There’s something special about gliding smoothly along a surface and letting the breeze gently touch your skin; It’s a feeling of freedom and a feeling of empowerment. Skateboarding and surfing both feel very liberating and these two sports really go hand in hand. They are incredibly similar and are both beneficial to practice to improve your skills for the other.
“Have you ever skateboarded or snowboarded?”
One of the first questions that I ask as a surf instructor before giving a surf lesson is “Have you ever skateboarded or snowboarded?” I ask this because I am wondering if you have had any previous experiences that are similar to surfing. Maybe you have not surfed before, however, if you have skateboarded before than I can assume that you have had a similar experience to surfing and a few things can be used as a comparison throughout my introduction theory.
Board Sports
You may be wondering what it is that makes skateboarding and surfing so alike. First off, both are “board sports.” Both skating and surfing require you to place one foot in front and one foot in back in order to maneuver your board. The footing on skateboards, as well as surfboards, is ultimately the exact same. In most cases, you would know which is your front foot and which is your strong, back foot from skating and this information could be transferred into your surfing experience. Your back, strong foot, on the skateboard, for instance, would be the foot you would anchor your leash to when surfing.
Body Movements
Another aspect of skateboarding that is very much in synch with surfing is the body movements you make to navigate your board. When you begin playing with your body weight, center of balance, turns, speed, and so on you begin to understand how your movements effect the board under your feet. In both sports, you learn that gaining momentum will allow you to make the movements you want a lot easier. You learn that upper body movements and your hips directly effect what happens to the board under your feet. You learn that where you look is where you will go and you also learn that bending your knees gives you the proper balance you need to stay put on your board when riding a wave or a ramp. For instance, skating along the street creating a pumping motion can be compared to the feeling of pumping down a wave while surfing. All of the body movements you see used in skateboarding are also used in surfing, so having had a background in skating could truly benefit your surfing and vis versa.
The “Culture”
Every skater and every surfer will tell you that they get a certain feeling when they’re skating or surfing that is nearly indescribable. I previously said it was a feeling of freedom, and honestly, that is the closest word I can find to describe it. Terms like “stoked,” “rad,” “knarley,” and “pumped,” are just a few words that skaters and surfers use to express the feelings they get when they preform these two sports. Like “I’m totally stoked about the morning session I had today.” In a sense, surfing and skating are like a combined culture where skaters and surfers just get each other. With both skaters and surfers, the words they use, the way they dress, and their general outlook on life seem to be very much alike. It is a culture and it’s undeniable.
Practice Skating for Surfing
I will be the first to tell you that having incorporated skating into my practice for surfing has truly been beneficial. The more comfortable I become on a skateboard, the more comfortable I seem to be when I try to maneuver my surfboard in the water. I practice movements on my skateboard like bending my knees when I approach the turn I want to make on the ramp in hopes that this technique and feeling will help me when I find myself on the face of an open wave and want to make a turn or a spray. I personally focus on using my upper body movements in skating to help with my surfing because I tend to use my legs to compensate for what I lack in my upper body movements. It helps me to break bad habits by working on them out of the water on my skateboard and then bringing it to the water to improve my surfing skills.
Give it a Go
So my advice to you if you are a skater or if you are a surfer, use whatever skill you have to help improve the other. Skateboarding and surfing are so similar and truly complement one another. If nothing else, just give it a go because you have nothing to lose. You may find that you can pick up on one of the sports easily with the background you already have for surfing or for skating. So get stoked, ride a wave, glide down an open road, and just enjoy the ride!
Kelsey Cecil
Surf Instructor/Host