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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!

How To Duck Dive A Surfboard Properly

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How To Duck Dive A Surfboard Correctly

How to duck dive a surfboard properly is a question we get all the time with new surfers. Many have tried battling out and have not been able to do it correctly. It will take practice and time to pick up the duck dive technique. Just like anything in life, when you fail, do not give up and keep pushing forward. Don’t ever give up! If you have access to a swimming pool, this would be the first place I would start training on how to duck dive a surfboard properly. If the waves are flat at your local beach, that is also a pretty good place to start. By training this move and getting it down smoothly, it will help you conserve your energy as you go under the waves when surfing. Duck diving your board will also keep your forward momentum going and help you get out to the line up faster.

The duck dive is utilized by every surfer and everyone had to learn how to duck dive a surfboard properly or else they will get mauled by the wave and they will be thrown around just like our clothing in the washing machine.

You need to have the forward paddling drive and at the right time, grab close to the nose of your surfboard and put downward pressure on the nose to submerge it under water. Soon after your back foot will push down on the tail so the rest of the board goes under as well as the passes over you.

How To Duck Dive A Shortboard

This is crucial to understand right when you start surfing. As I mentioned before, new surfers have told us that they could not duck dive their board, and we will always ask….How big is your surfboard? That is correct, it might just be your surfboard is too big to duck dive. First things first: do you have a surfboard that you can properly sink underwater? Surfboards with a lot of volumes are very difficult to push underwater because the more volume, the more your board will float and it will be very hard to learn how to duck dive a surfboard.

The duck dive is usually done with shortboards, such as a small FISH surfboard or hybrid boards. If your board is 8’0 and up you are better off doing a turtle roll. Again, the longboards and fun shape boards have much more volume than the shortboard; making it difficult to sink underwater.

2 Types Of Waves You Will Duck Dive

Waves can break differently varying from beach to beach. Each one of these beaches has a wave that no matter if it is different from another break in another country, the wave you duck dive will be almost breaking, or broken already.

These 2 waves have their own personal energy and different water flow underneath the wave.

Duck diving a wave that has not broken yet

This is an amazing feeling to have, especially when you are surfing in a sweet surf spot with a great background, this unbroken wave flows towards you and you duck dive your surfboard underneath, the waves circular action spits you out of the back with forward momentum towards the lineup.

How to duck dive white water

When a wave is already broken in front of you, it just means that your goal is to go under and pass the whitewater of the wave. Those types of waves can be difficult to get through since the energy and flow of the wave are going towards you and not aiming to go over you.  Also, the whitewater extends beneath the surface. You want to try to go under the entire amount of white water, but sometimes you go get caught in the thick whitewater underneath the wave.

Develop Good Paddling Speed

Generating speed to duck dive

You began paddling out to the lineup and some waves are rolling in that you are going to have to duck dive. Choices will have to be made: Will you A) Hold on for dear life as you get thrown around from side to side B) Keep on reading this how to duck dive a surfboard tutorial C) Freak out and head back to the beach to shore and live to fight another day D) “Neither here nor there” mentality will probably get you pummeled by the wave.

I hope you know that “A” Is the right answer….no just kidding, its “B”! Developing good paddling speed is important to train in your out of the water training sessions because this is the only thing that is going to get you through that thick whitewater. Speed will help you sink underwater deeper and faster as you get pulled through the backs of the wave. As you paddle towards the wave, make sure you turn it up and go. Do not mess around and get pounded by the lip of the wave.

Know When To Start Your Duck Dive

 

Know when to begin duck dive

With you paddling speed you will only stop paddling 4-6 feet away from the wave, depending on the wave before you grab your surfboard to duck dive. You can grab the board on the side also called rails from your chest up to a fist length higher to assist you with submerging the nose of the board.

Sinking Surfboards Nose Under Water

Sinking surfboards nose to duck dive

 

To make the task of sinking the surfboards nose under water you want to move your bodyweight forward as if you wanted to do a forward roll but without all that power or else that is exactly what will happen. With your chest, back, shoulder muscle, stretch your arm forward almost locking your arm straight to use more skeletal strength rather than muscle strength and forward and downward motion your surfboard will go as the rest of the board follows.

Push on Tail with your Foot (or Knee)

Pushing surfboards tail down to duck dive

 

In this phase of how to duck dive, you want to push the back (Tail) of the surfboard completely underwater so it can follow the nose. It is important to know that when pushing the tail of the board under water, you can use your knee or your foot. When you use your foot, the board will sink much deeper. You would use the knee on a smaller wave that is broken or when you did not have enough time to bring your foot to the traction pad.

