Well I have been surfing for a year now so I feel I should pass on a small guide as to what I have learnt
Attire
It is important not to get cold so you should in the UK wear a wetsuit covering your arms and legs.
If you are well hard you can go for a short suit or even shorts, but you would have to be actually born in Brighton to be that hard.
In the winter you should wear gloves, boots and a hat.
I am still wearing boots now as it is easier to run on the pebbles.
Make sure it all zipped up nice before you go in the water.
You should rinse out your suit with fresh water after use and try to get it as dry as possible for the next session
Shoes should be turned inside out to dry I think.
Equipment
You need a board
You need to tie it to your leg using the rubbery leash thing.
You should heavily wax the board as it is really hard standing up anyway, and if you slip off it is just maddening.
Surfing
You have to get out in the sea to here the waves are breaking – it is a right basterd.
If you are out of your depth and have to paddle through breaking waves there are tricks like dipping the front of the board or goin upside down to stop getting mashed of washed back to shore but I can’t suss them properly.
You must pick a good wave this is often a hunch, or it s huge, or it is preceded by a trough ( like tsumanis are ) or is nice and steep faced.
Once you are ready and a wave is coming you should try to get going forwards as fast as you can to not be pulled back off the wave and miss it and to get some intertia going so you can surf it. Just paddle as hard as possible and don’t give up, that last splash is sometimes what gets you on the wave.
Once you are going forward try to stand up in one fluid movement – that is the easy part…
Ha like fuck is it. I almost have it sussed though.
Recommended preparation
Push ups not like pressups, just practice ‘popping up’ on an old ironing board
How to pop up
Also I reckon everyone should bring some wax -as it makes you feel cool waxing your board.
And you should own one item of neoprene, like not a whole suit necessarily but wetsuit shoes I think.