a 90 angle and having the bottom knee almost touching the floor)

* Good morning (this is a movement where you keep your legs straight and your knees soft. Keeping your back straight, you bend forward at the hip. The moment your back starts to curve, using your hips and leg muscles, you straighten back up.)

* Sit-ups (we all did those in gym class)

* Dips. You can use a stable coffee table or a sturdy chair. Placing your hands behind you on the stable piece of furniture, you lower your backside until your arms are at a 90-degree angle or less.

Each of these movements, when performed correctly, can help strengthen your body from head to toe. Start with a pattern of perhaps performing 8-12 repetitions in three sets. As you get stronger you can start increasing the number and the intensity. For example, you might do as many push-ups as possible in a minute. Or you might do 4 or 5 sets. It all depends on you and your ability and progression.

Some other exercises to do for strength training are planks, crunches, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, and so on. The list is never-ending. No need for weights at all, you can do all of your strength training without any weight but yourself!

Once you feel a little more confident with your strength you can add weights. If you’re still not interested in going to the gym’s weight room, consider getting a set of hand weights or kettlebells. It’s a simple way to add weight and continue to increase your strength. You don’t have to get weights at all, you can always do body weights exercises but in that case, you will have to increase the intensity and rate of your workouts to keep improving your body and overall surfing.

How To Use Bodyweight Strength Training For Surfing On Bosu Ball

 

Why Change Your Surfing Workouts?

There is one thing you should always do, and that is to can change up your workouts and make it fun. Your body needs to be confused constantly so it is not always the same workout. Your body will get used to every workout, and you won’t be sore anymore. When muscles are required to work hard or in a different manner, it’s believed to cause microscopic damage to the muscle fibres, resulting in your muscles being stiff or sore. It is great to change up your workouts so that your body does not know what to expect every day.

You can keep track of your workouts and write them down on a notebook, app or phone notes. This will help you remember what you did the day before and see how you are progressing with the number of sets, reps, intensity, and so on. These notes will also remind you to change workouts and switch it around for less boredom and more fun.

Always remember that setting a goal for yourself is very important! A goal makes you want to achieve it as fast as possible. Set a date of when you want to get it down and work really hard for it. When achieved, reward yourself with a massage, new gear shopping day, or a cookie, whatever might make you happy.  If you do not achieve that goal per that day, you should punish yourself with extra workout days, more intensity, fewer chocolates, more burpees, no tv, whatever will motivate you to get it done! When one goal is achieved, set another one and keep going!

Surfing is a all body workout. Exercising for surfing is awesome and will strengthen your core, stability, mobility and more. Doing bodyweight workouts will make you stay lean and build more muscle mass. You will feel better, more energetic and will be able to surf longer. That is always a goal!

PS: Just know that if you are dreaming about getting abs; it is about doing core exercises, burning calories and 90% the way you eat.

Circuit Training Fitness For Surfing

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Circuit Training Fitness For Surfing Better

Circuit training fitness for surfing better is a physical program that combines resistance training with a high-intensity cardiovascular workout. It builds strength and endurance and may be one of the best ways to burn fat fast. If you’re looking to achieve new goals for surfing such as losing weight then circuit training might be the way!

Circuit training fitness for surfing is great when working out for your specific sport. It increases the intensity and is a targeted workout in general. Circuit training is about doing a full body workout in one day instead of breaking it down to different days for the different muscle groups. Surfers all over the world use circuit training as part of their workout plans because it builds up your cardio and strength for surfing at an intensity that will help you surf longer and stronger.

Circuit training is also a great way to not get bored in the gym. It always switches up your workouts and challenges your body every day in different routines. With circuit training fitness for surfing, you will get the maximum results in the least amount of times, your metabolism rises, it makes you use all the workout tools, and you never waste another minute trying to figure out what to do next to increase your surfing performance.

When surfing we are using our whole body to move the surfboard and stabilize ourselves. It is a whole body workout that utilizes some major muscle groups such as the core, shoulders, and back. Surfing also requires some kind of endurance to be able to paddle to the lineup over and over again and to catch many waves. Sometimes the weather and waves are not the best and you will need to paddle more than usual and longer than on a clean day. This is when circuit training comes into play as it increases your endurance, as well as strengthens your entire body with a whole body workout that constantly changes.

