Tag: learn to surf

Surfing in Osnabrück shopping centre, Germany

Posted on | by James Price | Leave a Comment on Surfing in Osnabrück shopping centre, Germany

Yes it’s true! You can now surf, (or as close to it on an artificial wave) inside a shopping centre in a city called Osnabrück in North West Germany!

Surfing the Osnabrück Citywave® is like no other surf experience we’ve ever come across. Since we surfed at Surf Snowdonia Wales in 2017, artificial waves have been created in huge numbers worldwide. The WSL alongside Kelly Slater have even created an official World Surf League stop at the landlocked mid Californian artificial wave park. With this growth we have now seen surfing officially recognised as an Olympic sport and it cannot be denied artificial wave parks will definitely play a fundamental part in the future of surfing.

So surfing in a shopping centre… this is the next level of adapting humans into wave riding mammals. In the small city of Osnabrück you can go shopping for your groceries, maybe some clothing and then go for a 45 minute surf! We even met people in our session who had swapped out there gym routine entirely for a few sessions a week on the Citywave®.

The official Citywave® description reads:

‘Citywave® is a next generation wave pool that makes surfing available to everyone, everywhere, even far away from any ocean break. Grab your board during lunch break, enjoy a refreshing surf session after an exhausting day at the office or spend your weekend ripping regardless of tide or weather conditions.’

Riding the Citywave® takes a small amount of time to adjust to from ocean waves, and it is similar to a river wave in the way that the water is approaching you from the front at an incredible speed. But once you have mastered how not to bog the rail into the current, you suddenly feel the thrill very similar to surfing an ocean wave! After 15 minutes of attempts it had clicked and to say the least we left Osnabruck feeling stoked!

Check out these photos from our session on the Citywave® Jan 2019 and Surf Snowdonia 2017.

Thanks to Lengermann & Trieschmann for the experience, to all the staff that work on the wave and of course Citywave® for creating this machine!

How To Learn To Surf

Posted on | by James Price | Leave a Comment on How To Learn To Surf

You’ve decided to learn to surf?

Learning to surf could be one of the most frustrating things you will ever do, but also one of the most rewarding. With the correct guidance you can master the art of riding waves in an elegant and stylish way. (Only the exceptional few have actually mastered it, such as the likes of Kelly Slater, but we can dream.) The learning process is much longer and drawn out than most sports and even when you think “yes this is it! I’ve got this” you will take a few more steps backwards. One of the biggest lessons most seasoned surfers learn is that they wish they learnt the correct way, or without ‘that’ bad habit.

So here’s our take on learning to surf.

Most importantly, take surf lessons! Surf lessons are available at most of our popular surfing beaches here in the UK. Taking surf lessons will allow you to learn how to surf the correct way without the common bad habits of some seasoned surfers. Imagine learning the wrong basic techniques and then having to “unlearn” your bad habits before you can continue your progression. Surfing England is the recognised National Governing Body in England, look out for this accreditation when selecting your surf school.

So you’ve done some lessons, maybe even hired a board and surfed a few times. You are ready to move onto the next stage.

Buying your first surfboard.

Having the correct equipment helps you perform in any sport and surfing is no different to this. The level of which you are at will hugely affect your surfboard purchase. Choosing an incorrect surfboard will completely change your experience, maybe even ruin surfing for you. Getting this right is a must. Basically when you learn to surf you will need to look for large volume and flat rocker (the curvature of the board). You could choose either longboard’s, Mini Malibu’s or foam boards that are wide, thick. Our favourites to learn to surf are the 8ft Razor Mini Mal and the 7 ft Soft-board, both surfboards have a lot of float and a flat rocker allowing for a high wave count and maximum fun when learning.

Where to surf?

Where you are going to learn to surf is extremely important. Surfing spots vary incredibly. Most surfers will tell you “learn on a beach break” this is correct, however this advice isn’t always the best. Always check out the specific beach conditions before heading out, look out for tell tale signs that the conditions may be above your ability. Are the waves heavy? Are they mellow? Some beaches have a consistency for being a beginners wave however even in large swells this could be too much. Check out local surf forecasting websites who give you the lowdown on exactly what is happening in the water. (For example Eyeball Surf http://www.eyeballhq.tv).

The main lesson

And finally for us the most important lesson is persistence and enjoyment! If you keep surfing as often as you can and laugh even when its not going as planned, you will be gliding along waves in no time.

Are you using a Circle One surfboard? Join the community, use the hashtag #CircleOneSurfCo on Instagram, we always love to see our surfboards being enjoyed.