7 Surfing Hacks to Keep Progressing (Even When You’re Landlocked or the Waves Are Trash)

Surfing progression doesn’t come easy. Unlike sports where you can practice in a controlled environment, surfers depend on the ocean — which seldom takes your goals and aspirations into account. Some days you’re scoring clean overhead sets; others, it’s a blown-out mess or flat as a pancake.

But here’s the thing: the best surfers aren’t just the ones with the best waves. They’re the ones who keep progressing, even when the conditions aren’t ideal. Whether you’re surfing every day or stuck inland for weeks, there are clever ways to push your skills forward in preparation for the return of the good stuff.

Here are seven powerful surfing hacks that can help you break plateaus, sharpen technique, and stay motivated.

1. Practice Daily — Even Out of the Water

Surfing is one of the hardest sports to learn and master because you spend the bulk of your session doing everything but surfing. Time paddling, waiting, and wiping accounts for over 90% of your “surf” session. That’s why land-based training is one of the biggest untapped opportunities for progression.

Surfing is a chaotic activity when everything is going well and absolute mayhem the rest of the time. Due to the chaotic nature, it is very difficult to instill specific motor patterns when your mind and body are in the moment. Building reliable motor patterns out of the water will increase your chance of effective practice in the water.

Here’s what to work on daily:

• Pop-ups on land: Practice slow, fluid pop-ups on a hard smooth surface to allow your knees and feet to slide. Focus on correct hand position, and accurate foot placement to ensure you are building reliable motor patterns and strengthening the associated muscles. Use tape marks on the floor to help with accurate foot placement.
• Balance and mobility: Bosu balls, balance trainers, or surfskates are incredible tools to develop that low, stable stance and dynamic control you need in turns.
• Core strength and flexibility: Surfing is rotational — it requires strength and mobility in your abs, hips, obliques, and lower back. Add mobility work like yoga or Pilates to stay fluid.
• Visualization: Close your eyes and mentally surf. Visualize perfect waves, positioning, and how your practiced movement patterns will translate to effective maneuvers in the water. This primes your nervous system in a different way to physical practice.

Even when you’re miles from the beach, this type of daily practice keeps your surfing brain switched on. You’ll be surprised how much more connected and confident you feel next time you paddle out.

2. Perfect Your Pop-Up In SlowMo

This point from above deserved it’s own section. Small technical details make a massive difference in surfing — and the pop-up is one of the foundational elements that can make or break a wave.

One common issue for beginners and intermediates is placing their hands in the wrong position when popping up. Ensure that your hands are placed under your chest, it is a common mistake to place the hands under the shoulders or even further forward, this will slow down your pop-up and make your weight distribution unbalanced.

Here’s a pro hack: as you progress to intermediate level try staggering your hands a little in your pop-up.

The technique of staggering your hands during a pop-up is a strategy to create more space for your knees to swing in under your chest and take and angle down the line. If you’re going right, place your right hand tight under your chest and your left hand a couple/few inches further forward (almost under your shoulder). This subtle adjustment gives your body a natural rotation down the line, helping your chest and hips rise in a more athletic and prepared stance. It also encourages your front leg to swing through more cleanly, landing in between your hands.

Try it slowly on land first:

1. Lie prone a hard surface with knee pads or a towel under your knees to facilitate them sliding
2. Hands flat under your chest, with your outside hand slightly forward of your inside hand position.
3. Push up, keeping your back arched and your chest lifted.
4. Slide your knees up under your hips, placing rear foot on the tail pad position first and then your lead foot in between your hands.
5. Lift your hands but remain in a balanced, athletic position and imaging facing down the line.
6. Repeat the movement several times on each side picturing yourself riding front side and backside respectively.

You will notice the involvement of your core muscles and whether you lack the necessary flexibility in your hips.

3. Train Your CO₂ Tolerance (The Secret Weapon of Calm Surfers)

If you’ve ever been held down by a wave and felt panic rising in your chest, you’ve experienced the brutal reality of poor CO₂ tolerance. Experienced surfers know to stay calm underwater — not because they’re fearless, but because they’ve trained their breath and their mind.

Contrary to common assumption, the drive to breath is not generated by a lack of oxygen (O₂) in your system but rather the build of carbon dioxide (CO₂). CO₂ tolerance is your body’s ability to handle rising carbon dioxide levels without panicking. When CO₂ builds up, it triggers the urge to breathe — long before your oxygen actually runs out. By training your CO₂ tolerance, you teach your body to resist the urge to breath and your mind to stay calm and functional under stress.

Hold downs are an inevitable part of surfing larger waves and certainly not the focus of our sport. Luckily for us, we are able to leverage the knowledge and experience of those who specialize in underwater breath holds such as freedivers.

Here are some proven, simple and safe ways to improve your CO₂ tolerance:

• Box breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Repeat for a few minutes daily.
• CO₂ tables: These are structured breath-hold exercises (like 1:30 hold, 2:00 rest → 1:30 hold, 1:45 rest, etc.) used by free divers and big-wave surfers.
• Exhale walks: Exhale fully, then walk as far as you comfortably can before inhaling again. Great for building tolerance in motion.
• Constrained breathing: using a simple device such as a straw or a hollowed pen, breath only through the device for as long as you can. Once you are able to comfortably do that stationary, begin to use the device as you walk or do other gentle exercise.

In the interest of safety only perform these exercises on land, in a safe and relaxed environment — never in water or while driving.