Here are some advantages of circuit training for surfing:

Circuit Training Fitness For Surfing Burns More Fat

Circuit training fitness for surfing burns fatThere’s nothing like a combination of cardio and strength training to burn more fat. A circuit training program is more intense than either strength or cardio independently. With circuit training, you move through a series of workout movements. Your metabolism will be soaring because of the high intensity interval training (HIIT). It kicks your fat burning into high gear. You will burn more calories in 20 minutes than you would in an entire hour on the elliptical machine. Plus for the next 48hours after your workout, your body will be feeling it and the aftereffect burn will have you burn more calories while at rest.

You spend a specific amount of time on each movement or work through a predetermined number of reps. When you reach the end of the circuit, you repeat it. The goal is to work through the circuit a few times and to exercise for 20-30 minutes. Yes you read that right! There is no point of working out for hours at a time, 20-30 minutes is enough at a high intensity. Remember, we are not trying to become bodybuilders.

Home circuit training fitness for surfing sample:

* 30 seconds of squats

* 30 seconds on a stationary bike

* 30 seconds of lunges

* 30 seconds of shoulder presses

* 30 seconds of jumping rope

* 30 seconds of push-ups

* 30 seconds of sit-ups

* 30 seconds in a plank

* 30 seconds on a stationary bike

* 30 seconds of burpees

Do all of these repeated for 3-4 sets or until 30 minutes is over. Do it at a high intensity that pushes you and don’t stop. Pace yourself and you will get it done!

Surfers Circuit Training Burns More in Less Time

Surfers Circuit TrainingYou can burn 30 percent more calories in a 30-minute circuit training workout than in a strength or cardio workout routine. How much you burn depends on your age, weight, intensity and the movements you’re performing. We cannot guarantee you burning this much if you are not putting your effort into it at a 100%. But imagine burning double the calories when you do train hard!

Over the course of a month that’s an additional 2700 calories. And it’s important to know that when you strength train, you continue to burn calories long after the workout is over. As your muscles recover, they keep your metabolism high. You’ll continue to burn calories at night while you sleep. If you don’t have a lot of time to work out, circuit training may be exactly what you need. You just need 20-30 minutes 3 times a week and a little bit of space either in your house, garage or anywhere you can work out without disruption.

It is the perfect workout for the time restricted ones that need to get back to work as fast as possible. You can set up as many or as little stations as you would like and go through them until time runs out. It is the best way to get a whole body workout in 30 minutes. You can do this quick workout on the beach right before surfing and you will see a huge difference in your strength and endurance right away.

Circuit Training Can Be Performed Anywhere

Circuit train anywhereWherever you prefer to work out, at the gym, house, or outdoors; circuit training can be done anywhere, at anytime. You can cycle through the strength machines at the gym if you choose to as well. You can run outside and drop to the ground for push-ups, burpees, and sprints. We’ve provided you with a workout that you can do at home really fast. You will never waste another minute again trying to figure out what and how to workout. You will be able to get a great workout without having to use a lot of different machines at the gym. Professional surfers use circuit training when traveling on tour, and since they do not have equipment with them, they just do a quick and simple bodyweight circuit training fitness for surfing workout that will benefit them no matter where they go surfing.

In addition to these three powerful benefits, you won’t get bored with circuit training. The options of circuit training are limitless so gym boredom is never there. Create your circuit training workout before starting and follow it till the end. This is the best way to not waste time, change up your workouts and get the best of it.

Downside To Circuit Training

The only downside of circuit training might be the space and equipment required for it. But remember one thing, if you really want it, you will make it happen. Another thing to remember is that all of your workouts do not necessarily need equipment. You can do all bodyweight workouts as your circuit training and you will see the strength and cardio that you will gain. Weights and equipment’s only help you do some exercises and makes it easier to do it. But bodyweight workouts are the best workouts for surfing and life in general. You can do them anywhere at any time and it does not make you bulky and slow; which is not helpful for surfing.

Extra Benefits To Circuit Training For Surfers

Circuit training is a wonderful way to burn fat and tone your muscles at the same time as we have mentioned. Surfers use circuit training as a way to challenge their body in different ways to simulate what might happen when surfing. When setting up stations as part of a whole body workout, you are guaranteed to hit all the major muscle groups as well as the minor ones. Surfing uses a lot of major but also minor muscle groups and all of these muscles need to be strengthened as you do more advanced moves. Your muscles will build more endurance which will allow you to surf and paddle longer during one session.

