Sit on any surf beach in the world and the average warmup you see will be a few arm swings.
Now have a quick watch of this Dane Reynolds clip, paying particular attention to his body, the range of movements he expresses, and the speed at which he moves.
I reference that video all the time when teaching clients or Surf Trip guests about the fundamentals of surfing. The first two waves from that video clearly demonstrate the full range of mechanics in surfing, and do it with one of the worlds’ best surfers…and in slo-mo!
That second wave is a perfect example of a take-off, and then a lean, compress, and twist. Those are the 3 primary movements in surfing. That’s it! That’s surfing.
I’m getting ahead of myself and moving towards surf-theory, but watch that video, and simply watch his body. While Dane is going through his leans, compressions, and twists, and surfing incredibly, his joints are going through full expression of movement.
Watch his hips.
Watch his spine.
Watch his ankles and knees.
Watch his neck and arms.
That shitty warmup consisting only of arm swings did absolutely nothing in terms of physically preparing your body for surfing.
Surfing fluidly is a result of having a body that moves fluidly, and then adding the ability to actually surf well. But if the body is tight, stiff, and as mobile as a strongman powerlifter, what can you hope for? Not much.
Learn some movements that prepare the body for 3-dimensional movement, and then use them. Do your body and surfing a favour and watch the warmup video at the top of this post.
I guarantee you’ll feel the difference on your first wave if you just spend 2 minutes prepping the body for dynamic movement.
-Cris
