10 Common Mistakes Beginner Surfers Make (And How Our Instructors Fix Them)

After enough years teaching beginners at Strandhill, the same mistakes come up week after week. Not because people are doing anything wrong — these are the natural, predictable errors that almost everyone makes when they’re new to a very unfamiliar environment.

Knowing them in advance won’t eliminate them, but it does tend to shorten the learning curve considerably.

1. Looking Down Instead of Ahead

What happens: The moment a beginner stands up, they look down at their feet or the nose of the board to check what’s happening.

Why it fails: Your body follows your head. Looking down shifts your weight forward and low, which usually results in going straight over the front of the board.

The fix: Eyes up, looking in the direction you want to travel. Trust that your feet are where you put them.

2. Popping Up in Two Stages

What happens: Push up to the knees, pause, then stand.

Why it fails: That pause costs you the wave. By the time you’re standing, the wave has usually passed underneath you or you’ve lost balance in the transition.

The fix: Practice the pop-up as one continuous movement — feet come through to standing in a single motion, not a sequence.

3. Standing Up Too Straight

What happens: As soon as they’re up, beginners straighten their legs and stand tall.

Why it fails: A high centre of gravity on a moving board is unstable. The board wobbles, and there’s no room to absorb it.

The fix: Stay low. Knees bent, weight down. It feels less elegant and it works far better.

4. Feet Too Close Together

What happens: Feet land near each other in the middle of the board.

Why it fails: A narrow stance gives you almost no lateral stability — any small shift tips you over.

The fix: Aim for roughly shoulder width, with one foot forward and one back, turned sideways rather than pointing straight ahead.

5. Paddling Too Late

What happens: Waiting until the wave is right behind you before starting to paddle.

Why it fails: You need to be moving at close to the wave’s speed for it to pick you up. Starting late means the wave passes under you.

The fix: Start paddling earlier than feels necessary. In a lesson, your instructor calls the timing for you — trust it even when it feels early.

6. Paddling with Cupped Hands or Bent Arms

What happens: Short, splashy strokes with hands cupped like scooping water.

Why it fails: Cupped hands and short strokes move very little water. Paddling becomes exhausting with little forward speed.

The fix: Flat hands, fingers slightly apart, long strokes reaching forward and pulling all the way back past your hip.

7. Lying Too Far Forward or Too Far Back on the Board

What happens: Beginners either nose-dive (too far forward) or the board sits with the nose up and won’t catch anything (too far back).

Why it fails: Board position determines whether the board planes properly on the wave.

The fix: There’s a sweet spot on every board, and your instructor will show you where it is on the specific board you’re using. Small adjustments make a big difference.

8. Fighting the White Water Instead of Going Through It

What happens: Trying to paddle over the top of broken waves on the way out.

Why it fails: White water has a lot of force, and going over the top means taking that force directly.

The fix: For beginners on soft-tops, the usual approach is to push the nose of the board up slightly and paddle straight through, or hold the board firmly and let the water pass. Your instructor will show you the right technique for the conditions.

9. Getting Frustrated Too Early

What happens: Three or four failed attempts and the internal narrative becomes “I’m bad at this.”

Why it fails: Surfing has a genuinely steep initial curve. Every experienced surfer spent their first sessions falling constantly. Frustration tightens your body, which makes balance worse, which increases frustration.

The fix: Expect to fall a lot. Twenty failed attempts and two good waves is a completely normal first session. That ratio changes fast.

10. Trying to Learn Everything in One Session

What happens: Wanting to progress from standing up to turning to riding the face of the wave, all in one lesson.

Why it fails: The fundamentals need repetition before anything else gets added. Rushing past them means everything after is built on a shaky base.

The fix: Session one is about standing up on white water. That’s the whole goal. Everything else comes later — and comes much faster if the basics are solid.

This is also the clearest argument for surf camps over single lessons. Consecutive days build muscle memory in a way that isolated sessions spread weeks apart simply don’t.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many of these mistakes will I make in my first lesson? Realistically, most of them. That’s completely normal and expected. Instructors correct them in real time, which is why supervised lessons progress much faster than trying to teach yourself.

Can I avoid these mistakes by practising before my lesson? Practising the pop-up motion on land genuinely helps with several of them — particularly the two-stage stand-up and the narrow stance. The water-specific ones need to be corrected in the water.

Is it normal to not stand up at all in a first session? It happens, and it’s not a failure. Most people do stand at least briefly, but a range of factors — conditions, confidence, fitness — affect this. The second session is almost always noticeably better.

How long before these stop being a problem? Most beginners see clear improvement within two to three sessions. Consistent, automatic technique typically develops over a longer period with regular practice.

Do experienced surfers still make these mistakes? Some of them, occasionally — particularly looking down and standing too straight when tired or in unfamiliar conditions. The difference is they notice and correct it immediately.

Atlantic Surf School is based at the National Surf Centre, Shore Rd, Strandhill, Co. Sligo. Book a lesson here.

Written by Zuhé Coronil, founder of Atlantic Surf School, who has watched every one of these mistakes several thousand times and still finds them endearing.