Circuit training works for anyone, beginner to fitness expert. Get started today and enjoy the benefits of a high intensity strength and cardio workout for surfing. You will see how much stronger you will get and how much longer you will be able to surf. It’s amazing!

Below is a quick bodyweight pushups variations video that you can start adding one or multiple into your surf training workouts!

Easy Ways Of Tracking Your Workouts For Surfing

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Easy Ways of Tracking Your Workouts For Surfing

Tracking your workouts is soooo important. It may seem like an unnecessary chore, however, when you track your workouts you are basically gathering data about your body and physical attributes. With an easy way of tracking your workouts for surfing, you later can go over your data, and evaluate your workouts. By doing this, you will be able to see the areas where you’ve made great progress. There will be areas where you need to adjust or change your workout method to achieve the results you want. Tracking your workouts for surfing is also a source of motivation and can help you recognize when you’ve reached your goals.

Tracking your workouts for surfing

Tracking your workouts for surfing is very easy to do and the best way to see real results. This is only when you are serious about the sport of surfing. You work hard to get to where you want to be, so you want to make sure that you can keep track of all of your workouts and get the best out of it. When working out at the end of each session, I would recommend writing what exercises you did, how many times, for how long and so on depending on your workout. I would write it down on a notebook or on your phone, but somewhere you know won’t get lost.

Tracking your workouts for surfing Sample

Let’s say for example you wanted to lose 20 pounds. Before even starting on your journey of working out, measure yourself at the chest, triceps, waist, thighs, and of course jump on the scale. Write down the results and start your journey of workout,s writing every day the workout that you did for how long, repetitions, sets and final heart rate. After 2 weeks measure yourself and jump on that scale again, and compare! With this insight you would be able to see the results and what you need to work on more, to achieve your goal of losing 20 pounds. Keep writing down your workouts and results every 2 weeks until you achieve that goal. Once achieved, set another goal and do the same thing.

What Do You Track For Surfing Fitness?

When you’re tracking your workouts, there are many diverse pieces of data that you can track. What you track depends on numerous features. Though, it’s often useful to track everything because sometimes the data can be unexpectedly useful and will help to get that one goal or see if you had already done that workout or run. You want to make sure that you are constantly confusing your muscles during your surfing fitness workouts.

First, let’s look at what you can track and why, and then we’ll explore the how as well.

How to track your workouts for surfing

Distance: How far did you run, bike, walk, paddle or roller skate? You may track this information if you’re working up to a distance. For example, if you’d like to be able to run 10 miles, then you’ll track your distance and gain motivation and data as you progressively increase it. Don’t try to run 10 miles right away! You will not be feeling good. Start with .5, 1 mile, then 2, then 3, and so on. Move your way up slowly into those higher miles. Do not overdo it at first so you do not lose motivation or get discouraged because your goal would be to build the cardio for a 10-mile run. It will not happen in one day, it will take time and lots of practice. Keep track of the distance that you run each day and see your progress that way.

 

Pace: Pace means that you’re tracking your speed over distance. For instance, you might run a nine-minute mile now and your goal might be to run a six-minute mile. So you’ll track how your pace progresses as you get into better shape. You can track this for running, walking, cycling, paddling and anything else that can be tracked over a distance. Indoor fitness machines work for both distance and pace as well. Every day try to run or paddle a little faster for that mile run, write down your time every day and you will see it go down with time.

Reps: If you’re doing strength or circuit training then you can track your reps. You can additionally track your reps for time. For instance, today you might be able to do four squats in a minute; a month from now, you might be capable of doing ten in a minute. Tracking your surf training provides you with information and motivation to progress and get better at surfing. You want to make sure that you set a goal for yourself and see if you can surpass or achieve that goal in a certain amount of time. During each set, you might want to go faster so that you can knock it out of the way, but make sure to not sacrifice your technique for more reps. You want to make sure that you progress slowly but surely so that you will not be breaking the technique and developing bad posture during your exercises.

