How to Improve Your Surfing
The fastest way to improve at surfing is to catch more waves, work on one specific thing per session and get feedback by watching video of yourself or working with a coach.
Published September 17, 2026
Most surfers improve quickly for a few months and then stall, still catching waves but riding them the same way session after session. The fix is rarely a new board or more fitness. It is more waves, one clear thing to work on at a time, and a way to see what you are actually doing out there.
Why progress stalls
Studies that time surfers in the water put actual wave riding at roughly 5% of a session, often less. The rest is paddling, waiting and duck diving. A two-hour session can mean three or four minutes on your feet, spread across waves that each last a few seconds.
That is very little practice, and almost no feedback. At that speed you cannot feel whether your back foot landed over the fins or whether you were looking at the nose of the board. The picture in your head of how you surf is usually a flattering guess. Everything below is about getting more practice out of each session and replacing that guess with something real.
Catch more waves, not better ones
Wave count is the fastest lever you have. Twenty small, clean waves at a mellow peak teach you more than three big ones at the main peak, where you spend most of the hour paddling for position. On busy days, move to the edge of the lineup, the inside or the next peak along, and take the smaller waves nobody else wants.
A few paddling habits add waves without any extra fitness: lie so the nose sits just clear of the water, use long strokes with your chest slightly lifted, start paddling earlier than feels necessary, and keep paddling for two or three strokes after you feel the wave pick you up. Most missed waves are waves where the surfer stopped paddling one stroke too soon.
Pick one thing per session
Trying to fix your pop-up, your stance and your bottom turn in the same session means none of them change. Choose one cue before you paddle out, keep it short enough to remember mid-wave, and ignore everything else. Good examples: "hands under my chest", "back foot over the fins", "look where I want to go".
After the session, write down whether it happened. It sounds fussy, but a note on your phone with the date, the spot and the one cue is the easiest way to notice you have been working on the same problem for a month.
See what you actually do out there
Book someone to film your whole session from the beach at one of six spots from Matosinhos to Sagres, then watch your waves back.
Watch yourself surf
Video is the most direct way to close the gap between what you feel and what you do. Surfers who see themselves on screen for the first time almost always say the same things: I thought I was lower, I thought I was faster, I did not know I looked down.
The most useful footage is filmed from the beach, side-on to the wave, close enough that you fill a decent part of the frame, and it covers the whole session: paddling, pop-ups, wipeouts and missed waves included. Watch each wave a few times in slow motion, pick the one thing that stands out, and make it your cue for the next session. Film again two or three weeks later and compare. Our guide to what to look for in your surf footage goes through it step by step.
Get the pop-up and stance right first
Most problems on a wave start in the first second. A pop-up that goes through the knees, feet that land too far back or off the centre of the board, or standing up tall and stiff will limit everything that follows, from speed to turning.
The pop-up is also the one skill you can train at home. Ten to twenty pop-ups on the floor a day, done slowly and then at speed, with hands flat under your chest and both feet landing at once, carry over surprisingly well. Film a few on your phone from the side: the same mistakes you make in the water usually show up on the living-room floor.
Ride a board that lets you practise
Moving to a smaller board too early is one of the most common reasons intermediate surfers stop improving. A board with too little volume catches fewer waves, bogs down on the slow sections and punishes small mistakes, so each session gives you less practice. If you are catching fewer waves than the people around you on similar days, try more volume for a few weeks. Renting different boards is the cheapest way to find out what works for your weight and level before you buy.
Train a little out of the water
You do not need a gym programme, but a few things transfer directly. Swimming and paddling fitness mean more waves before your arms give out. Hip and ankle mobility make a low, quick pop-up easier. A surfskate lets you practise the rotation and compression of a turn on dry land, which is why so many coaches use one. Keep it modest and regular rather than ambitious and occasional.
Learn from people who surf better than you
Surf with friends who are a step ahead and ask them what they see. Watch the good surfers at your local break, ideally on a board like yours, because a longboarder learns little from copying a shortboarder's turns. And at some point, pay for coaching. Lessons are not only for beginners: an intermediate lesson, or remote video coaching that looks at your own footage, often fixes in a week what would take a season to work out on your own.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get good at surfing?
It varies a lot with how often you surf and where. As a rough guide, people who surf a couple of times a week usually need one to two years to go from riding whitewater to comfortably catching unbroken waves and riding along them. Surfing only on holidays stretches that out, because much of each trip goes on relearning the basics.
What is the fastest way to improve at surfing?
Catch more waves by choosing uncrowded peaks and smaller days, work on one specific thing per session, and get feedback from video or a coach. Of the three, feedback is the one most surfers skip.
How can I improve my surfing without going in the water?
Practise pop-ups on the floor, work on hip and shoulder mobility, ride a surfskate to train turns, and watch footage of yourself and of good surfers on a similar board. Swimming also builds the paddling fitness that decides how many waves you catch.
Why am I not improving at surfing?
The usual causes are too few waves per session (crowded peaks, or conditions that are too big), a board with too little volume for your level, trying to change everything at once, and no feedback on what you are actually doing. Filming a session usually shows which one it is.
Is it worth getting filmed while surfing?
Yes, especially once you are standing up consistently. Seeing yourself on video shows stance, pop-up timing and where you look, which are hard to feel in the water. In Portugal, Marola can book someone to film your session in Matosinhos, Baleal and Peniche, Ericeira, Costa da Caparica, Aljezur or Sagres.