Surf's Up?

August 15, 2009 8:16 PM

I'm going to be surfing on my next vacation and I want to get a jump on practicing. Where can I buy one of those inexpensive mass-produced beginner soft foamy boards in Canada, and worse-case scenario and there are no spots with waves that I can find where I live on Georgian Bay, is it possible to practice popping up just paddling out on the water or do you need to be propelled by a wave for that to work?
posted by GleepGlop to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (6 answers total)

Just swim, then swim some more. Having strong swimming arms will make your time much better, safer, and you'll be able to repeat the next day. And practicing pop-ups on your floor is fine too.
posted by docpops at 9:07 PM on August 15, 2009

swim and swim and swim ... and then swim under water, see if you can hold your breath for a minute. that's about how long I was under once, way back when, the third or fourth time I ever surfed. I caught a big wave and it had its way with me.
posted by philip-random at 10:36 PM on August 15, 2009

You can practice on the sand, or the floor for that matter, with or without a board. Popping up on the water with no wave and with no motion is tough unless you have a high-volume board.

There are also balance-practicing mechanisms such as the Indo Board you can use to train yourself to balance. Of course, longboard skateboards are always a good off-season alternative to surfing.

If you're going to Maui and are starting from scratch, you might want to consider kiteboarding, getting proper instruction of course.
posted by sonicbloom at 10:49 PM on August 15, 2009

Putting in as much swimming time as possible is excellent advice but if you have a choice between paddling and swimming chose paddling. It's truly weird how specialized the muscles you need for surfing are.
posted by rdr at 12:23 AM on August 16, 2009

Practice pop-ups on the floor and swim as much as possible. Paddling really takes it out on the shoulders (at least for this namby office drone in the freezing cornish waters...), so any exercises for shoulder and core will be of help.
posted by zemblamatic at 2:40 AM on August 16, 2009

Response by poster: It's truly weird how specialized the muscles you need for surfing are.

I agree, I had been doing a lot of swimming before trying surfing and it didn't seem to help much.

I know I can practice pop ups on the ground but I find it easy on the ground, not as easy on an actual surfboard in the water...
posted by GleepGlop at 8:37 AM on August 16, 2009