Heart Rate: If you’re training for something like a surf contest or you want to keep your heart rate in a specific zone then you’ll track your heart rate with whichever type of workout you chose to do that day. Make sure to always write down the workout and your heart rate every time to see improvements. You take your heart either by holding with 2 fingers on your legs, wrist and counting to 30 and then multiply that number by 2. Or you can also get your 2 fingers on your carotid artery (On your neck) and count to 30 and multiply by 2 as well. You can also count to 15 and multiply it by 4. Your heart rate is evaluated over a minute that is why multiplying by 2 or 4. The ranges of heart rate depend on your age. The better shape that you are in, the lower your heart rate at rest will be.

Calories: If you’re precisely looking for weight-loss results then tracking calories can be very valuable. You can associate calories burned with calories consumed and calculate your weight loss. If your prediction is off, then you have information to help you resolve the inconsistency and figure out why and how to achieve your prediction. Counting calories means that at every meal you need to write down what you had and what you drank with detailed information and exact calories. A normal diet should be between 2000-2500 calories a day.

Time: Time is different from the pace and it only applies to certain workouts. For example, let’s say you have a goal to do 50 push-ups; the first time you tried it, it took you 30 minutes. That’s your time! As your fitness improves, your time should decrease as your chest, tricpes, shoulders and core muscles get stronger and you should perform better in surfing or all as well. Time can be measured when doing a circuit workout, how long did it take you to finish that entire workout. As you progress and build cardio for it, your time will decrease. Always track your time no matter what, you will see progression really fast.

How to Track Your Surf Workouts?

There are plenty of options to track your workouts, pace, time, calories, heart rate, reps, and so on. You can use a fitness tracking tool like the FitBit to track your information. Most phones have a notes section where you can track your data. Another option is to buy a fitness journal, create a spreadsheet, buy a notebook or download a mobile app. My favorite is to buy a fitness journal where I write down EVERY workout, with all the data I want; I also write down how long I surfed for, swam, skateboarded and the drills I did.

How to track you surf workouts

Another good one is a spreadsheet by your desk or bed where you will write workouts ahead of time and will have to achieve as the days go by. You should also ALWAYS have short-term goals (1-3months) and long-term goals (3-12months). Having that in mind and as a physical sheet, app, book in your room will help you achieve it and keep you motivated for it at all times.

The best tool to track your workouts, is the one that supports you to follow through and really track the information. You’ll be surprised how tracking your workouts will change and you will see your progression with time and effort.

If you need more motivation to get up and workout when you set an alarm in the morning to wake up, add a little motivational quote to the alarm so that when you get up, you will automatically be motivated to have a good day and achieve your goals! Seriously, professional athletes such as Pro surfers, fighters, Olympians all do that.

Give it a try. Track for 30 days EVERY workout! And let me know how you feel and how much it has helped you stay motivated all while seeing the results you are aiming for. Remember, your goal will not be achieved in one day! It will take time, persistence, motivation, and consistency!

10 Ab Exercises For Surfing

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Top 10 Ab Exercises for Surfing

Surfing is an extreme water sport, and just like any sport, it is really great to work your body and prepare it to be as fit as possible for that specific sport. So I have decided to share with you my Top 10 Ab Exercises for surfing.

Surfing is one of those sports where your core is the most important muscle group, and then your shoulders, back, and legs. But your core will keep you stabilized on your surfboard and you will fit very confident when working it hard for surfing.

You want the best core for surfing and any water sports that require a lot of core functionality and muscles. I would recommend picking 2 ab exercises and performing 20-50 reps per set to add to your daily workout routine specific to surfing and you will see how much better it will make you! We will go over leg raises, sit outs, knee through abs, Russian twists, windshield wipers, ankle slaps, v-ups, reach through side planks, elbow sit-ups, and kick out abs.

I am so excited to share this with you the 10 ab exercises for surfing, so without further delay let’s get going and make our core stronger than ever!