As you push down on the traction pad you are looking to make the tail line up with the nose of the surfboard for a split second. This should be at the same time that the entire wave is going straight over your body. This motion really happens in one fluid motion. It is the same motion as doing a dive in the swimming pool. Your hands go in first, followed by your head and torso, then the legs go next.

Make sure that you have that speed to keep going straight forward. Lift your free leg, the one that is not stepping on the traction pad up to the sky so it can give you more weight and help push the tail under water.

 Keep Your Body Close To The Surfboard

Kicking your feet up to help sink surfboard

 

Keep your body tight and close to the surfboard as the wave passes over your entire body. Keep your warms bend and holding on to the board parallel to the ocean floor. Make sure that the whitewater does not catch your nose and send you tumbling around with the wave. Understand at this point that it is your body that moves towards the surfboard and not the other way around. You need the surfboard staying down as the wave passes you and not moving up.

Be sure to bring your body to the surfboard, not your surfboard to your body. If you pull your surfboard up to your body, you won’t be sinking deep enough to go through powerful waves and you might get caught by the whitewater and air bubbles.

Keeping your body close to the surf board to duck dive

 

Coming Up To The Surface

Once the wave passes over your body you will want to guide the nose of the surfboard back up to the surface. As you hold on tight to the board, the boards’ floatation will bring you to the surface and shoot you out of the back of the wave. This motion will keep you forward momentum going so you can resurface and keep that paddling speed towards the lineup. As we have mentioned before, you need to wait for the wave to go past you. Timing this wrong can send you in that not so fun rollercoaster ride under water. So surfers, as they are resurfacing, will kick as you are doing the freestyle stroke in a swimming pool and some will you the kicks from a breaststroke in swimming. This will assist you in generating speed when coming out of the water.

Guiding nose to surface finishing duck dive

 

Recap On How To Duck Dive Correctly:

You have learned so much on how to duck dive a surfboard, If you start your duck dive too late, your board won’t have the time to get parallel to the bottom and the white water will push your board out of your hands. Remember; start the motion of duck diving when you are at least 4-6 feet away from the wave.

  • Develop paddling speed: Make sure you do not mess around and go with speed and power towards the wave. The faster you go, the faster you will come out the back on your resurface. Do not start your duck dive too early, so you do not lose speed as the wave is passing you and your board starts to come up too soon and gets caught by the whitewater.
  • Dig that nose: Push that nose down with your arms and upper body weight. Use your skeletal strength to do this. Opening your eyes underwater can assist in knowing where you want to go. This can help you to prevent hitting the reef, sand, or coming up too soon.
  • Push down on the traction (stomp) pad: Try to push down with your foot or knee on the traction pad to keep your board parallels underwater as the wave moves over your body. All of this will be done while maintaining a forward movement. 
  • Take your time while resurfacing: Do not rush this part as you will pay for it if you come up too soon. The wave will have enough power to suck you in if you do not take your time and make sure the wave has gone by completely.
  • Practice in a flat beach day, pool or lake: Repeat all these steps that you have learned on a calm flat place. Your goal is to have your entire surfboard and body underwater at the same time. Make sure the nose goes first and then the rest of the board follows.

So that’s pretty much it for how to duck dive a surfboard, and it will take a lot of time in the water practicing this to get it down correctly, smoothly and safely. With time you will notice the difference between a bad and a good duck dive. When you perform the duck dive correctly, you will feel the wave go over you smoothly. When you get it wrong, you will be sucked back and enjoy a nice whitewater ride tumbling through the ocean.

The proper surf etiquette is to never let go of your board when faced with breaking waves; it may injure other surfers and potentially yourself. Also, remember that you have to stay away from surfers who are riding on the waves. This means you will have to paddle towards the whitewater instead of paddling towards the face of the wave.

Best Skateboards For Surf Training

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Best Skateboards for Surf Training Dryland

Best Skateboards For Surf Training

Skateboards are vital to improving your surfing skills out of the water, and that is a good reason to know the best skateboards for surf training. With a good skateboard, you can take your surf training to the next level, perfecting your moves and learning the nitty gritty of the great sport of surfing before hitting the swells. But there are so many brands of skateboards to choose from, and it can be confusing if you don’t know what’s right for you. To make your job easier the next time you go shopping for skateboards, here is a list of some of the best skateboards to take your surfing skills to pro levels.

Between the SwellTeach skateboards, Yow Skateboards, Smooth Star, and Carver skateboards; all of them will give you the ability to improve your surfing skills in and out of the water. They will all give you the balance, stability, smoothness, and ability to mimic surfing a real wave. In reality, all of these can be the Best Skateboards For Surf Training.

