How to Catch Waves

It's taken some time, but here we are at surfing lesson one. Now, there are a few different approaches to this lesson, and most of the time it begins with lying on your board in the sand and practising what is called the 'pop up'. Popping up is the term used where the surfer has caught the wave and goes from the paddling position, lying on top of board, to a standing, upright position. We are going to skip pop ups at the moment as it will be covered in surfing lesson four.

Let's get straight into the water and talk about catching the white water part of the wave (where the wave has already broken). For more details about waves, take a quick look at the waves page. It is more fun getting straight into the waves and having a mess around than getting all sandy on the beach.

Waves to Start Surfing On

For your first few days, surf the small, close waves. You're primarily looking for small breaking waves that you can walk out to, not the large battering waves you have to fight just off the beach. (Remember that surfing should be fun!)

Make sure that you are not holding your surfboard in a position where a wave could knock it back into your face and cause you an injury. Hold the board out at arms length with a hand on each rail. Jump over the oncoming white water as you walk your way out. Keep a look around to make sure you are not about to get washed into someone's path, or that you are not immediately behind someone who may lose hold of their board. It can be quite scary seeing an oncoming wave complete with nine feet of longboard wrapped up in it!

Keep the safety aspect in mind at all times, and everything should be OK.

Keep going out until you are at a comfortable depth. Keep an eye out for waves that are breaking towards you.

We are now in a position to start catching waves. Oh, perhaps the wave on the left is not quite the right wave to start on.