Paddle Out

Learning how to paddle a surfboard from the shore out to the "lineup", the place beyond the breaking waves where surfers wait to catch waves, is one of the hardest and most frustrating of things to acomplish in surfing. You must learn a few things to do this.

Learn Perfect Form 1. Adjust your weight forward or backward until you feel the board staying the most level in the water. When you're in the "sweet spot", paddling produces the greatest speed. To paddle, alternate your arms like a swimming stroke. Lift your head and neck, arching your back slightly to get maximum leverage and angle. 2. If you're lying too far back on the surfboard, the nose lifts up too much and it's difficult to get decent paddling speed. 3. Lying too far forward will cause the nose to dig into the water, decreasing paddling efficiency and speed.

Rules of the road Don't paddle out where the waves are peaking. Surfers will be running you down. Paddle in on either side of the breaking waves. The person riding the wave has the right-of-way. Paddle into the soup rather than into the path of a surfer. When two or more surfers head in the same direction on a wave, the surfer closest to the peak has priority. Don't crowd surfers. If there are only a few surfers, be considerate and surf a little way down the beach. If you can't go anywhere else, as a beginner you should ride the soup or leftovers.

Turtling: You can also "turtle" the board, that is, grab it by the rails and flip it over so the fins are on top.
Duck diving: If you're on a shorter board, the preferred technique of wave avoidance is called duck diving.
1. Push the nose of the board under the water, using your knee, arms and body as leverage.
2. When you are fully submerged, keep pressure on the tail of the board. When the wave passes over you, pull the board back to the surface and through the back of the wave, using you free leg as a ancor and your board as a bobber.

The best conditions for learning to surf are when the sun is out, the water is at least 65 degrees and the waves are not too large. Find a beach that's not swarming with other surfers.

Tips for getting outside: It's often frustrating for beginners as they attempt to paddle through the white water and breaking waves. More often than not, the waves slap beginners around like a washing machine. Try to avoid being hit by a wave while the board is perpendicular or sideways to the wave.