LOOKING FOR A SURFING LESSON IN NEWQUAY, CORNWALL?
Why not escape the crowds of central Newquay and join us for a surfing lesson at Newquay Adventure Centre a dedicated and professional surf school on the on the outskirts of Newquay, at Holywell Bay, Cornwall.

With every surf session we teach the basic safety skills, so with all of our knowledge, we can ensure that you will be guaranteed to have a great time. All of the surf instructors are qualified beach lifeguards and British Surfing Association surf coaches.

As well as providing high quality wetsuits, a selection of soft surfboards are available for the beginner. We also have mini-malls, short boards and long boards for the intermediate, or experienced surfer. Intermediate and advanced clients can also receive coaching using their own equipment to improve their technique.

Newquay Adventure Adventure specialises in adventure training and corporate team building and we can structure the surf sessions to each group's requirements.

If you are looking for a professional surfing lesson during your stay at Newquay, or further afield in Cornwall, please contact a member of our team for more information or complete our online information request form.

STARTING OUT
The most important thing to do is to get an introductory lesson. This will help you take your first steps in a safe and controlled manner. A good instructor will give you an introductory briefing and explain the basics of surfing and safety considerations whilst surfing in the sea.

After this you will progress into the water and start catching whitewater waves and under good instruction start catching your first waves. With a little luck you may catch you first greenewatrer wave.

CHOOSING A BOARD
Nothing is more important to the beginning surfer than having the right board. Those thin, narrow rockets the stars are riding look exciting, but they are a disaster for those learning initial techniques. Therefore, keep these tips in mind when making your choice.

Go Cheap!!! You're going to ding and scratch a board if you really put it to use, so don't spent too much. A £400 board will ding as easy as a £100 board. It's not about looks, so ignore minor yellowing and small dings. However, dings that show foam or any "delamination" (see glossary) should be avoided. You're going to beat the heck out of your board, so pay the least amount possible.

Go Big and Thick!!! All the cool girls and guys have small, narrow boards, right? So what! You're not cool yet. Get a board that will give flotation and allow for easy paddling.

A good average size would be around 7 feet long and 19-21 inches wide and at least 2-3 inches thick. This all depends on your size, so be sure you can comfortably carry and wield the surfboard in the water. Generally, a 120 pound surfer should look for a 6 feet 10 inch board while a 140 pounder might look towards a 7 feet 2 inch board. At 170 pounds, try to go above 7 feet 6 inches.

Don't Chase Tail!!! Don't worry about the tail or number of fins. For the first 3-6 months, you really shouldn't worry about turning or doing maneuvers, so whether your board is a swallow tail or a pintail or even if it only has one fin is really pointless. For the record, 3-fin boards are the easiest to turn and the most functional fin set up for the advanced and intermediate surfer.

TAKING THE PLUNGE ON YOUR OWN
Okay, you've got a big, thick used board to start, now where should you go to ride it? On many occasions, I have encountered new surfers who are frustrated. They say they can't get a wave from the crowd, or the other surfers are yelling at them. However, those are the lucky ones. Others get dinged boards or dinged bodies because they aren't familiar with proper escape procedures when a loose board is bearing down on them.

The bottom line is that inexperienced surfers should not pick the most critical surf spot in town to practice their art. Instead, they should seek out the opposite. An easy, rolling wave with deep water is very helpful since a reef will only slow down the learning process and cause possible injuries. If you live in Cornwall finding a mushy wave is pretty easy, but other areas may warrant you to check weather forecasts to be sure that conditions won't change too quickly.

There is absolutely no shame in learning to surf in small, unpopular waves. In fact, others will be thankful!

Get away from the crowd! Crowds suck, everyone knows that, and nothing can get in the way of the learning process more than a bunch of wave hogs. You'll be one yourself soon enough, but first you need some space. Find somewhere you can catch different kinds of waves and really practice your technique without getting in the way of the more experienced surfers.

