3 Tips to Get You Surfing More Often
Our goal is to equip you for a lifetime of enjoyment in the surf.
We do this through building surfboards, helping to match you with the right gear, and passing along as much advice as we can—relevant to your continued growth and success.
However, none of the tips on improving your cross-step, getting barreled, or improving your turns is helpful if the main challenge is just getting in the water.
We hear, all the time, that one of the biggest obstacles to your surfing is simply finding time to get in the water.
With two very young kids and a small business, I can relate to the feeling that finding time to paddle out can be a challenge.
Here are 3 tips that have helped me keep surfing in my routine:
1. Make it a Regular Part of Your Weekly Rhythm
Pick a time slot and commit that window to surfing. Things that make it onto the ol' iCalendar have an odd way of working out more often than things that exist only in your head.
Maybe it's Friday mornings, or Saturday mornings or a mid-week Wednesday surf break. Someone wants to schedule a coffee meeting or bend your ear for some career advice? Great! Invite them to join you for your regular Friday morning surf.
Work a 9-5? Maybe Wednesday mornings that slides into a 10-6 instead.
Don't live near the beach? Maybe the last weekend of every month becomes a dedicated 3-day surf weekend.
Whatever works with your schedule, just try to make it a predictable rhythm.
2. Drive down and check the surf in person
The convenience of checking a live video feed of the the surf conditions from my Surfline App is something previous generations would have had a hard time believing. But for how slick it is to pull out my phone and see what my favorite spot is doing right now, you could make the argument that it actually makes me surf less.
Why? Because I used to load up my gear in my 1996 Isuzu Trooper and drive down to the beach to check the waves, search for a parking spot (or more likely double-park), and hop up on one of the many concrete benches or retaining walls to get a better view of the waves. By that point, you're already like 75% committed. The final hurdle is seeing one wave come through that is enticing enough to wrestle on a damp wetsuit and get out there.
If you want to surf more, drive down and check the surf from the sand. I mean actually with your toes in the sand. I guarantee you'll talk yourself into it more often than checking the app from the comfort of your warm bed.
So, prep the coffee the night before and plan on checking the surf from the only place you can actually do the surfing—the beach.
3. Cancel Your Netflix/HBO/Paramount+ Subscription
I've become a firm morning person. My alarm is set for 5:05 am, six days a week. Many days I'm up even earlier thanks to the erratic sleep schedule of our one-year-old son.
This time of year, the sun is up early... First light was 5:13 am this morning.
Think about how good you feel after a great morning surf. Now think about how many great morning surfs you've missed in your lifetime (or even in the past 12 months) because you stayed up til 11:00 streaming shows. It's so easy. It's too easy.
You don't even have to press any buttons, the next episode just starts when the last one ends. But don't let Yellowstone or Rings of Power be the reason you don't surf as often as you'd like.
Have a hard time falling asleep at 9:45? Try reading in bed, I usually make it about a page-and-a-half.
Cancel your streaming service and get up before the sun. You'll be amazed at how much time you have to surf.
Bonus Tip: Take turns watching the kids and surfing on a Saturday morning
I'm stealing this one from some of my fellow Dad friends...
They offer to take the kids to the beach to give the wives a break on a Saturday morning—bringing all the necessary beach toys (and surfboards). And they take turns surfing and watching the kids on the beach. So while Kohl and Darren are surfing, Travis and Stew play on the beach with the kids.
And after about 20-30 mins, they swap places and... voila!
Everyone wins.
Whatever creative problem solving you have to do to carve out surf time, do it. You'll thank yourself later. It's good for your mind, body, and soul to get in the water.
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