Seriously the worst aspect of teaching surfing is "you will get it with experience" instead of breaking skills down to formulas, your explainations are clear, organized and easy to follow and remember, thanks a ton for these videos man!

I’ve never seen it explained this clearly before.

Also, KNOW THE STRUCTURE OF THE SETS. Most swells have sets with very little difference from one wave to the next. If the first one is crap, don't lose energy paddling for the others and conversely, if you missed a good wave react quickly to get another in the same set.

Lines indicating wave geometry, are everything! 2:36 right in time for a surf week. This video lesson is 24K Gold. Thank you!!

Nice one. Next level is to realize that all of that is caused by the shape of the ocean floor. Specially in sand breaks is important to look and understand how the ocean floor is distributed. Identify the point breaks which will correspond to the more shallow places and the channels around. I tend to make a mental map of the ocean floor by looking at how the waves are raising and breaking. This is very helpful to detect false point breaks and to use the currents to your advantage.

To add to this. The biggest mistakes I see beginners and new inters make is paddling for what I call 'double up' waves. 9 out of 10 times you are going to be surfing a break which doesn't have a nice singular 12 second period swell. There will be at least two different swells with different second intervals combined rolling in. These sets will often combine when they arrive and create these so called "double up" waves. A small wave followed directly by a bigger wave right behind it. (Max 1 sec period between the peaks) It is almost NEVER worth it to try and capture these waves. I see so many people trying to paddle in on these waves and get frustrated the wave rolls straight through right under their board. It saves you TONS of energy to just let these waves pass and wait for the next set which hopefully will arrive without the other intervalling sets. Only paddle for a clearly defined single wave. Happy hunting🤙

Nice clear explanation, and he naturally talks at 1.5 speed so no need to speed this one up ;) Thanks Prof!

One of these days you should make your way to a SoCal reef break like malibu or trestles. those "short shouldered" waves are some of the best wave formations to ride. you have the theory down, and unfortunately you are surfing in 0.5-1 foot surf. however once it gets to around 3 ft and up, some of those short shouldered waves will continue to curl while keeping immense amounts of energy in the pocket. its where u start to see massive airs and some of the craziest rail digging of all time because all that energy is compressed into such a small pocket on bigger days and at better breaks that can hold the formation. TLDR: find some availability to surf at better spots and you might have a change of heart on what is bad and what is good, however your theory is pretty spot on and understandable for beginners.

Surfing 101. The most important skill in surfing is reading the ocean. I like the simplicity of your explanation. There is a reason surfers spend hours studying the lineups. Best lesson for beginners is to take the time to watch the waves; where and how often they break, where surfers are catching them and how they ride them.

Thank you so much for this explanation! I’m nearsighted so really struggle to pick waves but now I know to look for darker/lighter colour in waves I might make better selections! Excited to try this tomorrow 😀

Short and straight to the point! I love it.

Thanks for the video! I've watched many about the topic, but never so clear!

Perfection. Straightforward, fun to watch and learn simultaneously, great advice at the end. Now I'm excited to return to the surf!

Awesome video dude! Thank u for sharing 🤙🏼

God i am so glad to discover this channel! This is possibly the simplest wave explanation I found online. Thank you

Man, that was all so well put. What a great teacher you are. Thank you, brother.

you rock im pumped listening to you talk about waves!

Best video I’ve seen on reading waves Thank you!

Such a great explanation. Now I get it! Thank you so much 😊🏄‍♀️

🤯 the simplicity of this skill is just amazing! ty

Thanks so much . Great break down.👍👍🤙🤙🤙

So greet you share this knowledge with beginners!

Absolutely wonderful explanation, thank you so much ❤

That was brilliant. I've been surfing for 3 years, and never heard this before. Thank you!

Really useful information and very well structured. Thanks!

You are a great teacher! I'm a teacher so I SEE YOU! Your faster pop up by staggering your hands really improved my surfing. Tomorrow I look forward to using this new info!!!

Right ON! this is gone save me so much frustration !! I know practice give experience but tips like this are very helpful. Thanks man🤙

Thanks for the video man - really useful tips and delivered in a very clear fashion. I'll be taking the time to look at things in a new way every time I sit on a beach from now on so that I can get a better feel for what to go for when I'm in the sea👍

Thanks for this 🙏🏼

great tips, I'll try this next time, thanks!

Excellent description.

So helpful and simple. Wish someone showed me this years ago

You’re awesome for this. 27yo and picking up surfing now and love it.

Great explanation!

Excellent video thank you

This is such an awesome, clear explanation how to pick the best waves. Can't thx u enough

There’s a lot of KZfaq surf lessons with little substance, but this was one was phenomenal. Thanks for the video

Merci beaucoup pour ta générosité d'information. Ta vidéo est magnifique comme d'habitude et le sujet est intéressant.

Great info brah! Watching the WSL final right now and I'm trying to see what they are seeing.

Thank you Carl, for the video, it is very useful, I appreciate

Thanks for the info

Super useful video. Explained so concise

@hydromind If I may say, you really understand the concepts and principles of reading the wave which is how you are able to break it down and actually explain it to us, making it very easy to understand. For this I cannot thank you enough! I have watched multiple videos trying to get a nice and simple explanation and THIS is the ONE! Wave reading GOLD! I feel you have just helped me level up as I have only been surfing for about a year and comprehending and reading the wave to know which to go after, which to leave and most importantly where to position myself was about the last part I did not have a full grasp of, UNTIL NOW! Now I'm ready for Saturday and I think I also understand better why people tend to group when out on the water. It's because there are finite positions on the wave that are the best spots to place yourself to successfully catch the wave! So strange how you can talk to someone who's been surfing for years, yet they cannot explain this concept. You have one more fan and subscriber! Mahalo!

