“Nobody teaches anyone to surf. It’s like learning to ride a bike. Somebody gives you a push and then watches as you crash into a pole.” — Pat Curren
In 1962, when I began surfing, there were no surf schools that I knew of. You bought a surfboard, tried to figure out which side was up and made your way into the ocean.
My first board was a 30-pound Wardy with about as much nose rocker as Mom’s ironing board. At a friend’s suggestion, I boiled a bar of Paraffin wax in one of my mother’s pots and brushed the melted goo onto the deck of my new (used) board with my father’s paintbrush. I was happy. They were not.
From there, I received no more instruction than to paddle out, point toward shore, find a wave and hope to catch it. That seemed easy enough. The effort, however, left me stoked and bleeding as the fiberglass beast opened my head after I fell, and it descended from a great height. That year I was at the ER twice with surf-related injuries.
Within a year I figured out catching a wave, lumbering to my feet, turning and, eventually, cross-stepping toward the nose. Most everyone of my vintage can relate similar experiences.
The invention of the surf leash in the early ’70s combined with that of the soft surfboard by Tom Morey and Mike Doyle around the same time made learning to surf easier. That, full wetsuits and the proliferation of surf schools opened up an activity once enjoyed only by a the heartiest among us to the masses.
At last count there were dozens of surf schools, camps and retreats in San Diego. Most of these offer group or private lessons to beginners and coaching for intermediate surfers who hope to improve various aspects of their surfing.
I have taught surfing a few times and am currently employed part-time as an assistant surf PE coach for the Grauer School. Grauer’s head coach, Karch Rondo, owns and operates San Diego Surf Academy.
Rondo began surfing in Leucadia at age 12 and has been up to his neck in saltwater ever since. This year has featured some of this smallest surf in recent memory, and while not happy about that, Karch advises, “Even in 1-foot surf, you can take out a log and have fun. I have three older brothers and my dad also surfed, but they didn’t really teach me; I just grabbed a board, paddled out and fell in love with it. When I was a grom, there weren’t many surf instructors.
Rondo says he began teaching surfing in his mid-20s and started San Diego Surf Academy about two years ago. He offers private and group lessons and video coaching for surfers who want to compete or improve.
He believes in guiding his students but not “over-instructing” them. According to him, “I offer them the basics, and let that sink in. Through repetition it eventually all makes sense. It takes about a year, going several times a week, to become an advanced beginner.
“Still, even if you never get good at surfing, you can have a lot of fun. And learning the basics of surfing makes it a lot more fun.”
More information on lessons with Karch Rondo at web.adventureapp.io/adventures/in/california/karch-rondo/learn-how-to-surf-in-encinitas/683