Get a mentor! This sounds a bit serious, so don't actually call him or her your "mentor". What I mean is find someone who is better than you to talk to about surfing or to watch while you are in the water. There are some things you can only learn "in the field". This idea will follow you throughout all levels of your surfing life. As an example, I thought I was at my peak until I went to Hawaii and saw guys doing things I had never dreamed of. This pushed me to the next level. There is always another level.

In summary, get yourself an old, thick board and go to an uncrowded, mushy spot. Watch and talk to good surfers, and watch videos (all levels). In my opinion, the best non-surfing activity is to watch surf videos. That subliminal power is very persuasive. You won't even realize you're learning.

Your thick, old board is under your arm and you've chosen a mushy, unpopulated spot for a surf. Time to paddle out! Paddling sounds so simple. However, in surfing situations, you are also balancing your body on moving water while being knocked about by breaking waves. So remember to start small and go out when there are little to no waves coming in. Your first step is to walk your board out until you are in waist-to-chest deep water. Lay your body on the deck of your board, being careful to keep your weight centered on the middle of the board. The natural tendency is to lean back towards the tail of the board, but this causes the nose to rise and create resistance when you're trying to get moving.

Instead, keep your chest just above the center point of the board. Once you feel stable, lean forward and let your nose and tail level out.

Now you're ready to get moving! Alternately paddle your arms with cupped hands. The more resistance you feel, the faster you'll go. As you hit bumpy water or "chop", lift your chest slightly and lessen your weight on the board so the nose and rails don't go under.

Remember that you will be balancing your right and left sides, head, and legs all while you paddle your board out to the lineup.

DUCK DIVING
You may be wondering what duck-diving actually is. Any breaking wave over approximately two feet requires that you duck under the wave rather than float over it. Thus, the term "duck-dive!" Honestly, duck-diving wasn't something I learned until I had surfed for a couple of months. Yet for sake of chronology, let's discuss this skill before we learn to stand up.

As you approach an oncoming wave while paddling, try to have as much speed as possible. About two feet before making contact with the white water, grab both rails (side edges of board) halfway between the nose and midpoint of your board. Push all your upper body weight onto your hands and arms until you feel the nose begin to go under. Point your head down and let your body follow.

Once your body is just below the surface, bend your dominant leg and use that knee to push the tail under the water also.

Your momentum should thrust you under the quickly passing wave and only require you to be under water for a short time. As the wave passes let the flotation of your board lift you to the surface. Now you have the skill to paddle to the lineup or to the next wave and duck under it.

If you liked this article, check out the whole set of surf instruction articles below designed to take you from surf chump to wave-master-Jedi status in no time…

HOW TO CATCH A WAVE
Now that you've paddled out and ducked under the breaking waves, it's time to get yourself one. Again, be sure you are picking a small, mushy surf spot to get your initial experience. Once you've made it to the lineup, sit up and straddle your board with your butt situated just below the center-point of your board, so that you can easily swing the nose left or right. Pick a wave that has not broken and be sure to sit far enough out among the sloping swells, not where the waves are standing up straight.

As a wave approaches, turn the nose of your board toward the beach, lay down and begin paddling. As you feel the wave lift you and your board, paddle as hard as you can and lean your weight forward. The natural tendency is to lean back to keep the nose from going under water, but that will only slow your momentum which in not conducive to wave-catching.

Lean forward but raise your chest so that your weight is just above the center of the board.

You should now be sliding down into the the trough of the wave. The first phase of surfing will entail that you wait until you are in the flat water in front of the wave before you stand up. However, the ideal is to begin standing just as you feel the pull of the wave.

HOW TO STAND UP ON A WAVE
Standing up on a surfboard would be such an easy activity if the board were at rest on a solid surface. But place that board on a lurching surge of swirling water where you must simultaneously leap from a prone position while weighting and unweighting left, right, front, and back just to keep from plunging into the watery abyss, and now you've got yourself a challenge.