This was actually really well put

Great tips and explanation!

Very helpful tips for a beginner starting at over 50 years old, I am an accomplished water skier and am trying to learn surfing, it is much harder than I thought it would be! 💪😎👍

very useful, thanks

No one ever explains this and I don't know why. They just say things like "look for the peak" without saying how. Thank you soooo much

Ooooh that's how it works 😮 cheers man!

thanks, i'm a beginner and that was really helpful

This is such an awesome, clear explanation how to pick the best waves. Can't thx u enough 🙏

Wow amazing thank u !!

love all your content!! thanks for sharing

I hope you get a lot more likes I think you have good educational videos that are not too long and informative

Thanks!

Crystal clear!

Your awesome man. Do you have a surf Camp? And if so, where?

Adding to Favorites thanks for the great videos

Thank you for breaking it down to a system...to catch the wave are you at the base of the wave which then pushes you up the wave face before you start sliding back down? I seem to always be a little too far out...thanks

Nice video. You touch on 2 important points that are related; load management, and wave selection/positioning. The 1st, is directly dependent on the 2nd. Some days it's easier than others, at a beach break. At the points, it's naving the crowd, as much as anything.

I look at the horizon for imperfections that give me the sense that what I’m seeing is closer than the horizon should be. Sometimes doing some lizard style pushups while looking can help with noticing the depth perception. Those are usually far off sets that will arrive in a min or two. That gives you time to paddle toward an outside set. After doing this for twenty years now, my “spidey sense” just knows when the waves are coming. Also notice if the peaks of the waves tend to go straight in to shore or not. A lot of the time the peak will kind of shift to one side as the wave develops. If you anticipate that you can put yourself in the right place to intercept it. Totally agree with everything said in this video. I’d also add count the waves in each set. Maybe there are three waves in a set and the first wave is small. Or there are two wave sets and the second one is extra big. Sometimes you’ll notice waves that sort of have another wave diagonally in them. That out of phase wave will tend to be more catchable inside of the acute angle of the two waves. …it’s so hard to explain this in words. But the out of phase part of the wave will move sideways across the wave and you can often catch the peak that’s just next to the out of phase part, but these waves tend to not have much shoulder to ride. Another good exercise is looking at waves and thinking to yourself “that waves is going to break over there.” Picture an imaginary surfer in the right spot to paddle for each wave. Look at the foam left behind by previous waves as a road map to how the next waves might break. This works better for spots that have some consistency.

I know not everyone can or will. But if you get into foiling, you will become an absolute expert on reading waves and energy. You can feel it through the wing and have a better understanding of the energy in the ocean and where to be. Best perk of foils: I take off on close out. I actually prefer it some days. Surfers aren’t gonna go for it. They paddle for the horizon. I’ll turn and go and then pump my way past surfers to go find some clean swell.

gold tutorial !!!

One thing I’ll say that REALLY helped me is simply watching a spot for a good 20-30 minutes. Just take note where waves break. Which way they’re going. Get familiar with the effects of the tide and wind and swell direction. Take note of the swell and the “lines”. You can always see if it’s pushing straight to shore. Or maybe the peak travel a bit left or right.

Nice explanation m8. 👍

No lies detected.. great vid!!

Thank you very much for the video, I'm at the stage that took waves but it's still hard for me to select the best ones. I will try to apply these concepts in my next session. if you have more examples for the do took🙌🏽

You are legit. Thx

Reading waves is a skill that can boost your surf to another level. And this is so helpful on crowded spots. Sometimes I see the signs of some really big waves coming, and go deep straight. So, you get nuts, while everyone else is duckdiving lol

I've never had issues reading wedgey peaky waves, I'm pretty good at taking off in positions. It's long stretching beach breaks I struggle with cuz I think it's gonna close out so I let it go and next min it peels perfect then I go or the next n it closes out lol (edit) I always tell other surfers where ever I am stay a few meters either side and your guaranteed a good ride lol

Tx man. Great stuff ! Could you do something on surf etiquette ? Line ups are getting more crowded and people often don't know or respect etiquette. Tx again :)

Very realistic information 🤙

Hello, I am a new subscriber.

Insane level instruction. When Brad Pitt turns his talents to surf lesson. 👌🏻

Wow, such a hard wave

Dude, I so was doing that as a kid

Your observational skills are acute. Thank you for sharing them with us noobies. I’m also a body surfer, and this is extremely helpful for that as well.

Are these tips working with skimboard

I just watch from the beach where the sets are coming in and paddle out there

wavesssss

Limited energy huh well I’m able to surf 🏄‍♂️ for over 3hrs most times lol

Good good good. Bro. No surfing no life.

😮😮😮😮

fortunately its not that simple.

I think it’s funny that people need a video to teach them how to surf rather then how we did it when we were kids just go in the water and do it and let the experience teach you.

Says the guy on the longboard . Beach , reef, points swell direction and interval all change every thing fuk local knowledge….you need more water time son .

Learning to use your brain to surf and your ability no one told me how to surf, not a fan of this video

All wrong. Beginners are never gonna develop this skill until AFTER they progress. The single most important thing to progression? Effective paddling. The surfer in this clip is paddling in a manner that LIMITS efficiency and ineffective paddling slows progression.... PERIOD. He's dragging his feet. They're hanging off the sides. He's keeping the nose of his board too high up and the tail, too deep... Hence, slow paddle speed. That's just THREE faults. I could have this guy catching the wave way earlier.... Hrs catching white water. Basically, the wave is catching him.....

Come on man, are you serious? Ridiculous. Who are you teaching, people who are learning how to swim?

Great tips in fact!!!