Best 10 Ab Exercises For Surfing

Leg Raises

  • Place your hand palm down under your lower buttock on both side to support your pelvis
  • Keep your knees straight
  • Raise both legs TOGETHER until they make a 90-degree angle with your body
  • Don’t forget to tighten your core when going up and even more when going back down
  • Do not touch the floor and control the descent (don’t let your legs just fall)
  • Exhale when going down, inhale when going up

Sit-outs

Sit out ab workout for surfing

  • Start in a bear crawl position with both hands on the ground in front of you and both feet on the ground behind you (elbows straight)
  • Lift your right hand up and kick your left foot forward and under you
  • Place your left foot where your right hand without touching the ground used to be and keep your right hand up in the air (at this point only your left hand and right foot is on the ground)
  • KEEP SWITCHING BETWEEN RIGHT AND LEFT
  • ALWAYS tighten your core
  • Do not let your feet touch the floor when bringing it under your body
  • Exhale when kicking out, inhale when bringing it back

Knee Through Abs

  • Get in a pushup position
  • Keep your body like a table (imagine that you have to hold a cup of water on your back)
  • Bring one knee into your opposite elbow
  • Bring it back to pushup position and switch knees
  • Do not lift your hips
  • Don’t let your butt sag
  • Keep your abs squeezed
  • Exhale when bringing knee in, inhale when going back

Russian Twists

Russian Twist Ab workout for surfers

  • Place both feet off the floor touching each other, knees up to the sky
  • Lean your upper body back to a 45-degree angle
  • Place both hands together in front of your torso, elbows bent (instead you can use a gallon of water, medicine ball, rock, anything you want with a little weight)
  • Rotate your hands to one side, keeping your body in line
  • Touch the floor and then go to the other side
  • Keep your core flexed and tightened at all times
  • Make sure you touch the floor on each side before going to the other
  • Exhale when going to the side, inhale when going back

Windshield Wipers

  • Lay down on your back with legs straight and arms to the side
  • Bring both legs up TOGETHER to a 90-degree angle with your upper body
  • Slowly bring both legs down to one side, keeping your upper body straight
  • Slowly bring it up and back down to the OTHER side
  • Always keep it controlled when going up or down
  • Make sure your legs do not touch the floor on either side before bringing it back up
  • Squeeze your abs tight and your back on the ground

Ankle Slaps

Lateral Abs ankle slaps for surfing

  • Place both feet on the floor shoulder width apart and keep your knees up to the sky
  • Place your back straight on the floor with head and shoulders OFF the ground
  • Keep your arms straight in line with your body and your palms facing your legs OFF the ground
  • Rotate to one side and slap your ankle with the arm closes to it, the other away from your foot
  • Rotate to the other side and slap your other ankle
  • Make sure when rotating to move your upper body to the side you are rotating to
  • ALWAYS tighten your abs
  • To further away your feet are from your buttock, the harder it will be to slap each ankle
  • Exhale when rotating, inhale when resetting

V-ups

  • Lay down on your back feet together, and hands together above your head (like you’re about to dive in a pool but on your back)
  • Keep your arms and legs straight
  • Slowly bring them up together at the same time until your hands touch your toes or your ankles
  • Control the descent and go down to the first position where you started
  • Make sure both your arms and legs ALWAYS stay straight
  • Keep your core flexed
  • Exhale when going down, inhale when going up

Reach Through Side Planks

Reach through side planks ab workout

  • Get in a side plank position, with one elbow down at a 90-degree angle, one foot over the other and facing a side
  • Bring your upper arm across your body and under it while keeping your body straight in the line of the side plank position
  • Bring the arm back and repeat
  • Now switch to the other side and do the same thing
  • Make sure you don’t lose balance
  • Keep your abs flexed
  • Exhale when bringing the arm across, inhale when going back to rest position
  • Cut the reps in half to be able to do both sides

Elbow Sit-Ups

  • Place both feet on the ground, knees pointing to the sky and back on the ground
  • Bring your elbows out in line with your shoulders
  • Come up to one elbow and bring the opposite hand to your hand on the ground
  • Come back down
  • Roll on your shoulders and come up to the other elbow and opposite hand to hand on the floor
  • Make sure your elbows stay open
  • Keep your feet and knees in place
  • Exhale when going up, inhale when going down

Kick Out Abs

Surfing Kick Out abs

  • Sit down, lean back to a 45-degree angle and place your hands behind you to support your upper body
  • Keep both knees off the ground, together and close to your chest
  • Kick both feet straight forward and keep them about 6inches off the ground
  • Bring your knees back to your chest
  • Repeat
  • Make sure both knees stay close together
  • Keep your abs tight
  • Exhale when bringing your knees to your chest, inhale when kicking out

 Don’t forget that it is very important to do these workouts with good technique and good posture. 