If you made it this far, then you must be able to adequately paddle, duck-dive,and catch a wave. However, the place to start is the beach. Lie on the sand (it's effective to lie on your board on the sand but only if you can remove your fins to avoid damage) and do a basic push-up quickly. Once your arms are at full extension, pull both knees toward your stomach and hop to your feet. Do this repeatedly to program your subconscious to be ready for what you will do in the water.

Whether you stand with your right foot or left foot forward will establish your membership into a long standing rivalry between regular foot and goofy foot surfers (see glossary for more info. on this).

Soon you will be ready to move on to the next important stage in your instruction and stand in a surfing situation.

Step 1 - Paddle for a wave and just as you feel the momentum of the surfboard flow faster than your paddling speed, you are ready to hop up.

Step 2 - With your hands firmly grasping each rail (see Surfboard Section of this site), push up quickly.

Step 3 - Simultaneously, extend your arms completely and pull your knees quickly up to your chest. Be sure to keep your weight centered with just a little slant forward (leaning back is a natural tendency, but this takes away from your forward momentum).

Step 4 - Place your feet firmly on your board, one foot near the tail and one foot just above the midpoint of the board.

Step 5 - Don't stand up completely erect. Keep a low center of gravity by crouching down and focusing your weight on the midpoint of the board.

Balancing on a surfboard is no different than balancing on a skateboard or even a bicycle. Just keep your arms out and your eyes looking forward (remember: your board will always follow your eyes and head, so focus on forward motion.

RIDING THE WAVE
Once you've mastered paddling and standing, it's time to climb to the next level of waveriding. Although movies and cartoons depict surfers darting straight to the beach, arms outstretced like some spasmodic aircraft, the real aim of the beginning surfer is to angle along on the open face parallel with the beach , getting the longest possible ride with the greatest amount of speed.

Waveriding strategy begins before you even catch the wave. You should decide which direction (right or left)you will ride as you begin paddling for an oncoming wave. Understanding and predicting wave behavior will come with time, but how you approach your drop-in will depend on the type of wave your are riding.

If you are surfing a mushy, sloping wave, then you may want to start angling to the right of left even while you paddle.

To clarify, a mushy wave does not dictate that you follow your drop to the bottom of the wave. Angling mid-face is a more effective use of the wave's energy and helps you to stay ahead of the whitewater.

However, on a more critical wave (i.e. Hawaii or Australia), a surfer must follow his/her dropline to the flat trough of the wave in order to avoid digging a rail or nose and thus falling during the drop.

The technique of turning the surfboard is relatively simple. While keeping a low center of gravity (legs bent at the knees), lightly lean your weight in the direction you choose and towards the wave face (but always keep your body centered over the midpoint of your board).This will push the rail into the water and create a keel effect, cutting into the water and directing the board in the direction you choose.

Remember, wherever you direct your eyes, your board will follow, so look to the location on the wave you want to end up. Eye up a point down the line and stay focused on that point. Keep your body over the midpoint of your surfboard and lean slightly on your front foot, and you are on your way.

COMPLETE A ROUNDHOUSE CUTBACK
Step One - As with all of surfing’s glorious possibilities, speed is the key. Generate as much speed possible, using the high point of the wave as your catalyst. Riding high up near the lip or crest and then quickly veering downward creates a stockpile of power for your next move.

Step Two - Your move actually begins at the bottom of the wave as you approach the shoulder. Since you can’t create a truly arching roundhouse without approaching from a semi-bottom turn, you must veer off the bottom of the wave, paying special attention not to lose any speed. You want the most possible speed. I can’t reiterate that enough.

Step Three - Always keep your eyes on where you want to execute the change of direction. You don’t want to make your turn too early when the wave is too vertical, but you also don’t want to glide too far out beyond the shoulder where the wave is too flat to push you back into the white water.

