Reading The Ocean

It sounds like a simple thing to do yet for some reason so frequently we misread the ocean and don't match our skills with the conditions of the day.
03 November, 2020
Gee Cormack

It sounds like a simple thing to do yet for some reason so frequently we misread the ocean and don’t match our skills with the conditions of the day. Why do surfers who are trying to progress so frequently misread the ocean and why as a beginner to intermediate surfer is this more common?

The ocean is a forever changing environment and if you have not grown up by the sea and have not seen the seasonal changes throughout many summers and winters it is hard to recognize the patterns of the coastline changing and the seasonal changes of swells and winds. These factors are key to being able to predict what the waves will be doing and where the best surf will be on your coast line each day and if you are reading this and thinking “i am starting at an older age (over 10yrs old) so how will i gain this knowledge quickly?” well that’s where we come in.

Our aim as your coach is to create a “surfing older” in your memory bank so that each time you go surfing you understand what the ocean is doing and you create memories of the experience you had in those conditions, what worked and what didn’t work and why. By recognizing the basic patterns of the ocean you become more familiar with what to expect and then as your skills grow you will be able to pull from your skill set depending on the types of waves you see that day.

Surfing is an extremely complicated sport and can take a long time to learn but if you are given some of the basic skills you will progress at a much faster and more enjoyable rate. When we understand out environment we also become more confident and more willing to step out of our comfort zone to try something new and don’t forget “confidence is the key”!!!

Surfing is 50% your skill, movement on a board and understanding of equipment but it must be matched with 50% reading the ocean , being able to match it with the conditions of the day otherwise you mistime your surfing and you wont connect with the movements of the waves.

Our aim is to teach you how to find your rhythm out there in the water…

There are some really key simple things to start to do when learning to read the ocean and they are in our “how to do a surf check” write up so please head over and have a read.

Reading the ocean

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Author

Gee Cormack

Gee Cormack

Hi, my name is Gee Cormack founder/ owner & head coach here at Chix Surf School. I have been surfing since I can remember, since I was a little kid getting in the water before and after school with my big brother. I was also a nippers kid so learning about everything the ocean had to offer was what we loved to do most.

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