How to Duck Dive a Longboard for Beginners - Learn to Surf

How to Duck Dive a Longboard for Beginners - Learn to Surf
There are a couple ways to avoid getting pumped by a wave that has broken in front of you. When you are learning to surf you will be using a bigger board so the conventional way of ducking your whole board under the wave is not possible. If the waves are small enough, you will be able to hold one rail of your surfboard and duck under the water while your surfboard punches through the foamie. Once the waves get a little bigger you want to avoid trying to hold onto your rail because you will end up pulling your shoulder joint.

You can either let your board go behind you and swim under the wave. Ensure nobody is directly behind you that will come into contact with your board. This is quite a tedious exercise as you will have to pull your board back towards yourself after every wave.

If you are up to attempting a turtle roll, then as the wave approaches grab both the rails of your board, pull hard on your one rail to flip the board over so that you end up upside down. As the foamie hits you, perform a breast stroke kicking action and push your rails away from your chest without letting go of the board. That movement should propel you upwards and through the wave. Once the foamie has past, pull your one rail down to flip the surf board right side up again and so that you are lying back on top of your surf board and ready to paddle.


When you first start surfing, being able to duck dive your long surfboard is very challenging task when it is high volume or a bigger board which is the case for most surfers when they are starting out. This video will teach you how to duck dive a longboard to get under the waves on your surf board to get out to backline. We will show you two ways to Duck Dive, the first is the turtle roll the other is an easy way to get out without duck diving. we also talk about the duck dive vs turtle roll on your surfboard.

Make sure there are not other surfers too close to you whilst mastering the duck dive turtle roll technique. Your board may shoot out in all directions until you learn to relax and not try and control the boards natural side to side movement in the water.
Good luck and have fun!!!