Surfing (Overview)
We can break surfing into multiple sections
- Paddling
- Breathing
- Endurance
- Thoracic extension
- Duckdiving
- Paddle in
- Double paddle
- Kicking
- Takeoff (Pop-up)
- Bottom turn
- Surfing maneuvers
All surfing maneuvers are 3 dimensional techniques that require power, mobility, and stability in multiple planes of motion.
Fundamental parts of each maneuver:
- Compression
- Extension
- Rotation
Brad Gerlach
Fundamentals (1&2)
- Takeoff
- Bottom Turn
- Top Turn
- Cutback
- Tube Ride
- Floater
- Basic Air
- Speed generation
Fundamentals 3
- Advanced Takeoff (FS & BS)
- Advanced Bottom Turn (FS & BS)
- Carve (FS & BS)
- Advanced Cutback (FS & BS)
- Advanced Tube Ride (FS & BS)
- Advanced Floater (FS & BS)
- Blowtail (FS & BS)
- FS Layback
- BS Top Turn
Pre-surf Warm up
- Shoulder movement prep
- Prone press
Land training
The goal for land training is to improve surf recovery and to create general mobility and stability. From a physical therapy perspective, we should be optimizing a surfer’s body to be able to achieve their goals. We should not be telling them how to surf.
Hip Mobility
- Rotation
- low-high chop - closing pattern
- Lateral deadlift
- Stability while weight shifting
- Bridge position
- 9090 Alternating hip thrust
- Elevated long bridge
- Elevated long bridge with contralateral press
Plyos
- Ladder 90° rotation jumps
- focus on landing with both feet at the same time
Paddle Training
Endurance is indirectly the most important aspect of surf training. There is no method of training a sport better than
This is where working on paddle endurance is important. If we can paddle faster and for longer, it lets one go for more waves per session. The more waves you catch, the more you can practice surfing.
- Swimming laps
- Prone on SB with lat pulldowns
Takeoff training
An important aspect of the takeoff is the ability to extend the thoracic spine as the arms push one upwards and the ability to pull the lower extremity underneath oneself.
Thoracic extension and scapular mobility
Mobility
- Prone press
- This is designed to improve active thoracic extension
- This is not supposed to be a way to replace a surfer’s takeoff.
- Prone press-ups
- Prone WERs
- Prone superman
- Plank with scapular activation
Strength
- Behind the head pullups
- T’s
- Push-ups
Power
- Clap push-ups
- Burpees
Functional training
- Pop-up on land
- Takeoff onto bosu
Neck training
Overuse of global neck extensors, namely the levator scapulae and upper trapezius is common while surfing. Here are some ways to strengthen the deep neck flexors
- Hemi Y’s, T’s, I’s
- Prone/hemi/quadruped position
Bottom Turn
Frontside Bottom Turn
Bottom turn has a few key steps:
-
Compress down : After the takeoff, bend your knees and compress into triple flexion to get balance and control over your board. -
Initiate the Turn :
<li>Weight distributed equally</li>
<li>Look in the direction you want to go</li>
<li>Dig the inside rail</li>
<li>bold{Dig the Rails}:</li>
<li>Lean forward to shift weight to your toes.</li>
<li>Reaching forward with your rear hand can help.</li>
<li>Stay compressed while holding the turn and pivoting towards the face.</li>
<li><bold>Weighted back foot and rotation</bold>: "Once you start turning up towards the face, apply more pressure on the tail with your back foot. More pressure on the back foot and more rotation of your hips and chest will translate into more advanced, sharper and faster turns up towards the top of the wave. Notice how, from picture #3 to picture #4, the surfer’s hips and chest twisted towards the direction he wants to go.</li>
<li>bold{Decompress + maneuver}: "As you go back up the face, decompress by slightly unbending your knees and lifting your chest in a straighter position. Draw the proper line on the shoulder according to the manoeuvre you want to do."</li>
<li></li>Backside Bottom Turn
<!“Instead of leaning forward, you will need to lean backward to put more weight over your heels. You can reach back towards the wave with your front hand to open your body in the direction of the wave. To do major backside bottom turns, surfers need to square their shoulders toward the direction they want to go. This means a backside bottom turn requires a full body rotation, bringing the back shoulder and arm pointing towards the top of the wave.” –>
Training
To work on my bottom turn, I go into the session with the goal of
- Go for as many waves as possible
- Bottom turn as hardas possible
- Do not grab rail on backside
Endurance
Breath holds and aerobic endurance2.