Using Your Arms When Surfing

Martin Dunn is widely regarded as one of the best surf coaches in the world.

In this video Martin goes over why using your arms while you’re surfing is an under-appreciated key to great surfing.

You want to lift your arms at the same time you straighten out your entire body to generate power. You can then use the power to generate speed or lift yourself into critical sections of waves.

There are 3-times when lifting your arms are important.

  1. When you want to generate horizontal speed. Lifting your arms to shoulder height while simultaneously straightening your body will take weight off of the surfboard, raise the board on the wave, and generate horizontal speed.
  2. Using a single arm to aim for the lip. Lifting your leading arm above your head will direct your force towards the lip.
  3. To climb a breaking lip. Lifting both arms above your head will give you enough upward force for a floater or a lip hit on a breaking lip.

Correct usage of your arms can help you:

  • Generate speed in small waves.
  • Create a high rebound when performing cutbacks.
  • Attack breaking lips with confidence.

You can find the original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI-M1gMD0WE.

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