How to Teach Your Grom to Surf

There are 3 basic things you need to know when teaching little groms to surf, they are:
Safety, Patience & Optimism.

Safety:
Make sure you start on land doing pop-ups first, you can draw a board in the sand and have them practice popping up. This will help them get used to getting up on the board and is a safe way to introduce them to what they need to do. If your child is under the age of 10 you can advance them to doing this on a board in tide pools as well, this helps them get the feeling of paddling and popping up on a floating board before you take them in the ocean. when you do go in the ocean make sure the conditions are right. Mellow conditions are what your looking for.

Patience:
For parents that surf, rushing your kids progression is an easy mistake that can result in a child being scared or frustrated. Remember keep it fun, don't rush it! Start out by pushing them into white water. Hold the tail of the board for the initial rush and let it go with a push to give them a nice mellow acceleration. Say the word Pop at the same time, if your consistent with the word POP from the get go it helps them key in on the timing to stand up.

Optimism:
Be positive and optimistic at everything they do, it gets the kids stoked and starts to build their confidence which leads to progression. Once they get confident stoke takes over and thus another surfer is born. Even when your grom starts to get comfortable and your ready to move them into riding the face or going all the way out to the lineup just remember. Be positive and take your time, they are young and some develop faster then others. You should treat every level of surfing just like the 1st time even if there frustrated with something find something positive to comment on.

By keeping these few tips in mind you will open a whole new world up to your little Gremmie.