Surfing isn’t just about practice. Physics has a lot to do with what works and what doesn’t in surfing, making this a very technical sport. Putting your body in the wrong position could make surfing harder, and it might just throw you right off your board.
Body positioning on a surfboard allows you to keep balance, even as gravity and forceful waves fight against you. When paddling, taking off, and standing, it’s crucial to keep your body straight and centered and align yourself with the board to prevent wipeouts.
So, keep reading as I discuss surfing stance from head to toe and go through the best positions for riding the waves. I’ll teach you the proper positions for paddling and take off, and I’ll also go into detail about how to keep the perfect stance so that you can always stay on top. Let’s go!
Why Is Body Positioning Important for Surfing?
When you’re surfing, three equal forces act on you—gravity, buoyancy, and the force of the waves.
Body positioning is important for surfing because you’ll have to stay balanced as gravity, buoyancy, and the water fight against you. The proper stance will allow you to negate specific forces with others, keeping you in control of the board.
Gravity pushes you and your board down on top of the water. Without the proper stance, it’ll propel you into the water, too. That’s because your weight pulls you down when you’re surfing. If you’re not centered, you’ll plummet into the sea.
On the other hand, buoyancy keeps you afloat. The broader and longer your board is, the more buoyancy you have.
Buoyancy is in a constant push-and-pull battle with gravity while you’re surfing. As your board pushes you up to the surface of the ocean, your weight pushes you down.
While buoyancy and gravity pull you up and down, the force of the waves moves you on a flat plane, left to right, and forward to backward. Drag, spray, and impact forces from the waves will move you in many different directions, and your stance is the only control you have over them.
Thus, achieving and maintaining a balance between gravity, buoyancy, and the push and pull of the waves is the true goal of surfing. To keep all of these forces in check and prohibit them from overpowering you and your board, you’ll have to have the balance and strength to oppose them.
How Do You Position Your Body for Paddling?
Perfecting your paddling position is the first step to surfing, and as you get better at it, you’ll become a more muscular, better surfer, too.
When you lay down on your board and paddle out onto the water, you’ll want to ensure that you’re in the best position to gain speed steadily and prepare for take-off.
You can position your body for paddling by putting your body directly in the center of the board with your torso in the middle third of the board’s length. Keep your back arched, your hips square, and your legs together to make efficient turns.
You’ll want to put your chest and torso in the middle and center of your surfboard.
If you put your chest too near the nose, you might move too quickly, and your turns will be too dramatic. If your body is too near the tail, you’ll move slowly, and turning will be more challenging.
Generally, most pros recommend putting your chest in the middle 1/3 of the board to maintain optimum balance.
As you paddle, keep your hips square and your legs together, allowing your body to fit along the rails. Doing so will ensure that you stay balanced, and it’ll give you the most control over your turns.
As you paddle, keeping an arched back and open eyes is essential. That’s because raising your chest and neck will help you see where you’re going, and it’ll also distribute your weight evenly, making turns much more straightforward.
Most of the force from your paddling should come from your shoulders, which is ideal since shoulders are usually much more powerful than other muscles in the arm.
To paddle, push your hands into the water one by one with a cupped hand, creating a curve as your wrists dip into the water and resurface. As you get closer to a wave, pick up speed, keeping your body as straight as possible.
Now, it’s time to prepare for take-off!
How Do You Properly Position Your Body for Take-Off?
As you catch a wave, you need the most strength in the pop-up since you’ll have to fight gravity while keeping your balance, even after so much paddling.
This transition from laying on your board to standing happens in mere seconds, which can put beginners in a bit of a panic. Still, the more you practice good form, the more natural and straightforward it’ll feel.
To properly position your body for take-off after paddling, you’ll need to direct your eyesight where you want to go, pull up your torso, and center your front leg. Then, you can release your hands and slowly pop up on top of the board.
Let’s look at these techniques together.
Direct Your Eyesight Where You Want To Go
As you hit the crest of a wave during the take-off, the first thing you need to do is direct your eyesight.
Looking where you want the board to go isn’t just about seeing the wave. When you move your head, you twist your spine, interfering with your balance. When your body tries to stay balanced as you pop up, your body will naturally try to correct the twist in your spine, ultimately pushing the board in the proper direction.
Pull Up Your Torso and Center Your Front Leg
Once you’re looking in the direction you want to steer your board, you can position your front foot.
To do so, you’ll have to put your hands on the board and pull up your torso. Ideally, your hands should be on either side of the centerline on your board, and your front foot should go directly in between your hands.
If you plan on making a sharp turn, you may want to put one of your hands a bit lower than the other, allowing you to give your take-off a twisting motion. However, if you’re a beginner, it’s usually best to center your hands parallel to each other before you try anything more complicated.
As you shift your hands and front foot, you need to keep your body squared and balanced, compressed into something that looks a bit like the fetal position with your back leg extended behind you.
Your front knee needs to come directly between your arms, pointing slightly towards the direction you want to go. That way, you won’t lose balance as you maneuver the board and coast parallel to the wave.
Release Your Hands and Slowly Pop Up
Once you get your front foot squared on the center with all of your toes pointing to either the left or right rail of the surfboard, release your hands and pop up slowly.
Moving through this sequence of movements can be challenging at first, but if you learn it correctly, you can avoid developing bad habits that may be even more difficult to correct later.
For a fantastic walkthrough of the proper body positioning for a professional-grade pop-up technique, check out this YouTube video from Barefoot Surf:
How Do You Position Your Stance on a Surfboard?
