Tag: learn to surf

Improve Your Bottom Turn with These 4 Steps

on By

The bottom turn. It’s the setup for most maneuvers in surfing. Want to get barreled? Do a cutback? A snap off the top?

A good bottom turn will set you up for success

We know its not as simple as it sounds, so here we are. We encourage you to play around with these techniques. Consider how your board feels different under your feet each time you try something new, and practice, practice, practice.

Below are 4 simple steps to improve your bottom turn:

  1. Keep your back foot on the tail pad

The tail (back end) of the surfboard is the point where the board pivots and turns. If your stance is in the middle of your board and your back foot isn’t placed on the tail pad, you may notice that the board feels stiff and difficult to turn. If you don’t usually get your foot all the way back there, just start here! Practice this. Notice how the board starts to respond differently. Just get used to placing your foot back there, then move on to step 2.

  1. Position yourself at the bottom of the wave

Mid-wave bottom turns just aren’t as good. Why? If you’re already halfway up the wave, there’s not much space to really set up for a good turn! The best a mid-wave bottom turn will ever produce is an average horizontal cutback. Try to get speed and pump yourself down to the bottom of the wave to set up for the bottom turn. This will ultimately give you more space on the wave to work with and result in a bigger, better maneuver.

  1. Touch the wave with your inside hand/fingertips

Once you’re positioned at the bottom of the wave, try to reach your inside hand or fingertips down to touch the wave. This will automatically pull your chest down closer to the wave and get you in a lower stance. It also creates a pivot point on the wave. Creating this pivot point will not only give you more control, but will help direct the nose of your board more vertically up the wave. Getting the hang of this is seriously a game-changer! When you try it out you’ll know what I mean. It may be a technique that you’ve never even noticed before, but after reading this I encourage you to go watch a few surf videos (of short boarders) and you’ll notice that talented surfers do it on almost every single wave.

  1. Look up (or ahead) at the section on the wave that you want to go to

The momentum from your bottom turn needs to take you somewhere! As you reach your inside hand into the water you should already be looking up (or ahead) at the part of the wave you’d like to go to. The purpose of a bottom turn is ultimately to set up for a barrel, snap, or cutback. Keep this in mind and keep your eyes on the prize as you set it all up.

 

We hope this 4 step guide to improve your bottom turn is helpful and encouraging. If you try out these techniques and they work for you, please share with us! If you’d like for us to break down another surf maneuver, contact us here.

SWA is Now Offering Virtual Surf Coaching

on By

What’s the best way to improve your surfing abilities? Besides clocking more hours in the water (obviously), we believe that playing back your own surf footage alongside an experienced surf coach is seriously the best way to improve. That’s why we offer video coaching as a standard part of almost all of our surf & yoga retreats. As most of you already know, our retreats are currently on hold, which means in-person video coaching is on hold too. For this reason, we’ve decided to offer virtual video coaching!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Surfers can send their surf footage to SWA coach and former professional surfer, Holly Beck, and then schedule a one-on-one virtual surf coaching session which will be held on Zoom. In these sessions, Holly will analyze each surf clip and break down all the little details. The sessions will also include time for answering questions and discussing surfboards, reading waves, surf breaks, etc. Anything goes!

The coaching is not only perfect for Amigas who want to get their old SWA footage reanalyzed,  but also great for other surfers who already have their own footage. If you don’t have any surf footage, stay tuned. We may have a few options for you in the near future.

Our goal is that surfers of all levels will come out of the coaching sessions re-energized, re-inspired, and equipped with specific techniques to help take their surfing abilities to the next level.

Stoked and wanting to learn more? Click here for all the details.

3 Simple Tools: Overcoming Surf Anxiety

on By

It’s totally normal. It happens to all of us.

Standing on the beach and watching the waves with butterflies going crazy in your stomach. Paddling halfway to the outside only to turn back around out of fear or anxiety. Or making it to the outside but then feeling too far out of your comfort zone to catch any waves. 

Here are three tools that may help you overcome anxiety in the ocean so you can tap into the joy of surfing and catch more waves.

  1. Surf with friends (aka, surf with amigas!)

So much pressure is taken off when there’s a familiar face in the water. Surfing with friends means that someone can keep an eye on you, while you keep an eye on them. It also means that you can encourage each other to catch waves, cheer each other on, and laugh at the wipeouts together. Wiping out without a friend close by just isn’t the same. If you can’t line up a surf session with a friend, the next best thing you can do is chat with another surfer in the water. This will immediately take the edge off. Not to mention your new buddy will also be more likely to share a few waves with you!

  1. Spend time swimming and playing in the ocean

Surfing comes with many challenges. Surfers have to learn how to read waves, build up paddle and core strength, be able to steer clear of other surfers in the water, and overcome big wipeouts, to name a few. We can all agree that it’s hard. Swimming and playing in the waves (close to shore) is a great way to open up a more playful mindset while you’re in the ocean. Laughing loud, jumping over and swimming under waves, body surfing in the shore pound, laughing loud all over again. These are just a few things that will not only teach you how to tap into a more relaxed and playful approach to surfing, but will also build your confidence in reading waves and being underwater.

  1. Just breathe

Although this one’s a no brainer, it’s hard to remember to just breathe when you’re amidst the chaos! Deep, slow breaths will calm your nerves and get you re-centered. Try taking a few deep breaths every time you reach the outside and have a chance to sit up on your board. This will help to get rid of any panicky feelings you have and put you back in the zone. Try to make this a consistent practice.

We hope these simple tools help you calm your nerves and tap into the joy of surfing and ocean-play. If you try one of these tools and it works, we’d love to hear your story! If you have other practices that have worked for you, we’d love to hear about those too.

Use these Paddling Techniques to Catch More Waves

on By

Do you ever find yourself paddling for a ton of waves only to actually catch a few? Or do you find yourself feeling off-balance and slow while you’re paddling out? A few years back we made a paddle tutorial that may help you to improve your technique. It’s short, sweet, and right to the point!

The video below covers a few tips and techniques that will help you improve on the strength and length of your stroke, as well as your balance and control. It also includes a few things to avoid doing while you’re paddling.

  1. Keep your fingers together and your hands in a scoop shape
  2. Dig your entire arm into the water (up to your armpit)
  3. Paddle in the shape of the Coco Chanel logo and draw big, “C’s” under your surfboard
  4. Keep your sh** tight!

We hope this paddle tutorial is helpful! You can check out more surf tutorials on the Surf With Amigas YouTube channel here. As always, please let us know if there are any other surf-related tutorials you’d like to see.