Jamie O'Brien's Top Tips for Beginners
For someone who just caught the surf bug, learning to surf is an exciting and new journey filled with endless fun in the sun and waves. Luckily, we have advice that will help you gain confidence and improve your surfing to eventually advance from beginner to intermediate. Here are Jamie O’Brien’s top tips for beginner surfers.
First Things First
The first piece of advice Jamie has for surfers is make sure you have the right sized board!
One of the top mistakes Jamie sees the average surfer make is surfing a board that’s too small. Time and time again, people start on a 10 ft board and prematurely move to a 6 ft board. Shortboards are hard to catch waves on, and when you size down too soon, you'll slow your learning curve. Jamie suggests starting on a 10 ft or 11 ft board, then a 9 ft, then an 8 ft, but stay at this length for at least a year. Once you're comfortable in the water and catching waves, you can move to a shorter board. Remember, don't cut corners! There's no rush to size down, shortboards will always be there for you.
How to Improve Your Surfing
Now that you have the right size board, follow these tips to improve.
The first way to get better at surfing is to spend as much time in the water as possible. Improving your surfing is all about getting comfortable on your board, reading the waves, and going through the motions. Practice makes perfect, and the more time spent in the water, the more experience you get and comfortable you become.
Use resources like our app where Jamie breaks down how to do things the right way, or go to your local break and get a lesson from a surf instructor. An outside perspective can help you tweak parts of your surfing you don’t notice. Learning how to do maneuvers with some guidance makes the world of a difference when putting them to practice in the water.
Surf with friends who are better at surfing than you. Watching people who have more experience in the water is a great way to learn. Observe their technique and how they do the maneuvers you’re trying to learn. Our app, Instagram, YouTube, and surf competitions on WSL are all great educational sources.
Want to Learn More?
Have questions about specific ways to help improve your surfing? Jamie can help you move from beginner to intermediate on the Jamie O'Brien Surf App found here.
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