Beginner Surf Lesson in Empty Falassarna
Today's surf lesson was scheduled in the afternoon in Falassarna, the time and place with the best conditions on this particular day. It was also the birthday of surf coach Andy, happy birthday! And surprise, also the birthday of participant Manni! Happy birthday to you, too! Already in a good mood, we started our lesson.
After we geared up we headed to the beach for a warm up and theory about safety and communication. Then we went through the dry runs on the beach of all the surfing maneuvers that were applicable for the participants today: pop up, turning, stalling & trimming. The instructor demonstrated two waves, one with stopping and braking, thus finishing the ride without ditching your surfboard; and one with turning and falling, flat! Also Andy introduced push & jump to those who have never done it before. This is a technique of catching waves that is very energy efficient. It allows you to last longer during one session and catch more waves! We worked on many tweaks and corrections regarding the pop up. Looking in the front while popping up, back foot first, smaller steps or bigger steps, landing the front foot in the middle of the board. With many repetitions, on his third day of surf lessons Mikolaj was able to optimize his pop up! He was even able to perform a couple of turns, front side and back side. Vanessa was able to apply stalling & trimming, where you correct your position on the board more to the front or the back. This is important because the surfboard should always be as flat as possible on the water surface in order to maintain speed. And how you distribute the weight needs to change according to the section of the wave you are riding. Ultimately shifting the weight allows you to prolong your ride.
