Sunny days are back and you are dreaming about surfing and riding the waves all summer with your beautiful little wetsuit. But it is not that easy, before you get started a few rules are necessary.
Starting the good way
First thing to do is to find a good teacher, in a surf school or just a friend who will explain to you the basis, don’t jump in the water on your own ! It is not obvious for a beginner to know how to “read” the waves and to understand the ocean code. A teacher will tell you about the dangers of waves, currents, tides, etc, it is a whole knowledge you have to assimilate before getting your feet in the water. Every spots has its own specificities, so check it out before you go, it is also important to know your limits and not to go in gigantic waves if you don’t have the level for it. You will also learn to equip yourself, which wetsuit to wear, what foot to put your leash on, or how to put your fins on your board the right way, it can avoid you an awful session and a big shame. It is useful to train on the sand to pop up on your board, to have the right technique from the start, a bad habit can be really hard to correct later. Do not hesitate to go with friends, having someone in the water with you to help and encourage you is really motivating and funnier. If you are not really the sporty kind do a little warm up before and after your session to avoid muscle pains the next day.
Rules in the water
We see way too often, during summer, beginners in the water ignoring surfing rules and being a real danger for themselves and for others. Surfing, like any other sports, has rules and customs that you have to know to paddle safely with other surfers. Most surf schools will inform you about those rules, if they don’t ask them or check it out on the Internet before (see the picture below). The website surf prévention will give you plenty of informations on this subject. To know well priority and security rules in the water will help you to avoid accidents and the annoyance of other surfers (to drop on someone and “steal” a wave, whether you did it on purpose or not, is really not cool frowned upon.)
Si vous en êtes à vos premières sessions et que vous restez au bord pour surfer les mousses attention aux surfers plus expérimentés qui arrivent sur les vagues depuis le large, évitez de vous trouver sur leur trajectoire et si vous l’êtes mettez vous sur la planche et ramez pour vous décaler. Il est préférable, d’une façon générale, de toujours regarder vers le large, gardez votre planche perpendiculaire à la vague et surtout jamais entre vous et la vague qui arrive, ça ne fait jamais du bien de se prendre sa planche. Un surfeur qui arrive à fond sur vous ou une grosse vague ça peut faire peur, mais lâcher sa planche n’est JAMAIS une bonne idée, surtout l’été quand il y a beaucoup de monde à l’eau ! Elle pourrait vous revenir dessus violemment ou hurter quelqu’un. Enfin, le surf c’est comme tout, c’est toujours mieux avec le sourire, alors soyez courtois et amusez vous !
Keep surfing
You won’t learn to surf in a few days! You need to get in the water a lot before being able to properly surf waves. But you can still have a lot of fun every session, the more you make progress the funnier it gets. And it is really worth it!
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