How to improve surfing fitness quickly for competition

Posted by Mords1944 on March 5th, 2020

Before we jump into the surfing fitness tips, we can quickly go over how the current Association of Surfing Professionals that are reviewing criteria is described. At least that's what I think is current. Does anyone really know about ASP?

1) Usually, five ASP referees score each wave between zero and ten points.

2) Of these five scores (per wave), the highest and lowest scores fall.

3) The remaining three scores (per wave) are divided by three to give a total wave score.

4) Winners with higher scores in each heat move into the next rounds and knock out surfers as they go until only two surfers fight for it in the final. It's a bit like a professional tennis grand slam competition.

In general, the judges look at the following four points to score each wave. Therefore, these points dictate what should become part of your surfing training protocols.

1) Power and speed

2) Rhythm or flow

3) Duration & difficulty (of each maneuver in steep wave sections)

4) Speed ​​and improvisation

So here are some surfing training tips that will benefit anyone who paddles out and will catch more waves and especially for those of you who want to compete.

1) Exercise the surf for short periods of high intensity and practice specific movements you need or want to master. Do twenty to thirty minutes of intense surfing followed by a fifteen minute wind down the beach with some painting, reflection and rehydration time. Repeat this three to four times. This is one of the fastest ways to quickly improve your competition surfing fitness, especially if the waves are pumping.

2) Know your strengths and know your weaknesses. With surfing, it is always good to play your strengths, but many surfers forget to focus on building their surfing weaknesses. How's your backhand, airplay, small wave surfing, big wave surfing, etc. We all have preferences and strengths and we all have weaknesses. All-round surfers have the ability to improve and work on what they need to work on, and so can you.

3) Paddle Fitness is the key to free surfing pleasure and competition, so every time you surf, spend the first 20 to 30 minutes working at speed and power paddling. Catch as many waves as possible and surf your brain on each wave. Even take waves that may close or possibly put you where you do not want to be (not advisable if the surf is heavy and huge). However, this smaller-day training strategy quickly forces you to 'get out of the impact zone' by training your cardiovascular system and developing speed and braking power that will lead to better surfing fitness. Just remember to keep your head and body quiet and focus on punching through with your arms and having a high elbow with each stroke.

Obviously, faster and more efficient paddlers mean you get back into position faster and give you more time for wave selection and getting priority as both a free surfer or a competitor.

4) Power, rhythm and flow; get these ingrained in your DNA. Golf, martial arts, dancing, surfing gymnastics, skateboarding, snowboarding can all help with your surfing training and performance conditioning. Everyone is fun and easy to do and everyone is quickly transferred to your surfing. Many of these sports or disciplines also allow for innovation that is also scored by surfing.

4) Surfing is a lot like golf. It's about consistency. The more consistent you are with your performance, the greater the likelihood of getting consistently higher scores. If your surfing game is inconsistent, the judges know this and their subconscious mind clicks with 'doubt' on every wave they judge you on. So pick consistently good waves, surf all the way and know your highest score will drop. When you think about it - getting a perfect score for a wave means that all judges have to score very high and consistent everywhere.

5) Practice big moves in big sections because that's what scores a lot. If you fall, there is more duck diving, more impact zones and more challenge of getting back in place. Combine this with mentally going through how to improve the next wave, everyone will add to your surfing fitness and make you a better surf athlete.