Step Four - As you lift from your bottom turn, keeping your board flat on the wave face to retain full speed, unweight your foot and lean slightly back. But always abide by surfing’s golden rule of keeping most of your weight and body over the midpoint of your surfboard.

Step Five - Just as you feel the friction of the water grabbing your momentum but before lost much speed, begin your turn. Push down on your heels and lift the balls of your feet, thus submerging a small portion your inside rail to give added traction and avoid spinning out. Please allow me to repeat: Always abide by surfing’s golden rule of keeping most of your weight and body over the midpoint of your surfboard.

Step Six - As your board changes direction, so must your body and mind. Another golden rule of wave riding: Where your eyes look, your board will follow. This means that you must turn your head and upper body back toward the whitewater as your board turns.

As you get more advanced, you might want to touch the water with your inside hand. I find this gives a me a greater connection with the wave and even adds a little more stability and style to the cutback itself.

Step Seven - Once you have completed your turn and the nose of your board is pointed toward the oncoming whitewater, you are faced with a choice. Depending on the size and power of the wave, you can either aim high for the crest of the white water and essentially end your cutback with a lip re-entry or aim for the mid-section and feel the brunt of the wave’s power and guts (This requires some serious body and board stabilizing in big surf). Or you can aim low and attempt to avoid the wave’s power and avoid being knock down by the swirling foam. This may be the safest route in bigger surf, but it does offer the best chance of losing the face of the wave and being left in the whitewater.

HITTING THE LIP
Hitting or bashing the lip can also be termed a "re-entry", "straight up", or any word that depicts the sound of a good lip hitting maneuver such as "wack", "smack", or "ralp".

The Set Up - Assuming that you can stand up and ride somewhat confidently down the face of a wave, we can proceed with the maneuver which begins as soon as you get to your feet.

You should be eyeing up you target zone just as you get into you bottom turn. Look down the line and keep you eye focused on the spot you think will be standing tall and pitching out just as you approach it. In order to meet up with your corresponding section, you may have to adjust your line whether you need to ride high and wait for the wave to stand up or get low and speed up to meet an oncoming section. As with all maneuvers in surfing, speed is of utmost concern since it dictates how smoothly and powerfully you will complete your move.

The Move - It sounds quite violent, but if done correctly, hitting the lip should be flowing and controlled. Just as you approach your target zone, put more weight on your back foot in order to create a pivot effect that will enable you to move the forward half of your board side to side like a windshield wiper.

In addition, your weighted tail will help position you squarely below the lip, but the key is to keep your speed, so that you can shift your weight back to the midpoint of your board enabling you to rotate smoothly once you feel the lip hit the bottom of your board.

In mushy waves, you will have to use your back and knee strength to guide your board back down on to the face of the wave. Otherwise, you and your board will get stuck at the top, and you will be left standing while the your wave travels on. In juicier waves, however, you need only to keep your weight on the crucial midpoint of your board and your feet planted firmly, letting the wave's power do all the work. Be careful if you hit a lip on a powerful wave because you run the risk of being thrown far out into the flats. On a bigger wave, this could mean freefalling quite a large distance.

To review - Plan ahead and keep your eye on the vertical section you want to hit, generate as much speed as possible, use your back foot weight to pivot your board to a more vertical position, use your back and knees to guide your board back down into the wave. If everything goes as planned, you should find yourself now standing in the trough (bottom) of the wave getting ready for your next move.

KEEPING FIT AND FLEXIBLE FOR SURFING
At one time or another, we surfers, have had the daunting task of trying to explain what surfing feels like to a non-surfer. After several off-base analogies, we usually come to the conclusion that there are no words to describe the feeling of surfing. Surfing is an experience that only, the act itself can do it justice and there is nothing else quite like it. With that in mind, you would think that those of us that surf would do anything (legal or not) in our power to keep surfing for as long as we can.

