Wouldn’t it be awesome to ride on the waves for a few minutes or even hours instead of a few seconds?
It would give us plenty of time to practice specific manoeuvres, and eventually, we would progress faster.
Unfortunately, we all know that reality is far from that. If we sum up the time we spend standing on the surfboard, we end up with only a few seconds.
Yeah, that’s reality!
Challenges we are facing…
As we want to progress, we quickly learn that we don’t have ideal surf conditions on demand.
Some days we have baby waves, other days, we get Mavericks. When the size is finally right, the wind blows us away, or the ocean feels more like a river, and our session is more of a paddling marathon than actual surfing.
Add the fact that we share the ocean with other surfers. Some surf spots get busy, and sometimes we finish our surf session scoring zero waves.
Busy work schedule, long drives to get some decent waves…
From time to time, it can feel frustrating as our expectations are high and our performance doesn’t match them.
Surf the road with a surfskate!
Here is a great tool that helps connect this gap for us.
No matter the tides, surf conditions, or daytime, you can practice almost anytime!
All you need is just a nice smooth road (street basketball field, skate park, …) which you can find almost anywhere for free and a little investment into a nice surfskate.
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What is a surfskate?
A surfskate is a type of skateboard with special trucks which allows you to practice your surf moves out on the dry land no matter the tides.
Compared to classic skateboards, they offer more stability as they are bigger and have bigger wheels. This makes it easier for those with no previous skateboard experience. You can learn to balance on them and perform basic turns in a very short time.
The price range could be from 100 euros and up.
Indeed, if you spend a few euros more, you get better trucks which result in smoother moves of your board and more fun as you ride.
Tip: If you are looking for a good surfskate for a fair price, look at Triton surfskates (size around 31″ or 32″). They come with the Carver truck system but are a bit cheaper option.
The benefits of surfskating
So, why should you get on one?
Here are a few good reasons why to practice this dry land surfing:
1. Improve your surf stance and style
Being more aware of how you shift your weight, what your arms do, where you look, … do you compress or stay tall? All of these can be practised. Bring your GoPro or phone and make it better.
2. Simulate surf manoeuvres
A great way to practice your front-side and back-side turn on land. Learn how to generate speed and much more.
3. Improve your balance
We all know how important balance in surfing is, so we can apply all the movements mentioned above. Without a proper balance, we will spend most of our surf time swallowing salty water and eating sand. 🙂
4. Gain a better understanding of manoeuvres
Understand the move, simulate, feel, repeat, and then bring it all to the water when you surf.
5. Surfskate anytime, no matter the surf condition
You can ride anytime and as long as you like without waiting for the wave or suitable conditions to practice. Certain surf spots won’t give you this much freedom as the road does.
6. Build muscle memory with surfskate
Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you no longer have to think about the move because your body knows what it needs to do.
Let’s say we would like to practice our turns and generating speed. When we are out there surfing, we don’t get as many opportunities to try and repeat a specific move as we would like to.
The road is stable compared to the unpredictable ocean, which allows you to practice specific manoeuvres repeatedly in a very short time.
7. Create good habits and break the bad ones
Most common are our stance, the bad habit of leaning too much on the back foot (“the hand break”), surfing too tall, head looking down, not using the rails for turns, etc.
Final thoughts
I could see surfskate is increasing its popularity, which is an essential part of surf training. It’s understandable because there is no better way to simulate your surf on dry land than surfskating.
I hope this gave you a little better understanding.
Contact me HERE if you want to try it for the first time. If you need guidance on improving, rent a surfskate or just hang out with the community.
I’m based in Faro (south of Portugal), and I’m just starting the surfskate group to help our surf students to improve.
Follow me for more. Hope to see you there. 🙂
Thank you for your support.