One way of doing it
Photo via Visualhunt
To help you teach your kids to surf and avoid the mistakes I’ve made, here’s some tips and advice I’ve gathered along the way.
Ten tips for teaching kids to surf
1. Teach your kid to swim. The earlier the better. It’s great quality time, could potentially save their life and will help them become confident surfers.
2. Lower your expectations. Unless you get paid to surf it’s unlikely you’ll have the time, skills or lifestyle to train your child to be a pro surfer in one summer.
3. Be patient. If they don’t want to go surfing or want to get out after 5 minutes let them. There’s always a next time. Force them, and there might not be a next time.
4. Practice the pop up. There’s a lot to think about in a short space of time when catching a wave. Practice the difficult bit, standing up or ‘the pop up’, out of the water.
5. Keep it fun. Teach them to enjoy wiping out. Praise them regularly. Laugh and smile. If it’s not fun, why do it?
6. Start when the waves are flat. A ripple is enough to get started and a two foot wave can be terrifying if you’re only 3ft high.
7. Keep your kid warm. Get a quality, 5mm wetsuit and boots if you surf in cold water. A cheap wetsuit will rub and they’ll get cold in minutes. If you surf in tropical waters, no problem.
8. Go with friends or family. There’s nothing like peer pressure to motivate a child. If a friend, sibling, cousin or other child a similar age is doing it, your child is more likely to join in.
9. Go on a surf holiday. Ideally you want warm water, beach breaks and gentle surf. Gnarly urchin infested reefs are a no-no.
10. Go for a joint surf lesson. You’ll learn some of the techniques for teaching, and it puts you on an equal level.
Sage advice from other surfing parents
Teaching my daughter to surf at Harlyn
Over the years I’ve asked a few surfer mums and dads “have you got any tips for teaching kids to surf?”. Here’s some of their answers:
Tom Curren – 3 times world champ, musician
Take them to Hawaii!
Or at least somewhere where the water’s warm and kids are surfing.
My parents took me to Hawaii when I was six, tried surfing and never stopped.
(Yes! I did meet THE T.C. And he was every bit the legend we love)
Sam Bleakley – longboard champion, writer, author, academic
The best surfer is the one having the most fun. To have fun you have to be safe. Being safe means choosing sensible equipment for your level and waves that suit your level, recognizing your limits, but also fuelling your ambitions to ride in new places and breaks that allow you to both enjoy and improve, but not get intimidated. Once all those ingredients are there, waves and surfing will carve an unforgettable smile on your face until the sun tips whole into plum-coloured sea, and you are the only one left out, already planning the dawn patrol.
But surfing isn’t just about being in the water. Learning to read the ocean is key, studying weather charts and spotting rip currents. Observe. Where are the crowds, where is the access? Where are the biggest and smallest waves breaking? What are the dangers? Where are they? Treat the beach as an exciting classroom to ‘learn through surfing’. And at home, practice the pop up in the living room, and watch your heroes surfing in surf films to be inspired by their style.
Read more of Sam’s unique surfing insights in his book Mindfulness and Surfing
Bruce Grief – author of Pier Rats
My daughters are 13 & 11, they enjoy boogie boarding, but have little interest in surfing. I did give my 13 year-old nephew a lesson this summer and by the end of the day he was catching whitewaters and standing up. My daughters did find this curious, and I bet I’ll get them to try it this summer.
In my experience the keys to learning to surf are having the right board and mastering paddling. I would tell someone to put the time in in the whitewater, stay there until getting to your feet is a sure thing, and learn to paddle. The better a paddler you are the easier it will be to catch waves. So much of the time we see a beginner, on a board too small, stroke to the outside, then flail around. Learning to surf is all about catching and riding waves, and catching waves is all about paddling. If you’re not catching waves, you’re not learning to surf.
That said, I think for kids it’s best to make the experience as fun as possible with as few a mishaps as possible. Try and keep the pearling to a minimum.
Learn more about Bruce’s youth as a surfer from his (mostly) fictional book Pier Rats.
Chris Thomson – Longboard Magazine founder, surfing entrepreneur
Start them young, don’t push them too hard, build a friend group around the surf. Don’t expect them to follow your passion. Expect them to come and go, dip in and out. Make it fun.
Read all about Chris Thomson and Longboard Magazine here.
Tyler Medford
Tyler and his son Nolan charging the ‘hang on!’ approach.
As for tips I would say just don’t push past your kids willingness and keep everything positive and fun or you may scare the little ones further away. On the flip side if your kid is just a little nervous you may have to get your kid out there and show them that it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just about the lifestyle your kid wants to live.
