Before you can learn how to duck dive, you may need to learn what duck diving is and what it is all about. Any breaking wave that is more than two feet high is going to require that you duck underneath the wave rather than floating right over it, and this is where the duck dive term comes from. Duck diving is not something people really learn how to do when they are first learning how to surf, because most beginning surfers are surfing the smaller waves anyway. In fact, most people that learn how to duck dive do so through necessity because they end up having to tackle a wave that was larger than what they were expecting. Still, it may be a good idea for you to learn how to duck dive before you even learn how to stand up on the board.
This way, when you do encounter a wave that is too large for you to simply float over, you will know what to do rather than having to learn very quickly at the worst possible time through necessity.
As you are padding and approaching an oncoming wave, you should be shooting to have as much speed as you possibly can. Approximately two feet before you make contact with the white water, you need to grab both of the rails, or the side edges of the board, particularly about halfway between the midpoint of the board and the nose, and you should push all of the weight in your upper body onto your hands and your arms until you feel as if the nose of the board is about to go under the water. Now you should point your head down, allowing your body to follow suit.
Once your body has gone just below the surface, the next step in the process is to bend your dominant leg, using the knee of your dominant leg to push the tail of your board under the water. The momentum that you create should be enough for you to be quickly thrust under the wave which is passing quickly over you, only requiring you to be under the water for a short period of time. As the wave begins to pass you overhead, you can let the natural flotation of your board to bring you back up to the surface. Now you should have the necessary skill to paddle yourself to the lineup, or you can paddle up to the next wave and duck dive underneath it as well.
It’s not really a difficult process to learn, but it can go a long way in preparing you for real surfing. Once you know how to duck dive to line yourself up for big waves, you can begin to surf the big ones. Practice this technique until you become comfortable, and then you can go out and tackle the big ones, showing your friends that yes, you really can learn to surf on the internet!
Photo Credits: colmsurf
Originally posted 2009-08-07 05:03:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Surfing 101 If you are planning on taking up surfing, or just want to brush up on your surfing techniques and skills, you should start with the following list. This surfing 101 list is meant to be a no nonsense beginner's guide to getting started on the water. This includes safety for...... -
Guide to Choosing a Surfboard Are you just learning how to surf, or are otherwise looking to purchase a new surfboard? One of the most difficult decisions to make when it comes to surfing is choosing the best board for you. There are a variety of different factors that are going to influence your choice...... -
Benefits of Surfing Understanding the benefits of surfing will help you determine whether or not this is the right water sport for you. First and foremost, do you know what surfing is? Surfing is a unique activity involving the riding on a wave or riding along a wave using a surfboard. One of...... -
Review of the Channel Island Biscuit The Channel Island Biscuit surfboard is a unique 5' 2" surfboard that is surprisingly short for what it is, thicker than you may expect, but is still full of plenty of surprises. Don't believe me? Try riding the Channel Island Biscuit surfboard for yourself and see what you think. If...... -
Review of the Sunova Nitro, 7S Superfish, Webber Fatburner, and More Surfboards With thousands of different manufacturers and distributors of surfboards, it can be difficult to learn how to find the best surfboards. After riding some of the best surfboards from the greatest brand names out there, here are some of the best surfboard reviews. Sunova Nitro - The Nitro surfboard from......
Related Websites -
Best Duck Hunting Tips If you seem to think that duck hunting simply amounts to hiding until birds fly by, there are several duck hunting tips that can help you understand the sport better and help you do better when you're out on a hunt. There's much more to hunting ducks than simply hiding...... -
Tips for Snowboarding pt 4 For a lot of people, however, it is their very first time buying a brand new snowboard, and so they unfortunately do not have much of an idea of what they should be doing or even what they should be looking for. When you are going online to buy a...... -
Hitting the Slopes for the First Time Have you ever tried skiing before in your life? If you are thinking about exploring everything that this popular winter sport has to offer, then the first step in your process should be to equip yourself with all of the necessary and relevant information, including the most basic do's and...... -
Side slipping in Snowboarding This is a guide to sidestepping on the heel side. Side slipping is all about sliding along the slope's fall line. This is an exercise that is going to teach you about using the edges of your snowboard in order to control your speed as you go downhill. Step #1...... -
5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Tennis Game While many people are under the impression that learning tennis is nearly impossible, there are actually quite a few incredibly easy tips that can drastically improve your game. While these tips may not turn you into a star over night or land you at Wimbledon, they will help solid players......