Technique in surfing is very important, it is what separates the different levels of surfing ability. It is the missing awareness in surfing even though it is the most necessary of all to advance your surfing skills, without a good technique, it is impossible to surf in tune with the oceans rhythm, it is impossible to advance to a high level of surfing without technique.
So what is meant by technique?
Technique is the way you stand on a board, paddle into a wave, set up your anticipated ride and the way you crouch into a bottom turn, open the body up on top turns and cut back etc, your actual body positioning throughout the ride to assist in the flow of the manoeuvres, feet, arms and head, technique is all of these things, it is the understanding of how to surf a range of waves competently.
How do you learn about technique and practice?
There are several ways to collect knowledge, you can select a surfer who you admire for their surfing, buy a video of the surfer and watch the surfing in slow motion and stop frames to study how the surfer is doing the manoeuvre frame by frame and practice what you see in front of a mirror in the lounge room or somewhere on land. This gives you the basic feel for the move and by practicing on land when you go surfing, you have the basics of the move in your mind and it becomes easier to reproduce technique on the wave.
Once you get the move into practice, it is a good idea to have someone video you and you watch the video very closely to see what you are doing right and wrong compared to your chosen surfer’s surfing, we suggest you select one move at a time and practice it until you feel comfortable doing it yourself then move on to the next move and develop it then link them all together, Another way is to select a reputable surf coach for individual tuition, if you use this method then only use a coach who has a proven back ground in coaching surfers as they will have a better understanding of your surfing and be able to help you improve your surfing skills.
No matter what method you use, for sure it will need to be practiced many times to become proficient at it. You must persevere to achieve the desired result, as it does not come easily.
