SPEED CONTROL

Now that you're up to your feet and riding - racing down the wave at max speed like a 'bat out of hell', it's now important to learn how to control all that speed.

How to speed up, how to slow down, and more importantly remain in control.

WHY IS SPEED IMPORTANT IN SURFING?

Speed sets the foundation for all good surfing.

It helps you to get around broken sections of the wave back onto the open face, perform manoeuvres, and lets face it, going fast is just fun!

But, with all of that speed at your disposal it's easy to lose control and race away from the areas of the wave where you need to be positioned.

So we've got to find a way to control all that speed.

SPEED UP, SLOW DOWN

At this stage in the learning cycle we want you to learn two things: how to speed up, and how to slow down.

Lets go through each below:

HOW TO SPEED UP & SLOW DOWN

Your board will travel at its fastest when planing as flat as possible across the water.

Think for a minute that you were to try and push a surfboard as far as you can in a swimming pool. You push, and the board remains flat, planing effortlessly on top of the water.

This is what you want to mimic when trying to generate speed on a surfboard, and you do it by adding more weight to your front foot.

And to slow down we just 'flip it and reverse it', and add more weight to our back foot. This creates drag and friction and will quickly slow you down.

Quick run through below

Pop up to your feet and set yourself with the Proper Stance.
To speed up, lean your weight onto your front foot.
To slow down, transition your weight onto your back foot.
Practice this a number of times until you can do it with complete control

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

As a rough guide we recommend the following weight distribution allocations:

WRAPPING IT UP

Speed really is at the heart of all good surfing, and managing your speed in the ways outlined above are the first steps to gaining real control over your equipment.

It's a small step, but a big leap in your progression.

SPEED CONTROL

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BEGINNER SURF COURSE - LEVEL 1

THE START OF SOMETHING NEW...

GOTTA HAVE POP!

SPEED

TURNING

THE SUBTLE ART OF NEGOTIATING WAVES

PADDLING

BOARD DISMOUNT

BOARD MANAGEMENT

CATCHING WHITEWATER WAVES

NEXT STEPS...