l can ride whitewater quite well because l can touch the sand and ride unbroken waves when they rarely come close to shore. l wana go out into the unbroken SOOO bad. but l cant touch the bottom out there and find it hard to get enough power without physically pushing the board while standing in the water. can u help me with this problem?? ist dangerous to go out over my head? thanks in advance guyys!

buy a mini mal surfboard they are the big boards for begginers and are really good and need little effort to get onto a wave.
if you can swin then it should be ok just go out bit by bit

aside from telling you paddling out is tough when you are a beginner, and until you get over your fear of being out there, dont go----i will let John F handle this.

ok paddeling is basically everything in surfing. its half the job. take it slow practice at home thats what l do . do arm exercises. it gets easier the more you do it and as far as the boards go get a funboard there supose to be easy for beginners. When you paddle out dont go out to far if your scared yet wait a little and work your way out if u rush yourself then it could lead to problems so know whats right

The only cure for bad paddling is more paddling. You may want to play around with where u postion yourself on ur board, this will make a big difference in the glide of ur board. Once u figure out where u paddle best from make sure u remember where it is, it is usually about where ur chin is above ur logo, but it may be off some.

If u can swim well u should be fine going in over ur head. However if u r not a good swimmer u should never be surfing from a point where u cannot swim in by yourself if u need to. If you're really worried wear a leash, that way u will always have a flotation device nearby.

When u r looking to paddle out to where the waves r breaking look for two things: First, if u happen to live where u get ground swell ur waves will come in sets, usually 3-5 waves per set. Wait for a lull in between sets & then paddle out. Second, look for areas where it appears that the waves r either not breaking or r kind of crumbling. This indicates a rip current. For swimmers rip currents present a real hazard, for surfers they work like a moving sidewalk to help u get out. Just ride it out & paddle sideways to get out of it when u reach the lineup.

It sounds like you just need to practice your paddling. On a small day paddle out past the waves are breaking and just paddle around.

The Surfboard Man
http://thesurfboardman.com/

If u have to ask is it dangerous to go out in water over ur head, u should not be surfing!! Now, that does not mean that u should never surf, but u better master ur ocean swimming skills before u try to surf.

Probably one of the reasons why u can not paddle well, is that u can not swim well. You need to be an excellent swimmer to surf. Right now there r probably hundreds of people surfing, who r poor swimmers, & who should be mastering ocean swimming skills first. There r just way too many dangerous people out there in the water.

Try this: Stop surfing for a while (because riding that inside beach break stuff really ins not surfing anyhow), & work on ur swimming skills. You may have to go to a pool & u may even have to take lessons. If u can not swim in water over ur head, u just should not be surfing. One mishap with heavy rip current & u could be in big trouble. When u get swimming under control, work on swimming in the ocean. Swim, body surf & boogie board for a while, until u feel confident. Then get back on ur surf board. No doubt that after all that swimming, ur paddling will have improved, & ur confidence in catching waves will increase.

l hope l do not sound too discouraging, but l am really concerned with the number of people who r taking up surfing who r not competent swimmers. People who r poor swimmers pose a hazard to themselves & other surfers. They ferquently have to be rescued by lifeguards or other surfers or bystanders, & they r cause for restrictive surfing rules in many towns. Learn to surf, & have great fun doing it. But remember the ocean is very powerful & it demands respect.

yeah mate no worriez just start paddlin earlyer b4 u start to catch the wave dont worry abt the water deepth just sit in the line up and a bit closer to sure.. theres ppl out there just like u so dont worry abt it as long as ur givin it a go its all good to us surfers enjoy ur self and take it easy :)

well l would first do what John F said. then l would get a mini-mal. its a board on the longer side but they dont take much effort to paddle and they are good for beginner / intermediate surfers. but anyway, you have to be able to paddle your board right and definetly be able to swim before you get out past head deep water. l hope this helps. have fun surfing!

it deppends what board your on a mini mall is best for beginners and it fine for catching unbroaken wawes so try using one of them

also change your psition on the board see if that helps any

and watch other surfers to pick ut the technique the main part of it is knowing what waves are best to katch and at what point you should set off

PRACTISE PRACTISE PRACTISE!!! Always the key.
So ur problem is being afraid off not being able to stand ONCE u get out back & catching the wave once you're there.
Everybody started riding white water but whether u can stand or not should be irrelevant. You should be paddling onto white water anyway. This will help greatly with u arm strength & paddling balance. Once u can do that, catching a wave out back is purely about reading the waves correctly (so that you're in the correct spot to take off) & gaining enough speed to match the wave.

Good luck & keep practising. The first ride u have on the face of a wave is awesome (especially if its clean)!!!! TRUST!!

By the way, when u go out back it may feel like you're in danger nut you'd have to be surfing very big wave to really be in danger. Just watch out for other surfers, always paddle out of their way (which will probably mean into white water). LEARN TO DUCK DIVE (for smaller boards) OR MORE LIKELY FOR YOU (bigger boards) TURTLE ROLL - will greatly help u get out back.
Cheers.

First l would recommend getting into shape because surfing uses very specific muscles u may not be using now.

You need to do push-ups & bench presses to build ur chest muscles, (pecs), so u can push yourself up to stand.

Next u need to do pull-ups or lat pull-downs to work the muscles along ur sides, (lats), that u will use to paddle.

A little running will build ur cardio & legs muscles.

Then l would take a couple of lessons to get the basics down.

After that it is just going to take time in the water.

l always recommend that beginners get a longboard, (at least 9' long), as these r the easiest to catch waves with & balance on to stand up.

And finally this site has a great article called 'Learn How to Surf in One Day' that l think is terrific:
http://BeachTrading.com

Good luck & have fun!! :-)