Bodysurfing is the oldest and simplest form of wave riding, and prior to the invention of the surf leash in the 1970s, was once a prerequisite skill for any surfer swimming after a lost board post-wipeout. For centuries, anyone who surfed—by way of necessity—also knew how to bodysurf.
As the purest form of surfing, bodysurfing is arguably the best way to gain confidence in the ocean and learn how to tap into its energy, simply because there is nothing separating the bodysurfer from the wave.
Bodysurfing is the foundation of all other forms of wave-riding and is an important skill for all beachgoers to learn. Bodysurfing is a great way to build ocean awareness, as it teaches you how to read waves, how to dive beneath them, how to catch them, how to move around other surfers, and how to identify rip currents and other potential hazards.
One of the earliest attempts to legitimize the sport of bodysurfing came from California lifeguard Ron Drummond, who published The Art of Wave Riding in 1931—the first ever book on bodysurfing (and surfing in general).
“Wave riding—without a surfboard—is a sport with which few people are familiar, and it is undoubtedly in its initial stages of development,” Drummond wrote. “There are no books of instruction on the subject, and at present only a few of the more athletically inclined have become proficient wave riders.”
Drummond goes on to comment on the necessity for such an instructional book:
One has only to watch a swarm of bathers at any crowded beach in order to see that thousands of people are interested in the sport. Whenever a good wave for riding comes in, about half the people make an attempt to ride it, and only about one-tenth of one per cent of them even get started on it.
It is this pitiful sight of thousands of swimmers, young and old, men and women, always trying and never succeeding, that has urged me to put into print a few hints that I hope will be of some help in teaching the enthusiastic beach-goers the art of body surfing, and thus increase a thousand fold the pleasure derived from ocean bathing.
Like Drummond, I hope these “hints” will help you master the art of bodysurfing!
I’ve got basic bodysurfing tips: know how to swim, have a suit that’s gonna stay on, kick like hell, and come out of the water smiling. – Mark Cunningham
1. Master the streamline position in white water waves
The first step in learning how to bodysurf is catching whitewater waves in the streamline position.
Standing in thigh-deep water, keep your eyes on the horizon and look for a big wave breaking far away from you. By the time the wave gets to you, it should be a fast-moving wall of whitewater.
Once you identify a good ledge of whitewater approaching, turn toward the shore and continue to watch the wave over your shoulder. Make sure to take a deep breath before the wave arrives so that you fill your body with oxygen and become more buoyant.
Just before the wall of whitewater hits your backside, bring your chest down to the water and swing your arms out in front of you as you gently launch yourself out in front of the oncoming wave.
In the streamline position, the goal is to keep your body long, straight, and buoyant. Focus on keeping your spine (including your neck) in a straight line: biceps squeeze ears, hands and feet press together.
Think “superman position” but with your face submerged underwater and your limbs squeezing in toward your midline. Because your face is underwater, you will need to release a gentle stream of air out your nostrils so you don’t get water up your nose.
As you hydroplane across the surface of the water, keep your body rigid like a surfboard. Also, make sure to bring some awareness to your feet and hands, as they are the steering mechanism responsible for guiding you where you want to go.
2. Continue practicing the streamline position with swim fins
Once you have mastered the streamline position with nothing but your body, you can head back to the beach and grab a pair of swim fins.
Swim fins are an essential piece of equipment when swimming out past the surf zone, as they elongate the foot and provide you with more power when treading water and kicking into breaking waves.
I am a big fan of DaFin swim fins, which are powerful and comfortable to wear, and are preferred by ocean lifeguards and bodysurfers around the world.
When entering the ocean with swim fins, walk out to thigh-deep water and then sit down with your back facing the ocean to put the fins on your feet. Now you can back-peddle or “moonwalk” out to waist deep water to continue catching whitewater waves in the streamline position.
Now, when you launch yourself into the streamline position wearing fins, think about bringing your feet up out of the water behind you and kicking the oncoming wave in the face. Once you feel the wave’s momentum transferred to your body, you can stop kicking and allow your fins to plane behind you like a dolphin tail.
3. Kick out to the surf lineup using a handboard
As you get more comfortable navigating the shallow water zone with fins, you can experiment with swimming out a little deeper and kicking into waves rather than launching into them from your feet. This is where a handboard can be a helpful tool for learning how to kick properly.
When it comes to learning how to bodysurf green waves, there is no better tool than the Grom Soft Top Handboard made by Slyde Handboards.
Extend the board out in front of your body with both hands as you kick out to the green wave zone (surf lineup).
You will have to duck dive under the waves coming at you by shifting your weight forward and sinking the board underwater. Make sure to bring your butt up to the surface and then dive straight down getting as deep as you can to escape the impact of the breaking wave above you.
Once you make it out past the impact zone, you can rest by floating on your back. Then, continue to tread water and wait for a surfable green wave to arrive.
4. Practice catching green (breaking) waves with a handboard
Once you identify a good wave approaching, reach the handplane out in front of you with one arm. Kick on your side and continue watching the wave over your shoulder.
Allow the wave to pick you up, and then kick hard down the face and extend your body into the streamline position as you ride straight to the beach.
Once you figure out how to distinguish rights vs. lefts, you can practice gliding across the wave face rather than riding straight to the beach.
Press down on the handplane to lift your chest and head higher out of the water. This allows you to look in the direction you want to go, either right or left, and guide the handboard across the face of the wave to lengthen your ride.
5. Swim out to the lineup without a handboard (swim fins only)
When swimming out to the green wave zone without a handboard, you can use a head-up freestyle stroke, breaststroke, or sidestroke.
Keep your eyes on the horizon while you swim out so you can avoid getting pummeled by the oncoming waves. Just before the wave gets to you, practice swimming down as deep as you can to escape the breaking wave’s energy.
Breathe steadily and conserve your energy on the swim out so that you are fresh and ready to catch waves when you make it to the lineup.
6. Bodysurf across the face of a breaking wave
The key to catching green waves without a handplane is to focus on timing. Therefore, try not to waste too much energy swimming for the wave.
As the wave approaches, you can kick yourself into position using a sidestroke with one arm extended out in front of you. Keep your eyes on the peak of the wave as you position yourself in front of where it is about to break.
“When you’re in the right spot for a wave,” says renowned bodysurfer Mark Cunningham, “you want to be in the top third of the peak, right under the hook. So on the takeoff, imagine being the surfboard itself.”
As the wave starts to pick you up, take a couple hard freestyle strokes down the face of the wave. Angle your body in the direction you want to go and plane off your lead hand while kicking into the wave with your fins.
“On a left, you’re going to stretch your left arm out ahead of you and use it to guide and plane down the line,” says Cunningham. “Only the left side of your body should be in the water at this time — that’s the rail you’re leaning on. The right half of your body is out of the water, your head is out with your right hand back and dragging like a skeg. Going right, do the same but with opposite arms.”
Don’t forget to smile and enjoy the ride!
For more advanced bodysurfing tips, check out: Better Bodysurfing: 4 Ways to Improve.