Tips & Advice Body Positioning


Vital for the style and functionality of your surfing

If you’ve mastered paddling and catching waves, then the natural progression of your surfing is to perfect riding a wave. That’s where this article comes in.

Having the correct body positioning whilst standing on a surfboard is vital for both style and functionality of surfing. Good positioning allows a surfer greater balance, control and manoeuvrability with the added bonus of looking comfortable and natural — which we believe is the essence of good style.

For beginners, we will outline below the most important aspects of good body positioning, providing firm foundations to build upon. As your own surfing progresses this will evolve into your own unique style.

Arms, shoulders & eyes


Our arms and shoulders again need to follow the lead of the front foot, arms provide balance and the positioning of the shoulders effects the stability and direction of the board. It is also extremely importantly to look in the direction we want to go.

Hips


It’s important to keep the hips relaxed, agile and flexible. You should be able to draw a straight line from the heel of your front foot up to your front hip and then up to your leading shoulder, this line should be directly over the centre of the board for large beginner surfboards.

Feet


The stance of your feet should be wider than your shoulders, however not so wide that your front leg straightens out, as this will cause you to slow down and loose the wave. Your back foot should be placed around the tail area of the board at a 90-degree angle to the centre of the surfboard. Your front foot needs to be facing the rail of the surfboard at around a 45-degree angle.

Knees


It is important to keep your knees bent whilst surfing as they act as suspension. If your knees straighten then your weight becomes poorly distributed and will cause you to fall off. Make sure you keep your knees bent with your back knee tucked underneath your body.

Here's one we made earlier

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