Learning to Surf: The Basics You’ll Learn at Chica Brava

November 15, 2017 | Nicaragua Travel

At Chica Brava Surf Retreat, we’ve created a program that can teach you to surf in a week. We work with women of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels, across a wide range of life stages. Most arrive having never surfed before.

✨ No preparation is required. Our program is designed to meet you where you are.

If, however, you’d like to arrive having done some sort of physical preparation please visit our page on How to Physically Prepare for a Women’s Surf Retreat. Additionally, familiarizing yourself with some basics and practicing the pop-up at home can help.

How to Do a Pop-Up: A Simple Guide

We’ve broken down the pop-up into three easy steps to help you understand and remember each movement. Please check out our Pop-up video below for a visual guide.

1. Plank Position

Start by lying down with your hands placed under your chest as if you’re about to do a pushup. Push yourself up into a plank position, with your shoulders directly above your wrists. Keep your legs close together like a zipper, your head up, and your eyes looking straight ahead toward the beach.

2. The Pop-Up Move

While keeping your gaze forward and your arms straight, quickly swing your lower body forward so your front foot lands between your hands. Don’t lean backward—keep your weight centered by bringing your foot up in line with your hands. If you’re familiar with yoga, this feels like hopping from a downward dog position to the front of your mat.

Alternative Methods:

  • Modification 1: Push up into plank and bring your back knee forward, place your back foot down, and swing your front foot forward between your hands.
  • Modification 2: Start in a plank, bring your front knee up to your chest, place your foot between your hands, and lower your back foot down.

3. Stand Up Slowly

Once you’re in position, rise to stand. Keep your knees slightly bent, feet about shoulder-width apart, arms spread wide, and eyes looking straight ahead (in the water, you’d be looking toward the beach).

Practice Makes Perfect

Repeat these steps until you can do them smoothly without thinking. Practicing this over and over will help you pop up quickly and confidently. Our “Learn to Surf” video series can help guide you through it!

Paddling

Paddling is a basic skill that quickly improves your surfing experience. At Chica Brava, you’ll learn how to paddle efficiently, cutting through the water with less effort and keeping your weight balanced in the center of the board.

To get ready, it’s a good idea to build strength in the muscles used for paddling. Although there isn’t one exercise that works all these muscles, a few types of training will help. Swimming laps—especially freestyle and breaststroke—boosts both your strength and stamina. You can also practice breathing underwater and getting comfortable with water splashing on your face. Daily push-ups and yoga are also great for building up strength and flexibility!

Turtle Rolling and Duck Diving

When a wave heads your way, turtle rolling (for longboards) and duck diving (for shortboards) help you go under it without getting pushed back to shore.

For a turtle roll on a longboard:

  1. Keep your board pointed directly at the wave.
  2. As the wave nears, grab the sides of the board under your chest, hold on tightly, and flip over so you’re underwater with the board above you.
  3. Stay close to the board, keeping your body parallel to it.
  4. Hold on until the wave passes, then flip the board back over and climb on.

For a duck dive on a shortboard:

  1. Keep the board facing straight at the wave.
  2. As the wave approaches, grip the rails under your shoulders. Lean forward and push the nose of the board underwater by pressing down with your weight.
  3. Use your back foot or knee to press down on the tail end, which helps push the board deeper and lets you glide under the wave.

Catching a Wave

Once you’ve practiced paddling, popping up, and turtle rolling, it’s time to learn how to catch a wave and ride it. At first, you’ll want to pop up and ride straight toward the beach. As you improve, you’ll start following the curve of the wave instead of just heading to shore. By keeping a solid stance and staying low, you’ll be set to surf Chica Brava style! Check out the video in our “Learn to Surf” series to get tips on catching and riding waves.

Still thinking about joining us? Click on the video below to get stoked on coming!

Wondering what the camp experience is actually like? Click on the video below for a 2 minute short doc on what you can expect at Chica Brava surf retreat.