surfing balance

Surfing Balance - 3 Top Tips

Surfing has always been a love of mine and I try to get in the water as often as possible, but living in Melbourne and having young children makes it harder these days. When I do get waves, I want to ensure I get the most out of each ride - as I don't know when my next session will be. Falling off my board is the worst, especially on my first turn.
surfing balance

As such, I developed these top three tips to improve your balance and connection to the board. Practise these for a few minutes each day and watch what happens in your next session.
Tip 1: Release and Mobilise the Foot
With so many little joints in the feet, it is crucial that they are all as mobile as possible. Having adequate movement at each of these joints allows flexibility and adaptability - key functions for exceptional balance. 
Using a silicone massage or lacrosse ball is what I have found is the most effective way to achieve this outcome. In a seated position, roll the ball under the arch of the foot. Forwards, backwards, circles - clockwise and anti clockwise. Does one foot feel different to the other? Do each direction of movement of the ball feel the same?
foot pain

Tip 2: Balance- Eyes Closed

Train like a flamingo!

Rather than invest in a wobble board or similar unstable surface, I find most of my clients have skipped a crucial step in their efforts to improve their balance. Proprioception is the body's ability to sense itself in space. It is another key component to effective balance on the surfboard. Train your body's ability to sense where it is and what it needs to do by standing on one foot at a time and closing your eyes.

It is NORMAL to wobble around! Relax and try to maintain balance for 10-15 seconds. Do this whilst brushing your teeth at night and watch it improve.

balance exercise

Tip 3: Strengthen Foot Muscles

There are lots of ways of doing this, including picking up pencils or marbles with your toes, walking around barefeet more and many others. Whilst this is a biased opinion the easiest way to do this effectively is by using Flamingo Feet. Yes, this is our product and may seem like a conflict of interest, but after 20 years of trying to get clients to do foot strengthening exercises, I find even the most motivated of clients only do them for 2 weeks then they get bored. Doing toe strength exercises can be time consuming and requires focus - something we all struggle with. Simply wear the Flamingo Feet for at least 10 minutes (ideally 20 minutes) each day and walk around in them. The muscles in the feet get stronger, the front of the foot widens and balance improves. Check out this video for a real time example.

 

So if you want to improve your balance, feel the board more, fall off less and enjoy your surfing more - get stuck into these tips and experience the changes for yourself!

Happy surfing.

surfing balance

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