NOTE: Ideally the best first step to learning to SUP foil surfing is behind a boat. A boat or jet ski is like having a ski lift. Imagine learning to snowboard or ski by hiking up a mountain; it is doable, but it would be much slower than riding an actual lift.
Step 1.
Once you are ready to start paddling in, find small, mushy waves, far away from other SUP surfers. Make sure you have plenty of depth so you don’t run aground with your foil. Steeper, faster, breaking waves you would normally surf with a shortboard is NOT what you want to go for when you’re learning to SUP foil. Do not, we repeat DO NOT, no matter how good of a SUP’er you are, paddle out to your local break and try to foil around other riders.
Step 2.
If you have the proper setup (a high-lift foil like the Slingshot FSup package and a high-volume board with an early-takeoff tail, like the Skywalker), you’ll be able to catch easy inside waves that have already broken- the kind of waves someone might learn to longboard on for the very first time. Once you’re on your feet, you’ll have enough speed to engage the foil, get in front of the white water and ride it all the way to the shallows. Of all the foiling disciplines (surf, kite, windsurf, wake and SUP), SUP foiling is probably the most difficult to learn. If you can already foil in another sport, or if you can get a little foil time behind a boat or with a jet ski, you’ll have a huge head start in the surf.
Another great blog post is here:
Learn how to eliminate foiling fear here
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