When you live in Hawaii, the world’s best waves are only a drive away. If the surf on the North Shore is small or flat, there’s likely surf on the South Shore. The point is, we’re spoiled when it comes to waves. The students at our North Shore Surf school, however, don’t typically live in Hawaii. Our students travel from all over the world to learn to surf in the beginner-friendly waters of Turtle Bay, and they often leave having found a new passion for surfing. Unfortunately, not everyone lives somewhere they can surf regularly. Many of our students come from landlocked states or countries and only surf when they travel. To help our students continue to progress in their surfing journey, we’ve put together a list of 5 Ways to Improve Your Surfing at Home.
Swim laps
The number one way to improve your surfing is to become more comfortable in the water. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced surfer looking to push yourself in big waves, there’s always more you can do in the pool or in calm water to help improve your surfing. If you’re new to surfing, start by swimming laps. Focus on building your paddle endurance in the pool by stringing together multiple laps of freestyle. Strive to keep a steady pace and reduce the amount of rest needed between laps. Start with five laps (there and back) and see how you feel. Build your endurance until you can comfortably swim up to 1 kilometer or 20 laps in a 25-meter pool.
Improve Your Surfing by Skating
Skating was born out of surfing and mimics surfing’s fundamental mechanics out of the water on concrete. If you’re new to skating, invest in a surf skate. These surf-specific skateboards are designed for the rider to propel them by pumping like a surfboard and they help surfers mimic surf movements out of the water. The JOB Carver Skateboard allows skaters to practice fundamental surf movements on the street, like pumping, carving, and turning.
Train Your Popup
If you’re new to surfing, improving your popup is vital to your progression. To train your popup on land, break down the components of the popup and mimic them through exercise. A surf popup requires a pushup, an upward dog extension, and a burpee mashed together in one flowing movement. To train the first component of your popup, build upper body strength through bodyweight movements, like pushups and pullups. To train the second component, build flexibility and fluid movement with yoga vinyasas. To train explosiveness, incorporate dynamic movements into your training, like box jumps and burpees.
Watch as Much High-Quality Surfing as Possible
When it comes to surf progression, a lot can be learned from watching high-quality surfing. Even if you’re a new surfer, watching how pro surfers position themselves in the lineup, catch waves, find speed on the wave face, and use their entire body to turn can help improve your understanding of surfing. While there may be a night and day difference between your cutback and a pro surfer’s cutback, the mechanics remain the same. Watching high-level surfing is a surefire way to increase your understanding of surf fundamentals and wave mechanics.
Download the JOB Surf App for Tutorials
The JOB Surf App is designed as an ask-and-answer surf progression tutorial that you can take with you anywhere. Work on all things surfing on your own time while learning from pros like Jamie O’Brien. Whether you’re heading to the beach to surf or stuck at home, the JOB Surf App has in-depth lessons and tutorials on all things surfing, from learning to pop up, out-of-the-water training, and barrel riding techniques.
If you’re ready to test your surf training, visit our North Shore surf school on Turtle Bay. Book your stay at Turtle Bay Resort to stay close to the action on the North Shore.
