Sunday Skimboarding Tips

Sunday Beach hut Surf School turned out to be as dry as the weather: annoyingly humid heat on summertime in Boracay Island. Therefore, it's just high time to explore the most efficient skimboarding tips as suggested by Skim Online:

Dealing with Wind.
If it is very windy and you are having trouble throwing your board on the sand without the wind blowing it away you can kick sand on the bottom of your wet board. The sand will usually stick (unless you wax it or something) and will make your board much heavier and thereby easier to drop in the wind. Once you drop your board the sand comes right off and your board is just as light as it normally is!

Getting on the Board
Of course you know how to get on the board. Just jump on, right? Wrong. The best way to get on your board is to "run onto it". By running onto the board you decrease your chance of falling. There is a minimum amount of weight on the board so it has less of a tendency to slip out from under you. Furthermore, if you are doing a water drop you wont unnecessarily weight down the board, which creates drag and slows you down. Finally, by running on the board you lose as little speed as possible during the drop. If you jump onto it you are using your energy to jump up into the air instead of using it to move towards the wave faster. When you run onto the board you maintain your speed much better.

Reaching the Waves.
If you are having trouble getting out to waves without sinking you may want to try Side-Slipping. This can be hard to master but its worth it. Basically, while your speeding over the water out toward the wave, you turn your board sideways so that your toes are pointed out toward the ocean. If you trim it just right, you will lose speed at a much slower rate. When you get near the wave, turn your board back to its normal position and ride like you normally would.

Good skimboarding technique.
Always make sure that you back foot is on the back of the board! It is a very common mistake for people to stand too far forward on the board. In fact, I should taker my own advice! I would be a much better skimmer if I took care to stand in the right place.

Preparing to ride a new board.
When you get a new board direct from the manufacturer you may find that you have a hard time getting wax and/or traction pads to stick to it. This is because manufacturers often polish the boards to make them look pretty. They end up looking real nice but that polish makes the surface to slippery for stuff to stick to. To get rid of this problem clean the board as well as you can. Then use rubbing alcohol on the desired area to remove to polish from the surface. After doing this your wax and traction pads should stick much better!


Jaime and buddy Jack

Our Beach Hut Surf School Instructor fervently agrees to the tips stated above, but his Brutish accent simply hinders him to elaborate in such length.

So, tune in for more Beach Hut Clear Spray Sunblock narrations on the Surf School. Only in Boracay...