Hello,

Im 23 and am considering taking up surfing, i am learning to swim so may be a while but whats the best way to start?

I have had a fear of water that im hoping the thrill of surfing may help eradicate, i think i watched jaws too many times as a kid!!

hope someone can help

Nath

Learning to swim is a good start!!! The main thing will be to get yourself comfortable in the water in apool and then when you feel ready just play around in the sea with a board.. Don't put too much emphasis on actually getting out the back and riding a wave properly to start with as more important to start with will be building confidence so that you can be relaxed as possible when in the sea.

If you really are a non-swimmer at the moment then once you get past that stage and can swim in the pool, you might also want to try swimming in the pool with your wetsuit on before going out into the sea with it on.. Wetsuits make you float quite a bit and will help your legs float, this can however feel a little disconcerting to weak swimmers as weaker swimmers tend to keeps their legs lower in the water and having them float makes them feel as though they can't keep thier head up so well.... Always worth trying these things in the safety of a pool if you are at all worried about them.

At the end of the day it doesn't actually matter what you're doing out there as long as you are having fun and are safe, so make sure you have someone with you and pick safe beaches to go out at too... Dodgy currents and nasty shorebreaks aren't going to help....

Have fun.
Al.

thanks for that, hitting the pool this afternoon