Why Surfing Takes So Long to Learn - and Why That's Good News

Why Surfing Takes So Long to Learn - and Why That's Good News

I still remember my first-ever surf and how good it felt just to ride a whitewater wave.

Ever since that moment, surfing has continued to feel better and better. But, after a few years I also became frustrated by how slowly I was improving.

I would look at surfers half my age who were much better than me and wonder: why is this taking me so long?

The joy of surfing was always there, but underneath, frustration. I wanted to know what it felt like to surf at that next level.

What does it feel like to come out of a barrel and rip a big rail turn? What does it feel like to go really fast and be completely comfortable? What does it feel like to surf bigger, trickier and more dangerous waves without being overwhelmed?

I surfing the way I surf now, feels this good. Imagine what it would feel like if I were twice as good, four times as good?! Imagine how many more waves I could catch, how many more conditions I could surf and how many more places I could travel to and enjoy.

Back in 2015, I moved to a surfing-rich environment in Australia, surrounded by good waves, very good surfers and a strong surfing culture.

As a self-taught adult learner, I quickly realised just how average a surfer I was. But I was also inspired. I was surrounded by people, conditions and structures that could help me improve.

I got coaching, I tried different boards. I surfed different types of waves, I worked even harder on my health and fitness. I traveled to Indo, I immersed myself deeply in surfing.

All of that helped.

But something else began changing my surfing in a way I hadn't expected: the conversations I was having with experienced surfers.

They weren't just helping me understand technique. They were helping me understand some of the more mysterious parts of surfing, things I hadn't even realized I didn't understand.

Those conversations inspired me to start the Surf Mastery Podcast to record and share them.

Over time, one big idea kept coming back to me.

Good surfers aren't just doing things differently.

They're perceiving the ocean differently.

“I was actually seeing more in the wave”

Tom Carroll - Episode 2

You or I might look out and see a wave coming.

A great surfer is seeing that same wave while also reading where it is likely to break, how it might break, the way the water is moving, whether it is drawing off the bank, whether they're in the right position and what they might need to do next… + a lot more.

They appear to always be in the right place at the right time.

Sometimes it almost looks magical.

Is it their surfboard? Their technique? Their athleticism? The way they paddle?

Of course all of those things matter.

But good surfing technique and paddle fitness isn't much use if you’re always on the wrong wave, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or even surfing the wrong part of the wave.

This is one of the main reasons surfing takes us so long to learn.

We are learning much more than technique

The conventional way of thinking about surfing improvement tends to focus on the physical skills; technique, fitness, strength/mobility and equipment.

Paddling. The pop-up. Bottom turns. Cutbacks. Generating speed. Using the rails properly etc…

These things are important, and surfing absolutely has an athletic and technical component.

But those are only part of what a surfer is learning.

You are also learning how to read the ocean.

How to predict waves, how water is moving.

Where to do your bottom turn.

How to recognise which waves you should catch and which ones you should leave.

How to position yourself within a lineup.

How to negotiate other surfers.

When to start paddling.

Which direction to paddle.

When to accelerate.

When to stop paddling.

When to pop-up.

How to remain calm when the situation becomes more intimidating.

And eventually, what it feels like to connect with the wave rather, than simply catch it.

All of this is happening in an environment that is constantly moving and changing.

No two waves are exactly the same.

The playing field itself is moving beneath you.

Even the part of the wave you're looking at isn't necessarily the part of the wave you'll eventually surf. You are constantly reading what the water is doing now and trying to predict what it will become a few seconds later.

That is an extraordinarily sophisticated skill.

The surfer who already knew the ocean

One of the best examples of this for me came from interviewing Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, in episode 69.

Wingnut is an incredible surfer, but he didn't start surfing until his late teens. I found this fascinating because most of the really accomplished surfers I'd spoken to started when they were very young.

It turned out that whilst Wingnut hadn't been surfing on a surfboard since childhood, he had been bodysurfing since he was five years old.

He'd already spent years learning to read the ocean, where and how waves broke, how to position himself, how to move through the water and how to remain comfortable in the ocean.

Then, he added a surfboard.

The physical movements of surfing still had to be learned, of course, but he already knew how to read and predict waves.

