Learn to Surf – How to Stand Up On a Surfboard

Learning how to stand up on a surfboard is obviously the first step of your big surfing adventure. I have got a couple of enquirers for this topic, so if you have been surfing for a while then you will just have to breeze over this. We are focusing on the newbies to the sport. After all, we were all once there.

For me, I was so eager when I first got into surfing that, when I was not in the water I was practicing my moves outside of the water. If you start learning through a surf school they will tell you what to do, and you will most likely start off on the beach with a demo, practicing what you should do before venturing into the ocean. If an instructor takes you straight into the white water, I can’t say they are going about it in the right fashion.

photo: Vince Alongi

People struggle if they don’t know how to surf and it can be difficult not knowing where to begin, especially if you have selected the wrong kind of board. This is a nightmare. The first thing you have to do is to go into a rental shop and find someone with a little knowledge. Get a minimal or a longboard because you won’t learn how to surf with a short board. This may look sweet, but believe me, you are just going to get frustrated.

Step to learning how stand up on a surfboard

Now that you have your board sorted, it is time to begin with a demo.

• Lie on the board on the sand, not too far up and not too far down. You want the right sort of balance. If you are right up by the nose you are going to sink. If you are too far down, the nose is going to flick up, causing havoc.
• Now pretend you are paddling – give it a couple of arm strokes and then either jump up to your knees or hold the rails and jump up in a crouching position. Pull them to your stomach and hop on.
• Most beginners these days will start off on their knees. It is more difficult to get up to your feet, unless you have stomach muscles so to help with this, do push ups – that is going to help.
• Once you are there, feeling steady and confident, twist your body, with your feet apart, moving to one side and gradually stand up.  Keep your weight centered, rather leaning slightly forward. One foot should be at the tail of the board and the at the mid point.
• Practice this at home on the carpet or the grass. Once you get the motion right, you will find it a lot easier.

The most important thing is that you have fun. Don’t take this too seriously  because everyone went through this stage and this is just par for the course. You will wipe out and have that washing machine effect, but you just have to laugh it off. It’s all part of the adventure. If you are too intense about this and just paddle like crazy for every wave, you are going to wear yourself out so just take it easy.