Catching the wave:

When you get out behind the breakers, sit on the surfboard so that you are straddling it just below the center of the board. Sitting in this spot makes it easier to turn the surfboard around, when you see a good wave coming.

When you straddle your board, face towards the horizon so no freak swells surprise you and break right on top of you. You should also note a landmark on shore and continually check that you haven't drifted away from it.

When you catch your breath, and you see a nice small wave, that looks full enough to pick you up, but isn't just going to stand straight up and dump you, turn your board around to face the shore, lay down with your weight cantered, and begin to paddle.

Getting your position right takes a bit of practice, so remember that if you are lying too far back, it creates resistance in the water, slowing you down. This in turn will cause you to drop off the back of the wave.

If you are too far forward, you will roll or flip down the face of the wave. The trick is to stay forward but keep your chest up. Ideally you would stand up just as you begin to drop down the trough of the wave, but in the beginning wait until you have dropped down to the flat water just in front of the wave, it will be easier to stand up down there.

When paddling, go as hard as you can, and keep the board heading straight into shore. Once you get a feel for it, you can start to paddle with an angle along the wave, but in the beginning you just want to catch the bottom of the wave, so head straight and drop down to the trough.

You caught the wave and you just have to stand up, so read the next article to learn how to stand up.