So why is it that the thought of training or working out to surf has been such a taboo? Why have surfers traditionally shied away from something that not only can enhance the experience of surfing, but also keep them in the water as they enter the later years of life? Simply put, misinformation.

The reason surfers haven't taken to training to surf as other athletes have for their respective sports is that surfers are afraid the training will adversely affect their surfing and their body type. How many times have you heard or said yourself, "If I workout I'll get too big and bulky"or, "If I workout, I'll get all tight and lose flexibility".

These concerns are not without merit. Nobody wants to get big, bulky and tight to prepare for fast fluid surfing. The good news is we don't have to. The right type of results will come with the right type of training. It all boils down to the correct approach. There are as many ways to approach training to surf as there are to surfing a right hand point break. It is important that you educate yourself to the different techniques and be careful of who you get your training advice from.

In addition to the above reasons surfers are reluctant to train, there is a popular myth that just going surfing often is the best way to get in shape for surfing. This is not true of surfing or any other sport for that matter. Yes, the more surfing you do the better skills you will have. What we are talking about is the demand surfing puts on the human body.

As much fun as surfing is, it is also demanding, chaotic and even dangerous at times. It creates great wear and tear on shoulder, low back, hip and knee, joints and muscles. It also creates muscle imbalances, which means too tight in some areas and too weak in others. Proper strengthening and conditioning of your body's structures before you hit the water will prolong the health of joints and keep imbalances to a minimum. The result is better surfing performance and less injury!

So what else can proper training do for your surfing besides injury prevention? Here is a short list of the benefits of proper training and how they can help your surfing:

# Increased strength = Better board control.
# Increased power = More powerful moves with less effort.
# Greater balance and stability = Pushing the limits with less falls.
# Increased muscular endurance = More paddling and pumping with less fatigue.
# Increased cardiovascular endurance = Less shortness of breath paddling back out.

With all of these great benefits from proper training, why on earth would someone that lives to surf, not train to surf better and surf longer? We have no idea. Hopefully, you have seen the light and want to train to enhance one of the best experiences in your life, surfing.

SURF FORCASTING
There is nothing worse than showing up the day after a great swell and getting barraged by “You should’ve been here yesterday.” Or “You missed it.” Therefore, in order to better pick your sick days and catch the best possible waves, every surfer should be versed in the basics of surf forecasting.

First and foremost, let’s analyze the dynamics of the wave itself. There are few things in this world so beautiful. Waves begin from some sort of disturbance in the ocean, whether it is a storm or earthquake, just like if you dropped a rock into a calm pool of water. Ripples emanate concentrically from that energy source in all directions until they encounter the edge of the pool and disappear. The same is true in the open ocean where storms form and create wind. This wind blows and pushes the water all in one direction. As this wind blows over a large area, the small choppy chunks of wind-blown water combine to create waves. The longer and more powerfully the wind blows and the bigger the area over which this wind blows, the bigger the waves will be. Hurricanes pack strong winds but cover a relatively small area while winter storms carry along various wind speeds but can cover massive distances. As a result, different storm systems create different types of waves.

Waves can be divided into two basic types: wind waves and swells. Wind waves are created by storms that blow for a short time. When a wave is still very close to the storm that created it and still under its immediate influence, it is called a wind wave. These waves are poorly organized and quickly lose their energy. On the other hand, swells are produced as a powerful storm pushes waves away from its origin. Swells are the best waves to ride and become better organized and well-groomed the further they travel. The choppy bits that make up wind waves have a chance to gather speed and combine into longer more powerful masses of energy. If you have ever had the fortune to see Hawaiian waves arrive after traveling thousands of miles from powerful Arctic storm systems, you would immediately understand how they differ from the ugly, wind chop experienced by Florida’s east coast, for example. When there is little or no wind to disorganize a swell as it arrives and all that is experienced is the clean, raw energy of the waves, this is what we hear termed a “ground swell” waves.

Article copyright surfing.about.com