Jock Orton
1. Let them play and gain a sense of fun before giving them too much technical ‘instruction’.
2. Teaching your children to surf follows the same rule as trying to teach your children to drive, don’t do it! Pay for surf lessons.
3. You have surfed Nias at double overhead, got barrelled at Pipeline and towed in at Nazarre but in your children’s mind they still know more about surfing than you.
In addition to surfing wisdom, Jock offers amazing yoga retreats near my favourite surf spots in Cornwall.
Mark Reid
I’m no expert believe me – in fact I only started surfing myself 18 months ago and asked my daughters if they wanted to do it with me – the youngest one was keen the older one not so much. I certainly think getting them to try it at a young age is key – I really wish my folks had done something like this for me as I’ve wasted a good 30 years not knowing the joy of surfing.
My daughters follow the classic first child and second child characteristics – as parents you worry and fuss a lot over the first child because it’s new and scary, by the second it’s more relaxed and that I think reflects in the children’s personalities. I’m still working on my oldest girl as she’s a really strong swimmer and I think she’d be a good surfer – just need to get her past the whole getting changed in the back of a car or in a car park – we surf in Portrush in Northern Ireland so it’s cool enough at times in January in a car park.
Hawaiian Mark
@surferdaduk swim swim swim
— Mark (@Hawaiianmark) August 19, 2014
@surferdaduk and never ever panic.
— Mark (@Hawaiianmark) August 19, 2014
Shark Stopper
@surferdaduk Practice their pop into standing position, or if more comfortable pop into a knee position first to gain balance. Good luck!
— SharkStopper (@SharkStopper) August 19, 2014
Matt D
@surferdaduk Got my niece using fins and bb…good way to get them out back and reading the water also confidence with fins
— Matt D (@Matt23D) August 19, 2014
I will continue to slowly train my future No.1 best surf buddy and ask every surfer Mum and Dad I meet for their top tips along the way. In the meantime, please share your tips for teaching kids to surf in the comments below.
Great tips! I’d also say to get a soft board e.g. ‘Swell’ as their nice to lie on and don’t hurt to much if you get hit!
Ah yes, forgot about that. I’ve got a soft top for my daughter. They’re a lot lighter and safer than the lethal pop-out I learned on. Thanks for taking the time to read the post and share your tip. Cheers David.
Ah yes, forgot about that. I’ve got a soft top for my daughter. They’re a lot lighter and safer than the lethal pop-out I learned on. Thanks for taking the time to read the post and share your tip. Cheers David.
Great tips! I’d also say to get a soft board e.g. ‘Swell’ as their nice to lie on and don’t hurt to much if you get hit!
It’s tricky when you love something so much and want your kids to feel the same. My husband has taught all his 8 nieces and nephews to surf. 15-20 years later, 2 have become life long surfers and 4 more will surf when the opportunity presents itself. But when it comes to our own kids (10,12,16,18), it hasn’t happened quite like he hoped. They all love the ocean/beach (thankfully!) but aren’t too keen on surfing. The oldest 2 are finally showing a bit of interest and even took some boards down to the beach one morning recently where they watched the sunrise with friends and then hopped in the water for an early morning session. From our experience, I’d say don’t push it on the kids. I think my husband was a little too eager and pushed the kids harder than he should have. Let them develop of love of the ocean and then if they show an interest in surfing, introduce it to them in a low key way and go from there. .
Hi Cindy,
Funny you should say that, my nephew is the most enthusiastic of the kids I’ve helped teach surf. It doesn’t do any harm that he now lives in Sydney, but even when in the cold waters of Cornwall he was always very keen. I’ve also got a couple of good friends that have sacred their kids off surfing by pushing them too hard, so I completely agree with your advice.
Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences, I really appreciate it. Cheers Andrew (Surfer Dad)
Hi Cindy,
Funny you should say that, my nephew is the most enthusiastic of the kids I’ve helped teach surf. It doesn’t do any harm that he now lives in Sydney, but even when in the cold waters of Cornwall he was always very keen. I’ve also got a couple of good friends that have sacred their kids off surfing by pushing them too hard, so I completely agree with your advice.
Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences, I really appreciate it. Cheers Andrew (Surfer Dad)
It’s tricky when you love something so much and want your kids to feel the same. My husband has taught all his 8 nieces and nephews to surf. 15-20 years later, 2 have become life long surfers and 4 more will surf when the opportunity presents itself. But when it comes to our own kids (10,12,16,18), it hasn’t happened quite like he hoped. They all love the ocean/beach (thankfully!) but aren’t too keen on surfing. The oldest 2 are finally showing a bit of interest and even took some boards down to the beach one morning recently where they watched the sunrise with friends and then hopped in the water for an early morning session. From our experience, I’d say don’t push it on the kids. I think my husband was a little too eager and pushed the kids harder than he should have. Let them develop of love of the ocean and then if they show an interest in surfing, introduce it to them in a low key way and go from there. .
I think kids must be trained under professional surfers observation. And all the safety measures and precautions must be taken before landing in the sea. These waves could harm kids if there is no professional trainers. Nice article…cheers
I think kids must be trained under professional surfers observation. And all the safety measures and precautions must be taken before landing in the sea. These waves could harm kids if there is no professional trainers. Nice article…cheers
I have a 3, 5, and 7 year old and have been slowly teaching them to surf over the years. Quite frankly, there are days that are awesome and days that I feel I fell flat on my face as a Dad. Much of the advice given by the other parents was generally very true.
I have it a bit easier as I live in Hawaii so abundant waves and warm water are no problem. With that being said I have my share of difficulties, I still put my kids in wet suits during the Spring, Fall, and Winter months because once they get even slightly cold, they shut down and the session is pretty much over. I can only imagine how hard it would be to try and get the kids enthusiastic in really cold water.
I’ve had periods in my oldest child’s life where I pushed him too hard and he basically shut down on me for a few years. I recently got him back into it so I’ve changed my approach with him. Believe me, I am not above bribing my children with rewards/treats for a good surf session. I definitely always worry about them pearling, hitting the reef, and then mentally checking out.
The surf break is pretty key. Absolutely start with small waves. If the waves are too big or too steep then they are not going to have a good time.
I find it best to have them surfing on foam boards while they are still inexperienced. They are more buoyant and stable. Besides, catching a fiberglass board to the head is a surefire way to get them to quit on you.
One thing that I was surprised to not see in any of the advice from the other surfing parents is that you should plan on pushing them into the waves to start. You may be doing this for years until they can build up the body mass and strength to paddle into waves on their own. Sure, I know some 5 and 6 year olds that can paddle their own waves, but the majority of groms around that age or younger than that will need to be pushed into waves. Keep pearling to a minimum. I would rather have them further back on the board and miss the wave than too far forward and kissing the reef.
Wow, thanks for the fantastic feedback and helpful tips.
I agree with everything you say (which is rare for me). I suspect the reason I left out ‘pushing them into the waves’ is my daughter hates it when I do that. She has to do everything by herself! That said stabilising the board whilst they get into position before catching a wave, then pushing them into it definitely helps.
Thanks again Stephen, I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. Cheers
Great blog thanks. I agree with the comment above about a gentle push (stronger push for younger) into the waves. This allows them to lie a little further back the board and avoid pearling….which can happen even on a 6inch wave, and can/has hurt smaller kids.
Can you recommend any good books specifically for kids to learn to surf? We’ve cut out cardboard surfboards and our kids practice popups at home, which is great fun … but its hard to find a surf-learning book specifically for young kids.
Hi Shay,
I’ve been using the ‘gentle push’ tactic to help my daughter progress to unbroken waves recently, it’s made a big difference!
Looking around I only found one book specifically for teaching kids to surf, see: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Teach-Kids-Art-Surfing-ebook/dp/B00T3OQZ8K But I haven’t read it and the reviews aren’t exactly glowing.
There’s lots of great kids books about surfing like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mop-Rides-Waves-Life-Mindfulness/dp/1946764604 and you’ll find others reviewed here: https://www.surferdad.co.uk/surf-fiction-kids
But they’re not exactly manuals. I think you’ve found a gap in the market, perhaps I should write one!
Love the cardboard cut out idea and thanks for adding a comment. Always appreciated
Thanks for the quick response….yeah, I was thinking there’s a gap in the market there….I find the kids are really interested in the learn to surf books I bought years ago, but have to skip over an awful lot of the technical mumbo jumbo about where waves come from etc.
WRT the cardboard cutouts…..I find they really help my own popups too….much quicker to my feet after practicing with them at home.
Hi Andrew,
thank you for writing such a great article on teaching children how to surf.
I tried to do it with my son, but he ended up doing bodyboarding instead. But I’m glad that he enjoys it, that’s the most important thing.
Marco from Portugal
Thanks Marco and you’re absolutely right – getting in the water and enjoying the waves is more important than how it’s done. And you can still enjoy surfing together!