(Photo is a painting I drew on a surfboard made for me in San Diego long ago)
I used to be so eager to improve my surfing that I'd write it in my notebook every time and set daily goals. There was no YouTube back then, so I'd buy DVDs at local shops and watch them so many times that the gloss would wear off, haha.
But you know what! Maybe the aesthetic sense of surf movies back then was different? They never showed the take-off part at all. No matter which video I watched, there was no take-off! It was all about pros kicking up spray and making turns... If you want to get better, the take-off is the most important part. The longer you ride the wave, the more fun and better it feels. Doing cool turns and stuff, that's not necessary at all, it can come later. Actually, you don't even need to do that. Haha
When there was a scene that showed even a little bit of the take-off, I'd write down the seconds and rewind it over and over. I wore out the DVD player, haha.
I was so bad at starting, I even took lessons from locals in San Diego for a while. We practiced just the pop-up, from getting on the board to standing up. It wasn't like a drill sergeant's training, haha, but we really focused on fundamental movements. They took me to a hill, a ridiculously steep slope, and told me to drop in on my skateboard, so I charged down, prepared to fall, haha. Scaryyyy. It was all about willpower. Even if I was drunk, I sobered up instantly, seriously. Well, after going that far, I can manage somehow whenever I go to the ocean. When I lived in Hawaii, I really enjoyed surfing.
It was the same on the mainland US, I went to the same spot alone every single day. After a while, I started to understand the ocean's conditions. It felt like the ocean became a giant jump rope. There was a rhythm, like '1, 2, 3...', which changed with the tides and the shape of the seabed. When I could feel that, it was like I could jump into the big jump rope.
I've lived in various places and gone with different people, but somehow, surfing is best done alone.
There's a world you can only understand alone. No need to share. Alone is good.
Maybe I'll give it a try a bit more this year, surfing.