Customer Reviews

Learning to Surf with Surfer Joe (Includes Part 1 & 2)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This DVD has all the stuff that's really hard to learn when you're just learning how to surf. The oceanography part includes info that's hard to find and you probably don't know unless you studied physics. I really appreciated that the instruction and all the information was substantial -- everybody knows that surfing is fun, but it's also can be really hard. This video really helps you understand what's goin' on: in the oceanography part I liked going back and forth between motion graphics and film of the ocean and surfers. The quality of the film and the sound (groovy sound track) and the professionalism and experience of the surfers featured in the DVD is way beyond the average surf instructor. I haven't seen any instructional surfing DVD with this much info! Nothing compares with this one.

hey - subject matter...great... we all love surfing. However this is a really REALLY amateur production. Graphics are pixellated and illegible, sound is terrible, some instructors not miked up so they are shouting, others over balanced so it is distorted. Everyone on it is 40, and older. They have managed to make surfing look really boring, and unattractive. Surfer Joe is the worst animation ever seen... looks like it was done at home by the kid next door on his spectrum computer... THIS dvd should not be this price, and not on Amazon, it is a hobby project. I would definately say don't buy it! (at half the price)

I've never surfed before and I found the oceanography very interesting. It helped me learn the way the ocean works and gets you to really understand--I never knew there was so much to learn about surfing. I especially loved the way the video went between the graphics and the ocean. The more I watch the video the more I understand, and not only does it give great instruction, it also holds a lot of good scientific value. Not only did I enjoy it, my parents did too, as well as my two younger nephews. Part 2 really shows you how to get out there and start surfing, it's really motivational.
Not to mention, the music is just as great as the video too.

I watched Surfer Joe a couple of times before a friend lent me a board and took me out. Part 2 was especially helpful. The instruction is really thorough. I liked that the moves are repeated on different waves so you can begin to internalize the movement. I felt confident when I went out because I could fall back on what I had watched after I did something stupid or was too late or too slow. There's so much going on when you get out in the waves, especially when it's rough, it's reassuring to have an image in your head about what you should be doing or not. Anway, the stuff about waves and boards was really interesting but much more meaningful to me after I'd tried surfing a couple of times. Surfing looks so easy, I had no idea there was so much to it. And I love the Surfer Joe character, he's so cool...and it all looked great on my equipment.

I've been surfing for years and bought this DVD for my kids; ended up watching the whole thing with them. The oceanography and the section about surfboards was very informative; might have been a bit too much info for the kids at this point, but they can always go back to it. The surf instruction was very thorough and instructive of how to be safe in the water. I would have loved it if all the footage had been shot in Hawaii or Tahiti, but the reality is that my kids won't be surfing perfect waves for a long time, and most of us spend most of time surfing less than perfect waves. Works for me, and I highly recommend it.

Learning to surf with surfer joe makes surfing seem like a sport for everyone to learn at any age.
There's a lot of information about what surfing entails - learning about currents and winds, and exercise besides surfboards and other gear.
It's a great teaching movie,easy to follow and encouraging. It should probably be distributed to schools, so kids and adults as well, can learn what surfing is really about.

Watch this video before you take private lessons or buy a board for the first time. If you can stand up and turn, you are way past this video.

+ Great info on how waves form based on weather, tides. Really handy info if you are moved to a location to visit the beach regularly and want to maximize the quality of your visits.

+ Good info on how to be efficient getting out to the waves. I like how they say the sport should be called "paddling" and not surfing. I liked the tips on how to paddle correctly, swim over/thru waves, and how to turn around on the board to catch waves.

+ Good explanation of why you want to start on a longboard and the effects of fins and board shape on the performance of the board.

+ Good info on standing up and what not to do (let one knee on the board)

+ Good info on surf etiquette

- Not much depth in turning, nothing past turning at all.

Creative Sauce "Jimbo"'s review is pretty lame. He objects that everyone is over 40. Not sure what your purpose is for watching this video, Jimbo, but if it's to look at bikini-clad girls, pick up a magazine. This is an instructional video. Besides, if it can teach the oldsters to surf, it will certainly be able to help a cool young hipster like you. But I digress...

I have to give this video a tepid review. It comes in 2 parts. The first part begins with a detailed section on oceanography, which is pretty helpful but may be a bit too technical for some. The DVD moves into the area of fitness, attempting to tell viewers how to get in shape for surfing, yet spends an inordinate amount of time featuring what looks like a very expensive piece of exercise equipment that certainly doesn't come with the video and is not something a beginning surfer is likely to buy. I almost wondered if they were cross-promoting this other product. That whole section was a waste of time, because if you don't have this item, you can't do the exercises. Some basic training that can be done without expensive equipment would have been more helpful.

Even the section on the Indo board was kind of superfluous, as that is also an expensive item to buy if you are not even sure you are going to stick with surfing.

The section on fins was kind of jumbled and disorganized and I wasn't too sure exactly what the guy was recommending.

The surf instruction itself lacked a couple points, such as telling people when to take off on the wave. It seemed to skip over things that may be second nature to an experienced surfer but important to a beginner.

My main complaint about this video is a piece of dangerous information that is given in Part 2. The video tells you that if you fall off the board, you should "dive deep." This is absolutely the worst piece of advice I would ever give anyone about surfing. Dive deep and you may very well break your neck. It is a cardinal rule of surfing that if you fall off, you want to fall as flat as possible as the water may be very shallow.

Once I heard this, the whole video became tainted for me. I can't really recommend it.

Re-uses the same terrible footage over and over, has very little , if any, instructional value. No one could possibly learn how to surf from this video, nor could it even be used as an instructional aid . Completely worthless !!!

This has got to be the worst video ever produced. Though the science in waves was interesting, it certainly is not a "how to surf video". The excercise segment was helpful, but honestly, there was nothing about "how to" stand up on a surf board. Oh and part one and part two?? really, they aren't even listed as such. I refuse to waste any money even trying to get money back, off to good will with this one.