Surfing is such a demanding sport. Anyone can do it if you put your mind to it, but to truly excel and gain that comfort and skill on the board you have to have great balance. There are tons of things that you can do to work on this trait, and regularly exercising in general is always a great help. But over the years I have found that there are certain moves/routines that have really helped my surfing balance. These are some of my favorites:
Indo Board
The Indo Board, or any type of balance board, is amazing for working on your surfing balance. It’s something that you can keep simple, or increase the difficulty as you go. I recommend first just standing and balancing on the board itself. Be sure that you bend your knees and use your surfer stance to simulate being on a surfboard as much as possible. Once you are comfortable with this move, you can take it up a notch by doing the following on the Indo Board:
Air squats: Start off by trying to balance while doing air squats. Once you have this down, add some weight!
“Across Body Chop”: Grab a medicine ball, or any weight, and get on the board. Do a squat, then do a “chopping” motion across your body with the weight in both hands. This really works the core, and is a difficult maneuver to execute while balancing on the board!
Have fun and play around: Just having fun and trying different silly tricks on the Indo Board is a huge help for your surf balance. Everything’s better when you are having fun!
Core Work
The key to having great balance not only in surfing, but also in any other activity, is a strong core. The core helps support everything that we use to balance ourselves. Some good core moves to work on that surf balance:
Planks: Great core move. Start off with simple planks. 30 second increments, then work your way up to one minute. Once you get the hang of this, start working on different variations of the plank (side planks, rocking hips side to side, alternate lifting of legs/arms, “up down” planks, etc.) There are tons of variations out there and all are great for the core. Be sure to switch it up and keep it interesting, but as you do so, keep that core nice and tight and make sure to have good form in order for it to be effective. When you are really ready to step it up a notch, use a yoga ball to balance your feet on, then do the same for the hands. Do your variations on the yoga ball.
Pushups: A classic! Great core, and also an essential move for a strong pop up on the surfboard. With this move it is also crucial to have good form in order for it to be effective.
Yoga
Yoga is a wonderful compliment to surfing. Not only does it help with flexibility and strength, but it is also a great way to work on your balance. Especially the balancing yoga poses. Try and throw some yoga into your weekly training routine, and I can promise you that you will not regret it!
“Pop up” Burpee
I HATE BURPEES. I mean, who doesn’t hate burpees? But I have to admit, it is a great exercise. Especially for surfing. I personally like to modify my burpee to fit my surf training needs. Instead of landing with both of my feet shoulder width apart and facing forward (normal burpee style), I like to land in my surfer stance. So basically, do pop-ups over and over and over again. Wherever you would normally do a burpee in your workout routine, change it out for a “Pop-up burpee”. It will help with your pop up, and also the balance. The constant repetition of getting into that surfers position from lying down will really help that muscle memory, and balance once you transfer it to the board in the ocean. Once you get used to this move, start going switch stance. So if you are normally goofy, switch stance every other rep. So one rep to goofy, next to regular, then goofy again, etc.
Get to work Chica Brava! Whether you are actively surfing or inbetween your next surf vacation, be sure to start working on improving those balance skills.
Lindsey Tennant
Chica Brava Operations Manager