How to improve your balance for surfing on a balance board

I get asked quite often how much a balance board helps to improve your balance for surfing. Although you might think the answer is obvious, it's actually not that simple. You've probably noticed that all balance board manufacturers now say the same thing, namely: "Improve your balance for surfing with a balance board" and that's it, but how and why?

I would like to address this topic today.
"Balance" itself is a rather complex topic, but I'll try to simplify it. Having good balance means that your body reacts quickly and with the right movements to keep you on the surfboard. That may be quite obvious. So how do you train it all with a balance board?

At the beginning, you naturally try to stand on it easily, which is not easy at first - it is harder than it looks for anyone who has not tried it yet. Or let me put it another way: 90% of people who stand on a balance board for the first time would fall over straight away without help (only skaters seem to be able to do this straight away, which is somehow understandable). If you can now stand on the balance board and you no longer fall off, is your balance trained for surfing?

The answer is yes, if your surfboard only wobbles from left to right in a controlled way in the water - but it doesn't. Your surfboard wobbles in all directions, at different inclines and at different speeds - it is ultra dynamic, and that is exactly why you have to train it with the balance board.

Even if I repeat myself here, because everything is explained in the video above, the most important and best thing you can do is increase your balance range. This means training in as many different situations as possible. It is not important whether these are real surfing movements, but rather that you give your body new stimuli until it can balance in these situations. The more variety, the better. You don't have to do the craziest tricks, with jumping and so on, just variations. You could try a hang ten (both feet in front from the tip of the board) and then a hang five - and do the whole thing on the back of the board or on the side, etc. It's about finding positions in which you can't keep your balance and practicing the "trick" until you can. And here we come to the magic answer:

To increase your balance range, you should learn more tricks, because when you learn a trick, you have a clear goal in mind, and the better you get at it, the more motivated you will be, and you will stick with it, and only those who stick with it will do more and increase their balance range. At Costaboard, I focus heavily on teaching you tricks, for two reasons: the more tricks you can do, the more fun it is, and at the same time you train your balance and do something for your fitness - and it's really intense. Once you've spent 10 minutes learning a trick, you'll notice how much you're getting bored.

So, I hope I could motivate you a little to get on the board and practice tricks!