What Is The Most Important Skill In Surfing?
When I was first asked this question it seemed impossible to answer. With so many skills that go into surfing, how could you really claim the most important? Especially considering the many different levels of “surfing.” 
You have the professionals who surf so ridiculously well that if it wasn’t so beautiful you would probably puke in envy. You have guys you see at the same spot every morning just absolutely killing it and then hoping in their truck and heading to work. You have the average surfer, who surfs well but not quite enough for someone on the beach to hoot and holler over unless he pulls into something crazy. Then there are the surfers who could best be described as just loving it, every stand up is a little shaky and once they are up they just cruise the shoulder, but they just love it and will probably be doing the same thing until they die. And of course you have the beginners, who, well they are just starting out.
Considering all of these different levels of surfers, hopefully you see the difficultly of trying to find the single most important skill for surfers. Nevertheless, after much thought, I am going to submit my idea to you and hope to see your opinions, both positive and negative.
Think about everyone that rips out in the water, you know that he rips because you keep seeing him. You keep seeing him streak by, tearing wave after wave apart. He just knows where to be and can continually get himself in the right spot. I submit that the ability to read and catch waves is the single most important skill in surfing.
After a summer of surfing with my brother (who does airs and turns better than me), I
realized that when we surf, he catches close to double the waves that I do. That guy just knows exactly where to be. Now, even if I was catching as many waves as him, he is still stronger, faster, more coordinated, and has way better balance than me, and as a result will probably always dominate my face, BUT still it is troubling to realize that although we spend an equal amount of time in the water, he surfs twice as much as I do. More waves mean more practice, the path towards perfection. I don’t think that catching more waves has everything to do with being physically in shape, though that obviously helps, I think the most important thing is to know where to be. “If the wave breaks here, don’t be there.” Or the flipside, if the wave breaks here, be exactly there! If you can continually get yourself in the right place at the right time, you will find yourself surfing more and sitting on your board less.
Obviously to progress in surfing you need to build more skills on top of this one, specifically, skills for what to do once you are on the wave, but without this one skill you can really never progress.
What do you think? Does the real secret to surfing success lie elsewhere?
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Great post!! I would say it’s Patience…but, patience isn’t really a skill.
WikiPedia defines Patience as “the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset”
Patience is needed at every surfing skill level, and at every surf break around the world. Beginner surfers need to have patience while learning, while experienced surfers need to have patience in-order to perform at their best. Experienced surfers need patience to wait for the right waves, to stay relaxed in high pressure/adrenaline pumping situations and most commonly, when surfing very crowded breaks. All surfers need patience while driving to the beach to check the surf (traffic, speeding, parking, forgetting stuff back at your house).
Lastly, surfing is all about individuality and style. Patience during learning progression helps to properly develop a surfer’s unique style and proper technique.
Oh sure catch a million waves tear ‘em all apart up and down the beach every move in the barrel off the lip monster cutbacks spray in every bodys face blah blah all the chics love you … nope. Number 1 skill is HOLD YOUR BREATH. Big Swamis or Blacks bad wipeout, back to back mackers hold you down without air and you just might drown. seriously
I think I agree with Tyler cause the guys that catch all the waves are the ones that progress the quickest for sure. As for holding your breath, I’m gonna have to disagree. I’ve been going out to Waimea every time it breaks this year and the hold downs are gnarly, but totally survivable by just about anyone. There were old guys and girls out there with me last time, and no matter how heavy it gets up here on the north shore, how many drowning deaths do we see each year? Usually none. Any serious accidents are due to hitting the reef, not passing out. Especially if we’re talking about California….minor hold downs, haha. Good input though, everyone’s got their own opinions on it.
i think you have to have the most expensive boards. haha.
but for reals i’d say making sure you enjoy it no matter what. if you enjoy surfing, who cares if you are catching waves, wiping out on waves, getting barreled, or watching your friends get barreled. you’ll be LOVING it. keep the stoke.
but please, if you are learning, know your limits and know how to stay out of the way. knowing where to be is key for catching a lot of waves and also for staying out of places you shouldn’t be. nothing more frustrating than some kook that ruins your wave or almost runs you over because he can’t turn. especially on those HUGE SUP boards.
without a good bottom turn you have nothing
Great post and question! #1 surfing skill is paddling. If you don’t have the stamina to paddle you can’t get to the wave nor get in the wave. And if you can’t do that, you can’t surf. And if you can’t surf, what’s the point of it all?
Ability to appreciate and have fun. QED.
Definitely correct - wave knowledge is the key. The better you are at catching waves, the better you’ll be at riding them, because you’ll have more time on your feet. If you surf 2 hours and only catch 2 waves, you’ve only actually surfed for about 30 seconds total.