Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Do's and Don'ts of Surfing Safely

Surfing is a fun and exciting sport but if you're not careful, it can also be extremely dangerous. To ensure you stay safe while riding the waves, we've compiled a list of surfing do's and don'ts. Following the advice provided below is essential to making every surfing trip a healthy and successful endeavor. 

Surfing Do's and Don'ts


1. If you're visiting a new beach, always remember to respect the locals. Think of yourself as a guest and remember sharing the waves with other surfers is a big part of the sport.
2. Surfing alone is never a good idea. Bringing a surf buddy with you not only increases the fun you'll have but it also ups the safety of your surf outing.
3. Never take another surfers wave. Always keep in mind a breaking wave belongs to the surfer closest to it. Cutting in line is dangerous and can cause animosity between you and the other surfers. Additionally, once you see another surfer riding a wave, that particular wave is considered taken and you'll need to wait for the next one to appear.
4. Stay alert. While surfing, you should always be aware of all individuals swimming or playing in the water. Furthermore, paying close attention to surf conditions is another necessity. Unfortunately, the weather can change in an instant, causing waves to become unruly. Ignoring the signs can put you in hazards way and quickly turn a fun surfing excursion into a dangerous one.
5. As with any sport, warming up before hitting the waves is essential. A proper warm up will decrease your chances of pulling a muscle or cramping up while you're in the water.
6. You should never go surfing after you've consumed an alcoholic beverage. Not only are you putting yourself in harms way but you're also risking the safety of the people around you.
7. Dedication and practice are crucial to improving your surfing skills. If you choose not to hit the waves on a regular basis, you are hindering your ability to advance your skill set.
8. Bringing sunblock and a first aid kit to the beach with you is a must. Overexposure to the sun is a serious concern for surfers so you should always use waterproof sunblock before getting on your surfboard.


If you're looking to upgrade your surfing apparel or you're interested in buying a new surfboard, please contact us today and we'll be happy to help you.
Read more >>

Thursday, June 19, 2014

How A Proper Diet and Workout Routine Can Increase Your Surfing Skills

Surfing is an intense sport that requires you to use all your major muscle groups. For example, paddling alone works your shoulders, your core, and your legs. That's why, a well trained surfer understands the importance of staying in shape which usually entails a strict exercise routine and a healthy diet. To help you achieve both of these goals, we've highlighted a few key workouts and eating tips below.


How To Increase Your Fitness Level

Working your core muscles are essential to improving your surfing skills. Your core plays a huge role in maintaining your balance and gaining better control over body's movements. Sit-ups, ab leg raises, and side planks are just a few of the exercises you should perform to strengthen your core.

Your arm and back muscles are extremely critical to paddling. Therefore, you should focus part of your workout routine on increasing their strength. Performing push-ups, bicep curls, and tricep dips, among other exercises, will heighten your paddling skills and boost your endurance.

Developing your leg muscles, enhances your balance and your ability to pop-up on your surfboard. Adding lunges, weighted heel rises, and squats to your workout is a simple and effective way to build your leg strength.

A Cardiovascular workout is a must. Not only will it improve your lung capacity, but it will also bolster your endurance. Swimming, running, and cycling multiple times a week will allow you to surf for longer periods of time without getting overly fatigued.


A Well-Balanced Diet
A healthy meal plan for surfers contains a mix of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Your protein intake should revolve around foods, such as fish, poultry, lean meats, beans and nuts. Protein helps your body repair your muscles which makes it a crucial part of your diet. Healthy carbohydrates provide you with the fuel to take on strenuous activities like paddling. When choosing carbs to eat, it is best to stick to fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals. While many people cringe at the thought of fats in their diet, it's still an essential part of your nutritional intake. Replacing unhealthy fats with healthy ones is easy as long as you focus on eating avocados, nuts, and seeds. At the end of the day, a well-balanced diet is critical to improving your fitness and surfing skills.


If you're on a mission to enhance your surfing skills and you're looking for a top of the line surfboard, please contact us and we'll be happy to assist you.
Read more >>

Thursday, June 12, 2014

How to Successfully Pop-up on Your Surfboard

Popping up on a surfboard can be a difficult experience for newcomers. Unfortunately, there is no avoiding this important surfing skill. However, following a few words of advice and practicing on a regular basis will make the challenge of popping up much easier. To help you reach that point, we've listed 4 tips that will have you successfully riding your surfboard in no time.


Get To Know Your Footing
Before you even try to stand, you must first discover which stance fits you best. You have two choices, either “goofy” or “regular.” Goofy footing means you stand with your left foot back, while regular footing means your right foot is back. To find out which is your dominate foot, stand with your feet together and your eyes closed. While you're in this position, let yourself fall backwards. The foot you step back to stop the fall is considered the dominate one and will be your back foot when standing on your surfboard.

Land Before Water
Once you have your stance established, its time to start practicing your pop-up on land. First, you will need to lay on your board with your chest slightly above the center of the board. While in this position, start paddling as though you were actually in the water. When you're ready, put your hands on your board and hop to your feet. At this point, your feet should be a little more than shoulder width apart with your dominate foot firmly planted in the back. To truly get a feel for popping up, you will need to run through this motion on land a number of times.

Popping Up On An Actual Wave
To begin with, you need to practice on smaller waves, not only for the difficulty factor, but also for your safety. Discovering the correct time to pop-up is half the battle of successfully standing on your surfboard. As you're paddling and a wave grows closer, you will feel yourself speed up. While your speed is increasing, your surfboard will also begin to feel sturdier. Both of these changes indicate that the time to pop-up has arrived. Unfortunately, your first few attempts may end with you in the water, however practice will definitely help you master the pop-up motion in time.

If you're looking to buy your first surfboard or you're in need of an upgrade, please contact us today and we'll be happy to help you.
Read more >>

Thursday, June 5, 2014

A Look at the Different Types of Men's Boardshorts

Boardshorts have been especially designed to fit the unique needs of surfers and have evolved greatly over the years. These attractive yet practical shorts are now worn by a number of people in addition to surfers because they are comfortable and attractive. Boardshorts for men now come in a variety of different styles and here is an overview of the different types so you can choose the one that is right for you.


Standard Boardshorts are the choice of most surfers since they are very loose in the leg and are secure but not too tight around the waist. These features enable people to perform some of the more complicated maneuvers while also being long enough to keep a man’s leg hairs from being pulled on the board’s wax.

Retro Board Shorts are similar in style to the ones that first appeared in the 1950s and 1960s. They are somewhat shorter and snugger fitting than traditional boardshort which can make them more difficult to perform surfing maneuvers in. Instead, these shorts are often worn while swimming, scuba diving or water skiing instead.

Modern-style boardshorts fall somewhere in the middle of retro and traditional boardshorts. They tend to be sleek but not tight fitting, and have legs that are around 18 to 22 inches long. These shorts are very stylish and are appropriate for boating, swimming or just spending a day at the beach.

Baggies are usually worn by men who like a looser fit to their clothing. As their name suggests, they are looser-fitting and “baggier” than most other styles of boardshorts. Despite the fact that they are baggy, they are nonetheless very good for surfing as they tend to have an elastic waist that will help hold them in place despite being pummeled by heavy waves.

Half Jam shorts contain an inner mesh lining and a waistband that is elasticized only part of the way around it. While they are good choices for surfing, they should not be worn for long periods of time as the inner mesh can increase the odds of chafing. Half Jams are more practical for everyday wear or spending time at the beach in.


Want to see the latest styles in boardshorts? Contact us to find out more.
Read more >>