Living in a country where waves are abundant as you move towards the south, has motivated me to begin surfing lessons. The chance of having such a perfect coast for this sport has opened the doors to begin one new activity over the summer. It's not an activity that makes waking up early a thumbs down, instead it converts that 10:00 am alarm into a smile. For many people, waking up early and going to work is a pain in the pack, but for me, waking up early with the noise of the waves splashing, lightens up my day. It's today were I'll find out the truth about surfing, and how by being active it doesn't matter what the clock shows, it's all about attitude.
My first surfing lesson was a real success. I not only received some tips about surfing, and understood why stretching is important, but I was able to surf my FIRST WAVE.
Before going to the ocean the first step we completed was stretching. At first, I thought that the exercises where useless, but then, I noticed that the leg and arm motions were similar to what you had to do in the water, therefore, impacting my performance as a beginner in the ocean. As soon as we completed the 15 minutes of stretching, they gave me my board. The board that they gave me was huge, more like a paddle, it was 11' inches.
I wasn't sure about the size of my board, and I knew that it was going to be huge in comparison to my height, but Washington, my instructor, told me that it was an ideal size for the first lesson, and as I practiced my skills, the size of the surfing board was definitively going to reduce. I kept calm by what he told me, so I went into the water, and with no fear of the ocean I started surfing up some wave. RESULTS OF THE DAY: Today I didn't surf one wave, I surfed 3. I was able to surf different sized waves, and it was extremely fun. In my first try I failed. I was perfectly positioned at first but as soon as the force of the wave pushed me forward, the top of my board sank and I felt down; it was a learning experience. After my instructor helped me surf some waves by pushing my board to have more impulse, I started doing it alone, and it worked. I was able to surf 2 smaller waves with no help, and 1 bigger wave with help. While surfing, something really funny happened. I was ready to surf one wave and as soon as I stood up I saw that there was another surfer in front of me. In slow motion I saw how he abandoned his board, I went over his board, and doing a small flip I landed in the water. After 5 seconds I finally came out, and we started laughing. Luckily, the wave was not too big and nothing happened to anyone, but I definitively need to be more carful when I surf, and make sure to shout if there is someone in front of me. |
KEEP IN MIND THAT:
When standing up always make sure to follow the 4 key steps:
- Place both of my hands bellow your chest and push up.
- Bend your right knee and position your right foot perpendicular to the surfing board.
- Slide your left leg up as if you where about to run, and push yourself up, STAND UP.
- Make sure that once you are standing up your feet are aligned to the middle of the board. The back foot perpendicular to the board (horizontal) and the upper foot diagonally positioned.
Also, remember that before surfing the wave, you need to be as far away from the top of the board as possible. Your feet should be almost touching the water. It is very important to stay away from the top, because you need to avoid the point of the board from sinking.
GOALS:
- Over time make sure that the size of my board reduces, but always keeping the same balance
- Surf bigger waves as I start getting better, instead of surfing in "Puntilla" (smaller waves), go to "La Isla" (bigger waves)
FIRST CLASS = ✔