Speed is the most important thing in surfing. If you haven’t got it or you can’t keep it then manoeuvers become hard or impossible to complete. Now that summer is coming the waves will be smaller and less powerful so you will need to work harder to generate speed in the surf. Most surfers resort to pumping (violently jumping up and down) on their surfboards to squeeze a bit of extra speed out of them but this can look really ugly.

It’s far better to throw your arms to shoulder height to create lift. Have a look at the photo above. By doing this the surfer un-weights his board allowing his surfboard to accelerate underneath him. You should only need to do this a couple of times to pick up speed and then you can perform a manoeuver as usual.

Check the video below of the surfer. He’s a big lad, at least 6ft, and this simple technique (at 8 seconds) has allowed him to create speed and perform a quality turn in small waisthigh waves.

[themedy_media type=”vimeo” url=”www.vimeo.com/63288604″]

Try this out next time you get caught behind a section or on a flat spot of a wave and let us know how it works for you.

For more information on improving your surfing call 01736 757579.