Once you pull your body off your board, your stance has to be in perfect balance to keep you from succumbing to gravity and the waves’ impact.
You position your stance on a surfboard by ensuring your feet are shoulder-distance apart and pointing to the rail, your knees are loosely bent and turned to the nose, your hips and torso are straight, your arms extend over each rail, and your eyes are open and forward.
So, let’s start from your feet and work our way up, perfecting your stance as you go.
Feet
Your foot positioning could make or break your stance while surfing. Most of your balance will come from your feet, making them crucial for maneuvering and staying upright on the board.
When surfing, you want to shift your weight forward, backward, to the left, and to the right. Most of this control comes from your feet and ankles, which root you to the board’s center while you shift your body’s weight.
When you stand on a surfboard, you should canter your feet over the stringer (the board’s middle line). Placing your feet there will keep your body’s weight from tipping the surfboard too much as you shift and maneuver on the water.
Once your feet are on the board, you want to make a rectangle with your feet. Your body should rest in the center of this rectangle, allowing you to keep your weight distributed in the dead center of the surfboard.
To make this “rectangle,” place your feet shoulder-distance apart, both pointing to the right or left.
Most beginners will make a triangle with their feet, pointing one foot towards the nose, creating an “open stance.” Doing so will make it challenging to shift your weight to the left or right. So, to keep your movements free and uninhibited, keep your feet parallel to each other.
Knees
You should never lock your knees while surfing. Keeping gently bent knees will help you absorb the force of the waves pushing against you, and it’ll allow you to shift your body’s weight without losing balance.
As you stand on the board, both your knees should be loose and pointing towards the nose. Ideally, you should look like you’re mid-step with just a bit of bend in your legs.
A wide, squatting stance will shift your center of gravity away from the board’s center, giving you issues with balance, while straight, out-turned knees will limit your ability to push your weight forward and backward.
Hips and Torso
Your hips are the “motor” of your surfing stance. Shifting your hips backward will slow down the board, while pushing them forward will speed you up. Also, slight hip movements will help you turn and redirect your board’s nose.
So, ensuring that your hips are square and pointing towards the nose will keep you in control of where you’re going and how fast you get there.
Many rookies start by bending their body at the hip while surfing, which looks like you’re bowing down to pick something up off the floor.
This stance will make you feel top-heavy while you’re on the water, and it’ll move your board in whatever direction your head is tilting. If you bend too much, you’re also vulnerable to impact forces, which will throw you right off the side of the board to land in a belly flop.
So, to avoid a water-bourne faceplant, keep your spine straight and as upright as you can. Try to keep a good, straight posture, and never bend forward in any scenario. Instead, use your knees to center your gravity and adjust your compression.
Arms
Most people start by spreading their arms out sideways to help them maintain balance. However, while moving quickly on the water, sticking your arms out can create wind drag and interfere with your center of gravity.
To ensure that your torso, knees, and feet stay centered on your board and that your weight stays evenly distributed, you want one hand to extend over each side rail.
Your arms should be loose and low, just to the point where they reach beyond your board on each side. From this position, you can use your hands to make turns without having to swing them about, keeping your board stable, even amid tight turns and choppy wave conditions.
For an example of how to position your arms, check out this YouTube video guide from Surf Simply:
Eyes
Eyes might seem like a small part of your surfing position, but they’re the guiding force of your board. Keeping your eyes directed where you want to go can mean a total wipeout or a successful surf, so always stay one step ahead with your gaze.
Experienced surfers use their necks and eyes as a frame for the rest of their body’s movements while surfing. Positioning your head in the direction you want to go, then slowly squaring your torso, then hips, then knees in that direction will help you make smooth, graceful turns.
Where Should You Put Your Feet on a Surfboard?
As I mentioned earlier, your feet are the foundation for your balance, and keeping them rooted in place can prevent you from toppling over. Still, deciding whether to put your feet closer to the nose or tail of the board takes some assessment of the water conditions.
You should put your feet closer to the tail of the surfboard when you’re riding fast or choppy waves. However, when riding fat, slower waves, you should move your feet closer to the nose. That’s because changing your foot position will shift your center of gravity and create or diminish drag.
When you put your feet closer to your surfboard’s tail, you have more ability to slow down. And when you shift your weight to the back of the board, you can lift the nose, creating a lot more drag.
In addition, with your feet further back, you have a lot more control over your turns. By pressing back on your rear foot, you can lift the nose and redirect it quickly, allowing you to make quick cutbacks and carves.
However, this position usually makes the board less stable, so it’s important not to move too far back.
Moving your feet closer to the nose allows you to reduce backward drag and propel yourself forward a bit easier, which is why it’s an ideal position for slower waves.
Still, too far forward, and you’ll create drag on the nose, which could make you wipe out, so staying close to the board’s center is always the best practice for beginner and intermediate surfers.
Can the Wrong Body Positioning Be Dangerous?
The right body positioning is important when standing on a surfboard.
The wrong body positioning can be dangerous because it won’t help the surfer react to the waves properly. The right body positioning ensures that the surfer can maneuver correctly and stay balanced throughout the surf, avoiding wipeouts.
Before you face the big waves, you will first need to learn body positioning basics. If you’re new to surfing, you will first learn how to stand on the surfing board. How quickly you can stand on the board with ease depends on how quickly you learn. Keep practicing!
Final Thoughts
Surfing positions are all about negotiating with gravity, buoyancy, and the water, and without the proper stance, these forces might just force you into the water. Still, keeping the right balance and control as you paddle, pop-up, and stand on your board will prepare you for any wave that comes your way, and it’ll probably get you some style points, too.