In addition to the above exercises the other side of the equation is to learn to relax while you are underwater. Panic and struggle are the 2 fastest ways to accelerate the accumulation of CO2 in your system, thus causing you to feel like you are going to drown. It is critical that when you wipeout or are otherwise held under, you understand that for most surfers a hold down is usually less than 10 secs. The average person (surfer or not) is able to easily hold their breath for up to 30 sec, provided they are relaxed. If you don’t believe me, try it now.

Acknowledging this fact then leads us to understand that relaxation under the water is one of the critical elements. Find a simple mental process you can undertake, I would not encourage counting, while you are under the water to help take your mind off the desire to swim to the surface. Think about folding laundry or making lunch. Relax your mind and your body and allow it to flow with the movement of the water and before you know it, the hold down will be over and you can pop your head out of the surface.

Employing these exercises and focusing on relaxation you will notice an immediate difference in your experience during a hold down. Coupled with regular practice of a few of the above exercises and you will feel calmer during wipeouts, your breath rhythm while paddling will improve, and your overall endurance in the surf will increase dramatically.

This is one of the most underappreciated hacks for progression. It doesn’t just make you a better surfer — it makes you a safer and more confident one.

4. Surf in Poor Conditions — Consistency Beats Perfection

It’s easy to stay home when the waves are mushy, blown-out, or ankle-high. But here’s the truth: if you only surf when it’s perfect, you’re missing half your progress opportunities.

Every session, even in “bad” surf, trains you:

• Choppy days improve your wave reading, positioning and paddle fitness.
• Small waves refine your technique and foot placement because deficiencies in your technique are more apparent the slower you go.
• Weak waves teach you to generate speed instead of relying only on the wave’s power.

When conditions are poor, shift your mindset. Instead of chasing performance, chase practice. Go out with one clear intention — maybe it’s just working on your pop-up, bottom turn, or paddle technique.

Progress isn’t about perfection; it’s about consistency. Every hour in the water adds to your wave sense, your timing, your paddle fitness and your muscle memory.

Remember, the ocean doesn’t care about excuses. The surfers who keep showing up — even when it’s knee-high slop — are the ones who build the foundation for when the waves are great.

5. Focus on Progressing One Aspect of Your Surfing at a Time

Surfing progression can feel overwhelming. You’re trying to read waves, paddle efficiently, pop up smoothly, choose lines, and execute maneuvers — all while staying upright.

That’s why one of the smartest hacks is to focus on one constraint at a time.

At the beginning of each session / week / month pick one constraint that is holding you back from surfing the way you want. Write it down. Commit to it for the entire session / week / month to force the repetition that begets improvement.

This kind of micro-focus leads to macro results. When you isolate variables, you learn faster and avoid mental overload.

To make it stick, here’s a cool trick that many intermediate surfers swear by…

6. Write Surf Cues on Duct Tape & Stick It to the Nose of Your Board

This hack is simple, practical, and surprisingly effective.

Grab a small piece of duct tape, stick it near the nose of your surfboard, and write a short cue or reminder for your session.

Examples:

• “Eyes up.”
• “Stay low.”
• “Relax.”
• “Back foot.”
• “Look & go.”

Every time you paddle back out, that visual cue will remind you of your focus. It’s like a mini surf coach staring back at you from your board.

It’s subtle but powerful. Instead of getting distracted by wave quality or crowd noise, you’ll anchor your mind on the one thing that will have the biggest impact on your technique and begin to free yourself from the constraint.

7. Buddy Up and Film Each Other

In the words of Adam Sandler’s The Water Boy – “What momma don’t know, won’t hurt her” and this statement is true as far as yo momma goes, unless she’s a surfer like you. Because, for surfers the opposite is true – what you don’t know absolutely is hurting your surfing. If you don’t know what your paddle stroke, your pop-up, your bottom turn, your trunk rotation, your arm position and a host of other elements look like, you don’t know what to fix and it’s hurting your surf progression. You can’t fix what you can’t see. Watching your surfing from the outside is one of the fastest ways to accelerate progress.

Next time you surf with friends, take turns filming each other from the beach or lineup. Even 30-second clips can reveal patterns you didn’t know existed — like your stance being too wide, your shoulders dropping mid-turn, or your timing being slightly off.

When you review the footage, don’t just critique. Look for cause and effect:

• Why did that turn cut short?
• Was your head leading your body?
• Did you compress fully or extend too early?

Then, set one correction to work on your next session — and maybe write it on your duct tape cue.

With consistent review, your awareness skyrockets. You start feeling your mistakes as they happen and correcting them in real time.

Wrapping It Up: Surf Smarter, Not Just Harder

Surfing progression isn’t about brute force or chasing the perfect wave. It’s about intentional practice — stacking small, smart habits that compound over time.

Let’s recap the hacks:

1. Daily practice out of the water: Keep your body and brain surf-ready every day.
2. Staggered hands on your pop-up: Small tweak, big difference in fluidity and balance.
3. Train your CO₂ tolerance: Build calmness, confidence, and endurance.
4. Surf even in poor conditions: Every session is a lesson.
5. Focus on one aspect per session: Intentional progress beats random practice.
6. Use duct tape cues and video feedback: Keep yourself accountable and aware.
7. Film yourself surfing: Seeing adds knowledge and awareness.

The ocean will always be unpredictable — but your progression doesn’t have to be. Surf smarter, stay curious, and remember: even the world’s best surfers are still learning.

Every wave, every wipeout, and every breath you take is part of the journey.

So grab your board, slap on that duct tape reminder, and get out there. Progress is waiting — one wave at a time.