SwellTech Premiere Blackops Surf Skateboard

SwellTech Premiere Blackops For Surf Training On Dryland

This innovative SwellTech skateboard is specially designed to take your surfing to the next level. With a rigid standard truck at the rear and completely free motion truck at the front, this board’s moves are extremely similar to that of a surfboard on the waves. The front truck allows unrestricted movement and freedom to turn in all directions at top speed, with the rear truck helping to provide balance and stability, in essence like a surfboard’s fins.

With the Blackops’ longer 23.5″ wheelbase, you can easily spread out your feet like you would do when riding an actual surfboard. With the SwellTech Premiere Blackops, you can train with maximum flexibility and fluidity, perfecting your moves and maneuvers on land before heading into the waters.

SwellTech Premiere Blackops goes for $239.99, and the company offers a lifetime warranty for all their trucks. This skateboard is perfect for downhill skating, carving, and excellent for tall riders.

SwellTech Premiere Navy Surf Training Skateboard

Surf Skateboard SwellTech Premiere Navy

SwellTech’s Premiere Navy also features the company’s large 23.5 inches’ wheelbase to make it easier for taller riders to take their original surfing stance while practicing with this skateboard. If you are looking for a skateboard that offers speed, fluidity, and flexibility, the SwellTech Premiere Navy skateboard will help you improve your surfing before getting into the water.

The Premiere Navy perfectly reproduces the fluid movement of a surfboard, with a freely moving front truck that allows for great speeds and fast turning in different directions and a stabilizing rigid rear truck to enhance balance and flow. Get the best out of your skateboarding experience and surfing rides with this top quality skateboard.

The SwellTech Premiere Navy is sold for $239.99 and works perfectly for downhill skating, carving, and so much more.

SwellTech Hybrid Blackops Dryland Surf Skateboard

SwellTech Hybrid Blackops Skateboard Dryland Surf Training

At $199.99, SwellTech’s Hybrid Blackops is a perfect skateboard for riders who want quality but midsized skateboard to sharpen their surfing skills on land. The Hybrid series is a blend of SwellTech’s popular Jamie O’Brien Pro model and its Premiere deck.

While the Hybrid retains the Premiere’s mid rail width which makes it possible to position your foot between the rails, it features a wide tail similar to the Jamie O’Brien Pro, a snub nose, but a 21.6 inches’ wheelbase, which is about 2 inches short of the Premiere’s 23.5 inches.

Like other models from SwellTech, the Hybrid also offers unlimited fluidity, enhanced stability, speed, and you can simulate those incredible surfing maneuvers right on the solid ground.

If you want a mid-sized skateboard, the SwellTech Hybrid Blackops offers so much value and won’t punch a hole in your wallet.

Surf Skateboard YOW Surf Snapper 32.5″ V3

YOW Surf Snapper 32.5" V3 Surf Skate

YOW is a great name in the surf skateboard industry, and the company offers an impressive array of heavy skateboards to take your surf training several notches higher.

The YOW Surf Snapper 32.5″ V3 is a high-performance surf skateboard and has the distinction as the only skateboard with a rocker on the nose from YOW. This design makes it super easy to make tail slides and air without losing your natural feet position.

Developed in 2017, the YOW Surf Snapper 32.5″ V3 provides unparalleled stability and speed, and its 32.5″ jumbo-sized board allows for taking a natural stance while moving at high speeds. For people who need a big surf skateboard that can carry their weight without compromising their skating experience, this beautiful skateboard is all you are ever going to need to perfect your moves on land.

YOW Surf – Mundaka 31″ V3 – Power Surfing Surfskate Series

Mundaka 31" V3 - Power Surfing Surfskate

The YOW Surf – Mundaka 31″ V3 – Power Surfing Surfskate Series is named after the famous Mundaka sand pointbreak, which is unarguably one of the best surfing destinations in all of Europe and the world at large. With its characteristic red, white, and green markings to represent the flag of the Basque country, this skateboard promises to deliver unmatched performance every time.

The YOW Surf – Mundaka 31″ V3 – Power Surfing Surfskate Series features a sharp outline which can make it somewhat challenging to ride for the inexperienced, but this quality makes it easier to perform sharp and exact turns. As a tribute to the legacy of Mundaka, YOW designed this skateboard to mimic the great maneuvers performed on its majestic waves, and you surely won’t be disappointed.

