Before even leaving in my house, Monica sent me these videos, to practice at home before even heading to the beach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11ZFAylHYY&feature=youtu.be
Turns out there was a miscommunication in locations, so while we thought we were driving to Monterey Bay (a 3.5 hour drive), we were actually driving all the way to Morro Bay (a 4.5 hour drive). In our attempt to make the 9:00am lesson that we had scheduled with Dan Szentesi, we raced down the highway. Unfortunately, we arrived at around 9:50, but we still got an hour of our lesson!
We started out on land. Dan had a board for me to use, and it was already marked with the center - so I just had to focus on keeping my foot on that mark when I stood up. This is a picture of me swaying around on the board, to find my center of balance. This is where he warned me about having to keep my balance when we actually got into the water. We tested to see if I was regular footed or goofy footed (regular is with your left foot forward, goofy is with the right in front - I'm regular footed).
I started by kneeling on my board (picture above is me getting onto my knees, to the right of me is my mentor, Monica, and on the left is Dan, our instructor). We focused on finding the center of the board, and pulling my knees closely together, to stay centered, again practicing balance for when we get onto the water.
While staying centered on the board, I laid down flat. The board I was using was 8 feet long, so when my toes touched the edge of the board, there was still plenty of room at the nose of the board. This is the starting position when riding a wave. I learned that you start either next to your board, ready to hop on, or already lying flat on the board. From here, you do a "pop-up".
This is the beginning of a "pop-up". Dan was showing us where to go next while we laid in Cobra pose (yoga term that surfers use too!).
And here's a shot of me beginning my "pop-up". In a perfect world (and with much practice) you could be lying flat and suddenly standing up straight riding a wave in one swift movement. Starting on your stomach, you come up on your knees, then (with one hand on each side of your body) you place one foot in the center of the board, and stand up (the other foot pivoting as you go).
While I was able to stand on my first time out, it was only for a second or two. I hope to be able to ride a wave all the way from peak to shore - but practice makes perfect! Either way, I'm proud of how far I've come within just a few hours. I've learned today that it truly is about balance, and it's also extremely exhausting. Granted, Dan did tell me that the waves were super rough for a first time out (this is because the tides tend to rise as the day progresses, so 9:00am was prime time, and 11:00am (when we got there) called for rougher waves). The beach was also pretty crowded, so it was hard for me to learn in such a small area (without hitting other people!).
All in all, it was a great experience, and I'm stoked to see what's to come next!
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