Surfer Ab workouts PRINCIPLES to follow

These principles for the 10 ab exercises for surfing are very important to understand, so do not skip this part!

– While working out keep your core tight. This will keep all your muscles around your lower back and abs active which will prevent injury and better your posture.

– For you to do this you need to flex/tense your abdominal muscles as if someone was going to punch your abs.

– A good posture means keeping your spine straight, chest up, neck straight, shoulders back and down.

– Do not jerk and twist your body rapidly

Now that you know my favorite ab exercises for surfing, go get it and work out those abs! They are so important for surfing and will make you look and feel great!

Surfing Tricks And Maneuvers

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Surfing Tricks and Maneuvers Terms

Are you ready to get all of the great surfing tricks and maneuvers down? We have completed a detailed name list of the moves you need to perform if you ever want to become a world champion and start competing at every level.

As we have covered before, surfing is an extreme water sport with many tricks. The surfer’s unofficial manual says that the surfer who invents, pulls, and completes a new maneuver has the honor of naming it whatever name they want. This is the reason why many of the surf tricks have interesting titles. You will also notice depending on where you are surfing; a maneuver can have different names or two terms for the same trick with delicate variations.

After you have learned the basics of surfing such as paddling, duck diving, popping up, and going down the line, surfers advance into a more dynamic and complex wave riding tricks and maneuvers. It is true to say that there are surfing tricks for all kind of experience levels. A surfer cannot move up to the intermediate level without knowing how to bottom turn and navigate down the line.

So before you even think about getting the best tube of your life at Pipeline; you need to perfect your basic surfing skills, learn how to read the waves the right way, train your footwork, and watch others surfing when completing the most advanced maneuvers. Also before you start learning all of these great new tricks and maneuvers names, you need to learn the common surf terms and surfing phrases that we use as a language. Most surf maneuvers and tricks can be performed frontside and backside.

Now let’s learn, try and experiment old and new surfing tricks and maneuvers to be the best surfer we can ever be.

Beginner Surfing Tricks and Maneuvers

Bottom Turn

Surfer doing a bottom turnThe bottom turn is THE most important out of all the surfing tricks and maneuvers in surfing. It is the foundation of surfing because it is the first turn you do on a wave after dropping in. It is also a setup turn to achieve a bigger turn off the lip. It allows you to channel all of your speed and momentum towards the open face you are riding. It is where it all begins, and is the bottom line.

Cutback

The cutback is a key maneuver in surfing. It allows you to decrease your speed with a great purpose. The maneuver takes the surfer back from the shoulder of the wave to the speed zone in the whitewater, gaining more speed.

Carve

Surfer doing a carve maneuver

A carve allows you to change your line and direction in the open sections of the wave. When carving, you put all of your weight on the rails, making the rails sink, then you draw an arc and stay in the curl of the wave.

Intermediate Surfing Tricks and Maneuvers

 Snap

Surfer doing a snap maneuver

The snap, also called slash in some areas, is a radical change of direction in the pocket or even at the top of the wave. When performed perfectly, it produces flashy, spectacular, amazing buckets of spray behind and up the wave.

Roundhouse Cutback

This maneuver is one of the most beautiful and most popular turn in surfing. The roundhouse cutback, usually performed on smaller waves without much of a wall, allows the surfer to return and curl the wave, which then makes the surfer gain some speed and amplitude off the top. It makes a figure 8 surf line.

Layback 

Surfer doing a layback

The layback is a maneuver that is achieved on the face of the wave when it is a little steeper than usual, on a closeout, or off the lip. This surf maneuver involves all of your core muscles as well as leg muscles. It’s a great way to throw of spray out the back of the wave. It is done by doing a turn and then last minute in that turn the surfer throws the board out in front of him/her so that the back leg becomes completely extended and you are laying down with your back on the water but at the same time your feet are still planted on your surfboard. Then the surfer will use the core muscles to get back on the surfboard, bringing the legs back to the body. This maneuver is beautiful to watch and a lot of people try it. When failing the completion of the layback we call it the stay back. Also to remember how to do it surfers describe it as dropping your wallet and you are trying to get it while extending your body fully.