YOW Surf Hossegor 29″ V3

YOW Surf Hossegor 29" V3 Dryland Surf Skate

Named after the powerful waves of Hossegor in France,  this innovative skateboard has a 29″ board and a wide wheelbase to make skating a smooth ride. With the YOW System for increased stability, speed, and fluidity, this skateboard delivers the ultimate power surf skating experience to improve your performance at surfing.

The YOW Surf Hossegor 29″ V3 is part of a large family of power surfing series named after some of the most iconic surfing spots in the world. If high performance is your thing, the YOW Surf Hossegor 29″ V3 is a perfect choice.

SwellTech’s Jamie O’Brien Pipeline Surf Skate

Jamie O'Brien Surf Skate Model

The Jamie O’Brien Pipeline skateboard from SwellTech was personally designed by Jamie O’Brien and is an excellent skateboard for people who want to take their surfing activities from amateur to pro levels. With a small and compact design, the Jamie O’Brien skateboard offers unmatched flexibility and produces incredible maneuvers and 360 slides among others.

And don’t forget that the Jamie O’Brien Pipeline is from SwellTech, which means it has the company’s innovative stabilizing features and flexibility, helping you make all those unbelievable twists and turns happen on land, so it becomes easier to replicate when you are riding the waves.

SmoothStar 32.5″ Johanne Defay Surf Skate Pro Model

Johanne Defay Surf Skate Pro Model by Smoothstar

At $349, the 32.5″ Johanne Defay Pro Model skateboard is the darling of pro surfers and people who want to take their surfing game to the next level. With an innovative design that makes sharp turnings dead easy, the super responsive 32.5″ Johanne Defay Pro Model is an excellent skateboard for practicing complex surfing maneuvers such as cutbacks and bottom turning. If you want to perfect your tailslides, the board’s swallowtail kicker makes it easy to perform as many tailslides as you want and the thruster turning mechanism makes acceleration effortless and fluid.

If you are a senior looking to take up new challenges on the waves or any other person with a burning desire to conquer bigger and stronger waves, the 32.5″ Johanne Defay Pro Model will take you to those celestial heights.

With the deepest concave of all skateboards in its class, the 32.5″ Johanne Defay Pro Model helps maintain stability and makes carving maneuvers easier and the extra wide tail helps surfers produce radical snaps without losing their toehold on the board.

SmoothStar 35.5 Manta Ray Dryland Surf Skate

Manta Ray Surf Skate

For taller surfers who have wider surf stances, the 35.5″ Manta Ray is the ideal skateboard to train for better performance on the waves. Specially designed with a contour deck shape and a wider tail, the Manta Ray allows for an incredible drive and hold no matter how deep your bottom turns or tight your top turns.

With wide and thicker SmoothStar Starfish wheels, the 35.5″ Manta Ray features sturdier wheels to help you take more control through turns no matter your weight or height.

Is a Carver Skateboard worth it for surf training?

Carver Surf Skate

Carvers skateboards bring a new dimension to skateboarding and surfing. While carver skateboards can be more expensive than their traditional counterparts, they offer a ton of advantages over the rest. In fact, carver skateboards allow you to surf the land. That is, the experience is so much similar to what you get on the waves.

The mechanism in Carver skateboards is somehow different from that of other skateboards. They are designed specially to mimic the fluid movement you experience will riding the waves on a surfboard.

All those impressive maneuvers you can do on the waves can also be reproduced on land using a carver skateboard. You can carve, pump the board to increase your speed, and glide like you would do if you were riding a surfboard. While this beautiful experience is rewarding in its own right, a carver skateboard offers additional benefits of helping you improve your maneuvers and increase balance before heading for the waves.

And the most exciting part of using carver skateboards is that the activity works the same muscle groups that are used during actual surfing, significantly boosting your form and technique. If you aim to improve your surfing game, there is no better way to get it right on land than carver skateboards. Truly, they are the real deal.

If you want to develop top turns, bottom turns, and improve your cutbacks; carver skateboards make these easier than any other skateboards as they allow you practice with sharper turns and greater speeds.

No matter your level of expertise in the sport of surfing, carver skateboards are perfect for improving your technique from beginner to pro level. It allows you to experiment with new maneuvers, increase your speed and correct your posture and form so you can perform better while in the water. Whether on the pavement or a skating ground, carver skateboards are an excellent way to take your surfing experience to the next level.

All of the skateboards listed above will always help you improve your surfing skills in and out of the water. Whichever one you pick, make sure it is the right size for you depending on your height and surfing stance. Here you can learn more about surfing step by step if you need to figure out your stance. so it can be the best skateboards for surf training for your body, as well as what you are trying to accomplish with a skateboard for surf training.