Surfing in Circles in Greece
Mixed level surf lesson today in Crete, Greece. As always, first and foremost we start our surf lesson with communication and safety rules. Then we talked about the specific theory as well as the exercises on the beach that where applicable for the conditions of today: how the waves break today, dealing with waves, how to get through the whitewater and how to get over the wave before it breaks. Then surf coach Andy explained how the bay of Kissamos works with conditions like this, where the channel is and how we get out to the line up. This circle is great and saves a lot of energy that we can use for the actual surfing. He also gave reference points where the peak will be for the different size of waves as well as where to catch the whitewater. For the dry runs on the beach we went through the pop-up, backside and frontside turn and the correct paddling technique. In the water surf coach Andy first attended to first time surfer Chloe and showed her how to catch waves with the push and jump technique. Then he paddled out with the others in the channel to catch their first waves out in the line up. The waves were great today, not too much wind and the bigger sets head high to over head high. All the while the surfers were circulating, surfing to the beach, walking along the beach and paddling back to the line up. Each time Andy passed by the beach, he made sure to see Chloe's progress and give her tips while being able to watch the others head on, thus being able to give them individual corrections. Everyone was able today to catch waves on their own by positioning themselves correctly on the peak and pushing or paddling with enough power. We also saw some great turns from our participants that allowed them to go with the flow of the wave and when the wave stayed open even surf the face of the wave!
Adrien performed great front hand turns as most waves were left handers and we even saw a cutback. Jeroen had fantastic rides and improved his takeoff by throwing his weight more on the front foot. Petar performed both backhand and frontside turns and showed great improvement by keeping his upper body straight allowing it to twist. Lucas at his 3rd ever surf lesson tackled the big waves and the new environment like a champ and he caught many waves on his own. Chloe at her 1st surf lesson achieved catching waves on her own, popping up on the surfboard and having a ride to the beach. It was great seeing the progress of each and every one of you!
