15 Tips for Beginner and Intermediate Surfers to Get Better

Surfing is a sport that takes years to master. As surfing has grown in popularity, more and more people are learning how to surf. Lots of intermediate surfers that take their boards out have done so while imagining surfing greatness, only to get burned out and wiped out over and over. Whether you’re a beginner or an intermediate surfer looking for tips on surfing better, we’ve gathered the best surfing advice available on the internet so you can live out your surfing dreams!

General Beginner Surfing Tricks

These are the surfing tricks that almost everyone that wants to start surfing needs to know – the surfing basics.

1. Start with a Softboard. Beginner boards are made softer and more pliable, which makes it easier for newbies to learn how to balance and ride their boards while they build confidence. However, soft boards aren’t only useful for absolute beginners – if you feel a drop in confidence or you want to learn a new skill as an intermediate surfer, going back to the basics might help.
2. When surfing, try to stay as low as possible. Staying close to the board gives you a low center of gravity, which will help you control it in difficult conditions and make surfing easier. You’ll also be less likely to fall off. Always remember; crouching is the enemy of wipeouts.
3. Get surf coaching. As with most competitive activities, coaching is one of the easiest ways to improve your performance. A professional coach won’t just give you tips and tricks – they’ll be able to watch you surf and tell you what you’re doing wrong in real-time.
4. Stay relaxed – don’t fight the wave. When surfing, you want to flow with the wave and use its power to help you ride it. It seems counterintuitive, but pushing against the wave will only tire you out and make surfing harder.
5. If you’re a beginner surfer, avoid surfing big waves. When starting, smaller waves are easier to catch and give you more time to react if something goes wrong. Worse, the bigger a wave is, the more dangerous it is. With a small wave, you’ll probably just get washed up, but a huge wave could break your board or drown you.
6. If surfing in the ocean, stay out of riptides. Riptides are powerful currents that pull water away from shore and into the open sea. If you get caught in a riptide, you’ll need to swim parallel to the beach until it dissipates – don’t try and fight your way back towards land because all you’ll do is exhaust yourself.

Common Surfing Mistakes and How to Overcome Them

Making these common surfing mistakes can hold you back from becoming a better surfer.

1. Not practicing enough. One of the best ways to improve your surfing skills is to practice as often as possible. If you’re lucky enough to live near the ocean, try surfing every day – even if it’s just for a few minutes after work. If you can’t surf every day, try surfing at least five days a week.
2. Not staying relaxed when surfing. To balance on your board and stay upright while surfing, you need to relax as much as possible – even if that means letting go of the rails from time to time. There is a reason surfer culture is considered to be so relaxed and laid back, after all.
3. Paddling too hard. When surfing, the less effort you put into paddling, the better. Paddling harder than necessary will only tire you out and make surfing harder. Try to find a rhythm and use your arms and legs in unison to paddle as efficiently as you can.
4. Not positioning yourself correctly on the board. Your body position on the surfboard is crucial to surfing well. You want to be as close to the middle of the board as possible, with your weight evenly distributed. If you’re too far back, you’ll lose control; if you’re too far forward, you’ll get thrown off the board.
5. Not riding a wave all the way to shore. When surfing, you want to ride the wave all the way to shore. This may take some practice, but it’s worth it – not only will you look and feel like a pro, but you’ll also get used to the waves and how they behave.
6. Not staying calm in difficult conditions. One of the best things about surfing is that it can be done in pretty much any weather condition. However, this also means that you’ll sometimes encounter difficult waves and surfing conditions. When this happens, it’s important to stay calm and not panic. If you start getting overwhelmed, take a break or head back to shore.

These are just a few of the common mistakes beginner and intermediate surfers make – surfing can be an incredibly rewarding hobby once you master it, so try not to be too hard on yourself if you catch yourself making any of these mistakes.

Intermediate Surfer Tips and Tricks

If you’ve been going through this article with “I already do that!” on repeat in your mind, this section will probably help you to elevate your surfing game.

1. Stay relaxed and in control: As an intermediate surfer, you should have a good understanding of the basics – now it’s time to put that knowledge into practice and stay calm under pressure. Try to drill yourself in the basics as often as possible while assessing and adjusting yourself whenever you’re doing something wrong on the water.
2. Practice surfing in different conditions: Surfing in all kinds of weather will make you a better surfer overall. Try surfing at different times of the day, different tides, as well as different seasons to get accustomed to unexpected scenarios. It will be difficult at first, but you’ll soon start seeing an uptick in your surfing.
3. Surf with a friend: Surfing is more fun if you have someone to talk to and share surfing tips with, as well as compare your surf videos on the beach. If you don’t know anyone who surfs or can’t find any surfing buddies in your area, try signing up for surfing lessons at some point; not only will it be a fun way to meet the local surfing community, you’ll also get tips and tricks from a professional surf coach.

Common Challenges for Intermediate Surfers

Every surfer faces essentially the same set of challenges on the waves. The difference between an intermediate surfer and a seasoned pro is the approach each takes to solving those challenges.

1. Struggling to catch waves: This is probably one of the most common surfing problems for anyone who has been surfing for a while – suddenly catching waves becomes much more difficult, even if the surfing conditions are ideal. The reason for this is usually because you’re used to surfing in a certain way and have stopped adapting your techniques to the ever-changing waves.
2. Losing speed on the wave: This can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you’ve finally caught a good wave after struggling for a while. There are many reasons why this might be happening, but it’s important to keep surfing even if you lose some speed – eventually, the wave will start flowing again and you’ll pick up your surfing pace.
3. Can’t stay on a straight line: One of the common mistakes intermediate surfers make is that they always veer off course as soon as they start riding a wave. To avoid this, try surfing with your eyes closed to get a feel for how it changes your surfing.
4. No pop-up: The surf can be incredibly difficult sometimes – there are times when you’ll find yourself riding the wave without being able to pop up and ride on top of it as usual. In those cases, simply relax and don’t try to force anything; eventually the wave will subside and you can try again.

These are just a few of the common surfing challenges that intermediate surfers face – don’t worry if you’re struggling with any of them, as they can all be overcome with practice and perseverance. Stay positive and surfing will become easier with time.