Grupo Mayan Resorts: Surfing Lessons on a Shortboard
July 18th, 2009
Longboarding is fun and very easy to learn as a beginner. But it is on the shortboard that one becomes a master. The shortboard makes surfing precise and accurate, say the Grupo Mayan experts. It’s here that your skill and experience meets a match for you to gain maximum control of the surf. Shortboards open up a whole new surfing world where speed, aerials, sharp turns and a host of other tricks become possible.
After preliminary success on the longboard then you should not call yourself a master yet. Welcome to the beautiful and soulful art of real surfing where you become as creative and resourceful as you can be. Longboards are just an initiation rite to the more complex world of shortboarding.
The shortboard size that you settle upon should be just the right fit for your body size and the type of waters that you’ll be surfing on, say the Grupo Mayan professionals in water sports. There are lots of good surf shops out there that can not only provide you with the sort of information you require but also a good rental agreement for the shortboard. Your goal is to learn as fast as possible, and this can only be done by spending consecutive practice days in water, say the Grupo Mayan experts.
Ideally, you should practice to paddle around while sitting on the shortboard, preferably in calm waters as a precursor to your venturing to real surfing. Beginner experience in surfing on either a longboard or even a funboard makes you better able to handle a shortboard. By now, say the Grupo Mayan professionals, you can switch lying flat and also sitting on the board, adjust body weight and paddle forward smoothly.
Then it is time to head out to the waves where you can manoeuvre your shortboard. Duck dive around the waves before they reach you by plunging the shortboard’s nose into the water while maintaining the grip firm on the rails and pushing the board’s tail forward with either the foot or knee. Be patient; being too demanding on yourself doesn’t help much anyway.
Scan the horizons for any approaching waves while sitting on the board whenever you reach the liners. Whenever you identify an ideal wave to attack, paddle towards the point you think it is the peak on which the wave will break. Shortboards usually require a strong push to start surfing and that is why you should get the closest you can to a wave’s peak, say the Grupo Mayan experts.
Paddle hard towards the approaching wave while looking over the shoulder frequently so as to line up your position exactly off the breaking wave’s peak. Angle yourself slightly aside from the peak and as the wave begins to carry you away, jump to your feet swiftly and head down towards the direction the wave will be breaking.
Stay high and pump or swivel around to build speed, say the Grupo Mayan experts, as you are indeed surfing on a shortboard now!