Surfing
Bodyboarding
Although many people treat bodyboarding as an idiots version of surfing it is great fun for beginner and even experienced surfers and is definatley worth trying. When bodyboarding you can introduce lots of tricks and there are also different ways of riding the wave. One of the most exciting things about bodyboarding is that lieing down flat on the waves, this makes the waves seem taller when you look behind you seeing them toweering up and also makes it feel alot faster as you race along then wave.
Getting a Board
Another great thing about bodyboards is that you can start really cheaply, buying a board for as little as £5 (US$10), but if you want to get really serious you can show off and buy boards for over £150 along with all the accessoires such as flippers, wetsuits. For anyone starting out you want to spend about £15- £25 depending on where you are. You can buy cheaper boards but these tend to break as soon as you drop from the crest of one large wave leaving you frustrated and in need of another board. Try to get a board with a hard plastic (slick) back although this isnt essential.
Once you get better you may want to get a more expensive board as these can move faster and are better for deep water, some boards have fins though these don't make much diffrerence till you get really experienced and can start doing some crazy maneuvers, i find that my feet are the best fins.
How To
There isnt really much I can say on the technique for bodyboarding. You need to go out to about 1m beyond where the waves are breaking, then when a wave is towering up behind you, about 1-3 meters, jump forward hanging onto the board and kick your feet. As the wave breaks you want to be up on the crest of the white water so that you can ride down on it, with a massive drop of the height of the wave. You should bank off away from the white water so that you can ride on the swell of the wave. One good pointer is to put one hand on the nose of the board and one on the side, this means you can turn and maneuver the board more easily
Pointless Accessoires (such as flippers)
Well flippers arn't entierly pointless and sometimes when I'm out deep I wish I had brought some but for 90% of people in 90% of conditions they are and are only used as a fashion accesory. They are usefull if you are out of your depth as you cant jump off the bottom. Wetsiuts are probably a good idea if you are boarding in the UK as they mean you wont cold as quickly enabling you to stay longer in the sea, they are also good for stopping rashes. If you are boarding where it is warmer you may just want to wear a rash vest or t-shirt to stop you getting a rash from the board rubbing you chest
top^^
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