The base at home, the sport at a club

Surfing at home

The sea, a soft board and an instructor on a beach with lifeguards; at home, the pop-up, paddling and the safety rules; in a pool, swimming and floating.

3 cards at home 3 for a park or court 4 for the club

What should we practise today?

Tell us where you are and who is playing. You get one card and the reason.

Where are you?

Who is playing?

Start a session

New to surfing? The game in a minute

Read this once before the first card.

The sport in short: Riding a wave on a board: you lie on the board, paddle with your arms to catch a wave, then jump to your feet (the pop-up) and ride it toward the beach. Beginners use a big, soft foam board in small broken waves (whitewater) close to the shore.
How contests work: Surfers compete in heats of two to four, each lasting about 20 minutes. Judges score every wave ridden from 0 to 10 for difficulty, speed, power and flow, and each surfer's best two waves count. The surfer closest to where the wave breaks (the peak) has the right to ride it.
Rules children break first: Swim first: no surfing until the child can swim and float well.
Surf only on a beach with lifeguards, between the flags, and never alone.
In a rip current, do not fight it: swim along the beach, or float and wave.
Never drop in on another surfer's wave.
At home and in the pool you start with: Swimming, floating and the rip rule, paddle strength on the floor, the pop-up on a mat, beach safety and board carrying. On land, a surfskate trains the turns. Every wave in the sea is learnt with an instructor.

Words you will hear (22, in plain language)

Soft board: A large, soft beginner surfboard.
Leash: The cord joining the board to the back ankle.
Nose: The front of the board, the back, and its side edges.
Pop-up: Pushing up from lying on the board to standing in one move.
Stance: How you stand on the board; the back foot wears the leash.
Paddle: Pulling through the water with the arms while lying on the board; paddling from the beach out to the waves.
Whitewater: The foamy part of a wave after it has broken.
Green wave: A wave that has not broken yet, and its smooth front slope.
Peak: The highest point of a wave, where it starts to break.
Take-off: Catching the wave and standing; riding down its face.
Trim: Riding along the face of the wave.
Bottom turn: Turning at the bottom of the wave, at the top, and turning back toward the breaking part.
Wipeout: Falling off in a wave.
Turtle roll: Ways to get through an oncoming wave: rolling under a big board, or pushing a small board under the water.
Line-up: The area beyond the breaking waves where surfers wait.
Drop in: Taking off on a wave someone nearer the peak is already riding; paddling round someone to steal their place.
Rip: A strong current flowing out to sea.
Flags: The flags mark the safest area to swim and surf, watched by a lifeguard.
Buddy system: Staying in pairs and watching each other.
Surfskate: A skateboard with a front truck that swings, used on land to practise surf turns.
Pump: Pushing and rising to gain speed without pushing off the ground; a smooth curving turn from rail to rail.
Heat: A short contest round of a few surfers.

Try it, nothing to buy

Mark the space once. Every card starts from it.

A suggested first ten sessions (optional)

The cards, level by level

Nobody is late. A beginner of any age starts at Basic.

Basic 5 cards · show· hide In this order: the safe area, signals, warm-up, board carrying, entering the sea, catching a wave lying down, stopping, wipeout actions, then standing with a walk-up or via the knees; plus swimming, floating and rip knowledge.

Move on when the instructor says the child can catch and ride a wave to the beach standing.

Intermediate 4 cards · show· hide Angled take-offs and green waves, paddling out (turtle roll, then duck dive on smaller boards), trim, the bottom turn, the line-up rules, and surfskate training on land.

Move on when the instructor judges the surfer can choose waves and share the line-up safely.

Advanced 1 cards · show· hide Top turns and cutbacks linked to the bottom turn, making speed, bigger waves, contest heats, and safety and rescue training.

a1 Turns, competition and bigger surf At a club what the coach teaches, what to ask

Teaching this at home

Movement, safety and the words at home. The sport itself needs water, a boat, a horse or a coach.

You do not need to know the sport. Each card tells you where to stand, what to say and what to look at. Pick one thing to say in a session and say only that. The first week looks messy; that is normal. End every session on one that works.

Cards marked At a club are taught by a coach. They tell you what the coach teaches, what is safe at home, and what to ask the club before your child joins.

How to warm up before playing is at workonfitness.com. The rules of the game are at sportsmaze.com.