I've seen versions of this repeatedly.

We have all seen the surfer on an old, average-looking board who doesn't appear particularly athletic and may not even look that technically impressive, yet somehow they're always on the good waves.

They're always in the right place.

They seem to paddle less and catch more waves.

And when they are surfing, everything seems relaxed and well timed, fluent.

They understand something.

Great surfers learn to read

Great surfers, first and foremost, read/predict ocean waves and the way water moves, at a very high level.

I've seen this firsthand, not only through interviewing and being coached by great surfers, but through watching experienced surfers teach their own children and younger surfers in the community.

Often, what they're teaching isn't a bottom turn or a better pop-up.

They're pointing things out.

“Watch that water over there.”

“There's a set coming.”

“Look where that last wave broke.”

“See how the current is moving you?”

“Move over here.”

“Wait for this one.”

They're almost acting as guides or mentors, helping younger surfers learn what to pay attention to.

They're teaching them to see.

It’s something a lot of us self-taught adult learners missed out on - but it’s the foundation of good surfing.

(It’s what my course: https://surfmastery.com/surf-mastery-method-info teaches.)

Why surfing takes so long

Surfing takes a frustratingly long time to learn because we are acquiring far more than physical technique.

We are learning to perceive, predict and respond to a constantly changing natural environment, whilst simultaneously controlling our bodies and surfboards, regulating fear and making decisions in real time.

Once I began to understand that, my own slow progress became much less mysterious.

And, strangely, much less frustrating.

Of course this takes time.

Look at what we're actually trying to learn.

But this is also where the good news begins.

There are more ways to get better than you thought

If you've spent years concentrating mostly on your physical surfing, working on your body, watching technique videos, getting coaching, analysing video, trying different boards—and you're still frustrated with your progress, none of that effort has been wasted.

Those things matter.

But they aren't the whole picture.

There are many other aspects of surfing that can improve:

Your perception.

Your timing.

Your positioning.

Your pattern recognition.

Your ocean knowledge.

Your decision-making.

Your ability to remain calm.

Your ability to understand what a wave is likely to do next.

And these things are trainable.

Even if you did nothing deliberately, simply spending enough attentive time in the ocean would probably improve many of them.

But once you know what you're looking for, you can become much more deliberate about it.

You still need the hours.

There are no real shortcuts in surfing.

But you don't have to spend all of those hours looking at the wrong things.

Better questions and better attention can make every surf more educational.

And this is also good news for surfers as we get older.

Age may change some of our physical abilities, but that doesn't mean our surfing has to stop developing.

We can continue getting better at reading the ocean, predicting and choosing waves, understanding lineups, positioning ourselves, timing our entry and making better decisions.

In many situations, getting better at those things actually means doing less.

Less frantic paddling.

Fewer bad waves.

Better positioning.

Better wave selection. and more waves caught.

More enjoyment.

Try this next time you surf

Here's something very simple.

The next time you're sitting out the back waiting for a set, try to be the first person in the lineup to see it coming.

Not just the first person to see the lump on the horizon.

Try to predict where it's going to break.

And while you're waiting, don't switch off.

Watch the waves that nobody catches. Guess where they're going to break before they break.

Watch how the water moves.

Watch where the best surfers are sitting and notice when they start moving - look to see what they saw.

Do it while you're getting changed.

Do it while you're walking down the beach.

Do it before you've even decided whether you're going to paddle out.

Because surfing doesn't start when you get to your feet.

It starts the moment the ocean comes into view.

One of the biggest changes in my own surfing wasn't discovering a new technique or finding a better surfboard.

It was discovering that the ocean contained far more information than I'd realised.

And the more I learned to look for that information, the more interesting surfing became.

It became less mysterious without becoming any less magical.

So if you've been surfing for years and you're frustrated by how slowly you're progressing, maybe you're not simply bad at surfing.

Maybe what you're trying to learn is far more sophisticated than you realised.

And once you understand what good surfers are actually learning, you can become much more deliberate about learning it yourself.

If you want more tips on reading waves and understanding the ocean and surfing - jump on my course: https://surfmastery.com/surf-mastery-method-info

Mike