How To Surf a Wave in One Day

Start on the sand. Before you brave the thrashing waters of the ocean, practice you balance on solid ground. Remove the fins from your surfboard for this exercise. Then lay your surfboard on the sand and lay on top of it. As quick as you can, do a pushup and lock your arms upright. Then in one swift motion, pull both of your knees up toward your chest and hop quickly to your feet. Decide whether it is more comfortable to stand with your left or right foot forward, and practice this motion until you can do it quickly and effortlessly.

Learn to paddle. Now it's time to test your surfing skills in the water. You'll first need to know how to maneuver your surfboard. Make sure your surfboard is sufficiently waxed and your fins are properly attached. Then head to the water. Once you've gone a few feet out, lay your surfboard flat and position your body flat on top of the surfboard. With your feet safely resting on your board, practice steering your board and moving from place to place using your arms as alternating paddles. This is an essential skill in order to catch the right wave.

Wait for the right moment. Learning exactly when to stand up on your surfboard is essential to maintaining your balance on your board. You've got to wait for the perfect moment and when you've practiced enough, you'll just know. But for the new surfer, try this. Paddle out to a wave and just when you feel like the wave has more speed and momentum than your paddling speed, it's go-time. It's almost like the wave will be pulling you and your surfboard up onto it. Now it's time to stand up on your surfboard and catch a wave.

Get up. Once you've reached the perfect moment with a wave, you need to stand up in order to surf it. Since you're still laying flat on your surfboard, your body should spread the length of the board. You don't want to be off balance when you try to stand, so make sure your weight is distributed evenly. Once it is, grab the sides of your surfboard with each hand, and push up quickly (just like you practiced). Then straighten your arms into an upright position and quickly pull your knees up. Hop to your feet, making sure that one foot is in front of the other. One foot needs to be near the back (tail) of your surfboard, and one foot will be just ahead of the middle of your surfboard. Lean just a little bit forward to add some momentum. Your surfboard will always go in the same direction as your head, so keep your head and your eyes forward. You will need to practice your balance on the thrashing waves. Your best bet is to crouch a bit, keeping your center of gravity low. Focus your weight on the middle of the surfboard and eventually, the waves won't bring you crashing down.

Keep practicing. Once you've got these basics of surfing down, you can easily surf a wave in one day. When you can successfully stand up on a surfboard on a wave, hold your balance and follow the wave as it moves parallel to the beach. Aim for waves with more speed once you're more confident in your abilities as a surfer.  It's going to take a lot of perseverance and patience. But just like riding a bicycle, once you've got the knack for it, surfing will be a fun and addictive sport for you.