Off The Lip

This is a vertical turn in which the surfer attacks the steep wave, project half of the board off the wave’s lip, and then drive it radically down the wave towards the bottom. All without losing momentum.

 Foam Climb

Foam climb maneuver in surfing

This surf trick allows the surfers to get past a broken lip part of the wave, a closeout section, or even whitewater; connecting 2 open face parts of the wave. This maneuver can be very tricky to do and has to be done with lots of speed to complete it.

Floater

The floater is one of the classic surf maneuvers that looks so pretty and is spectacular to watch when performed well. It involves gliding horizontally to the wave over the lip or foamy section that is about to break. Instead of going around the crumbling area of the wave, the surfer goes on top of the wave using all the speed possible. This maneuver shows that you have control of your surfboard in competition.

Closeout Re-Entry

The closeout re-entry is the last possible maneuver you can do on a wave before the closeout section of the wave. It is usually the last move on a wave.

Tail Side

Tail slide maneuver in surfing

The tail side is a fairly new maneuver and is very nice to see. It involves letting the tail and fins of the surfboard slide down the face of the wave. The key is to let the fins free by shifting the body weight from the back to front foot.

Nose Riding

Surfer doing nose ride maneuver

This is the ultimate longboard surf trick which entails the surfer walking all the way to the nose of the surfboard and standing there while riding the wave. There are other names for it such as hang five (which is with only one foot), and hang ten.

Switch Stance

This is not very common because most surfers are not too good at it. It involves riding the wave in the opposite surfing stance.

Reverse 360

Reverse 360 surf trick and maneuver

This is a maneuver very hard to achieve and some are never able to complete. It requires a lot of speed, stability, and core muscles. It is a full rotation on the face of the wave. Can be performed either carving or reversing. The surfer spins down the wave in both cases, it can also be called 360.

Kickflip

This is another maneuver that not a lot of people get. A skateboarding inspired maneuver, which entails the surfer to flip his surfboard 360 degrees along the extension from the nose to the tail of the surfboard. The first ever to execute the kickflip is Zoltan Torkos.

Advanced and Professional Surfing Tricks and Maneuvers

 Tube Riding

Surfer getting tubed or Tube riding maneuver

This is the ultimate move out of the surfing tricks and maneuvers that has been around for years. It requires a lot of effort and timing to get barreled. This is described as the best surfing experience and feeling by all surfers; it is the ultimate goal when surfing. It involves the surfer to ride the hollow part of the wave, between the white water breaking and the face of the wave; automatically being fully covered by the curling lip. Perfect barrels are very rare and hard to find, the most popular surf spot for barrels is Pipeline, Hawaii. Other names for tube riding are barreled, pitted, and tubed.

Alley-Oop

Another skateboarding inspired surf maneuver that is a backward ariel orientation.

Superman

The superman is awesome and fun to watch it being done. Also, an ariel maneuver when the surfer energies his surfboard down the line, drives up in the air, projects the surfboard to the beach, grabs the rails and relinks with the surfboard before landing.

Air/Ariel

Air or ariel maneuver in surfing

An air in surfing is a maneuver completed when the surfers gains a lot of speed, finds the ramp (usually when the wave is breaking), launches off the top of the wave with surfboard on feet, and then lands on the face of the wave or in front of the wave in what we call the flats. This maneuver is also referred to as air 360, air reverse, backflip, 540, or 720 depending on which variation is completed.

Rodeo Flip

An inspired surfing maneuver. It is a combination of spinning and flipping in the air.

Kerrupt Flip

A very new surfing maneuver that is performed and named after Josh Kerr. It is a full rotation alley-oop combine with a mute and talefish grab.

Flynnstone Flip

Made and performed by Flynn Novak. This is a backflip grab maneuver.

Sushi Roll

Founded and completed by another great professional surfer; Julian Wilson. The sushi rolls involves an acrobatic air which combines the superman and the rodeo flip.

Now that you have all of the surfing tricks and maneuvers names and terms, you are ready to go and learn them. Always make sure to stay in shape because some of them do require a lot of physical exercise and also make sure that you are always learning moves depending on your surfing level. So if you are a beginner you should probably not focus on a tube, for now, you first need to learn how to bottom turn. Oh and just so you know, it will take a lot of fails and wipeouts before you can complete any of these moves the right way. Have fun out there and be safe!