How to Become a Better Surfer

To become a really good surfer, you need to put some time and effort into not only improving your

balance, but also your overall awareness of weather conditions, safety and what it means to spend

more of your life in the ocean.

Here are a few suggestions to get you from sitting on your board to standing up for that wave every time:

Get the right board

There are so many different surfboards to choose from, so it can be difficult to know where to start,

or what board to get after you’ve been surfing for a while.

A soft top surfboard is a good option for beginners as it is a lot more buoyant than a harder

surfboard, so it’s a lot easier to stand on in the water. As the top is made of foam, soft top

surfboards are also less likely to injure you if they land on your head in the water, and are more

durable when it comes to transporting them around.

It can be helpful to try out a variety of boards to see what suits you best, as it all comes down to

personal preference, and the size of the waves you’ll be riding.

Learn more about the weather

To become a better surfer, you need to become more familiar with your local weather conditions,

so that you can make the most of the waves coming through at various times of the day, and year.

Local knowledge is also key to becoming a better surfer, as even the most sophisticated weather

apps aren’t 100% right all the time. However, if you’re in the know, and make an effort to become

part of a surfing community, you’ll always be able to find a decent wave to ride (wherever you are

in the world).

Try some other outdoor activities

While going out and riding waves on your board as much as possible is definitely key to improving

your surfing, getting out and doing other outdoor water-based activities will also improve your

physical fitness (and could even provide the opportunity to add more people to your surfing crew).

SUP boarding and other water sports like wave skiing and wakeboarding are a great way to

complement your surfing, build core strength and become more confident in the water. All of these

will also go a long way to getting you up on that board much more quickly after paddling to catch

that wave.

Go on a surfing trip

Incorporating surfing into your daily life is definitely an important part of becoming a better surfer,

but sometimes it can be difficult to fit it into a busy lifestyle, no matter how much you wish you

could fit in a surf session every day.

One way to improve your surfing is to take time out to surf. If you dedicate time to learning and

practicing, you’ll start to see results, which will improve your confidence and also give you the

opportunity to learn to surf in different kinds of conditions.

Apart from just improving your surfing, going on a surfing trip can also expose you to the life

changing benefits of being out in the water, which include stress relief and a much more balanced

way of living. This can be seen in the way surfing and tourism are being combined all over the

world to provide an immersive travel and work experience.

Change your mindset

To become a better surfer, you’ll need to change your lifestyle, and often, your way of thinking. As a

surfer, you’ll get in touch with a lot of beautiful and harsh realities, like pollution and understanding

underwater predator behaviour, which might cause you to question the way you think about the

world (and how you fit into it).

If you’re up for it though, investing the time and effort into improving your wave riding ability might

just change your life.

With so much information available, and so many different kinds of gear to support you, there’s

nothing holding you back from getting out there and gaining more confidence in a very short

amount of time, especially if you’re willing to just keep paddling back out there!