I am in my early 20s and I've been wanting to learn to surf for a couple years now. I've been out surfing only twice so far (once with a friend, once taking a lesson at a surf school), but l have not actually stood up and caught a wave yet, so l still have to get the basics down. l just graduated from college and I am back in Santa Monica, so I've decided to get back to trying to get this done. My question is, what should l do to prepare so that the next time l take a lesson l can actually stand up and get the fundamentals down? The last time l went l was having problems sleeping so my stamina was bad and l could only last out there like 30 minutes, but I've been starting to swim regularly again, l can swim a mile pretty easily, I am slow, but l do not get the least bit tired or out of breath, swimming a mile seems relatively easy for me, so hopefully my stamina will be good enough this time around. l already skateboard, so hopefully that takes care of the balance issue, and l plan on bodyboarding a few times before my next lesson so that l can get a feel for the waves and the ocean since my last lesson was in May. Is there anything else l should do before l sign up for another lesson? l do not really care about getting good at surfing (at least not right now), l just wanna be able to surf whenever l want and enjoy it, l mean, do l really have to become good at it, or do l just have to know what I am doing and have fun?

to surf u do need allot of stamina & good arm muscles. You need stamina to get u out thew back where all the waves r & u need good arm muscles because paddling does get hard after a while of it, ur arms just feel like jelly. l had this problem, my arms where like two long twigs till l started to swim allot (like you) & do weights to get my arms more big. l used to be able to last about 30 minutes, now l can last as long as l want out there thanks the the swimming & weights l have been doing. once u have got good stamina & muscles u will be the best surfer u can be.

daniel w is right. keep swimming too because that will get you better at paddling

Right now, l am pretty fat, & not in great shape, but l have decent amount of stamina, & l have been swimming & surfing for so many years that it sort of comes naturally to me. l think that swimming is the overall best conditioning for surfing. l strongly recommend swimming in the ocean. There is a huge difference between pool & ocean swimming. l think u have the right idea, with the skateboarding & body boarding thrown in. It sounds like a good routine.

l am 56, & l am only good for a couple of hours of surfing, most of the time, although there were a couple times this summer l did two three hours sessions one day. l am sure that a person in his/her 20s should be able to whip themselves into good enough condition to keep up with that in a month or two.