Surfer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Surfing (Start-Up Sports series) [Paperback]

Doug Werner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Start-Up Sports series | Publication Date: June 1, 1999

Recommended by the United States Surfing Federation as a book that every beginning surfer should read, this instructional guide details the basics of surfing gear, conditions, safety, etiquette, and history. Written by someone who went through the learning process, topics are covered with just enough detail to get the reader riding the waves quickly and safely. It teaches the beginner surfer the fundamentals of the sport; what to expect in the first days of learning; and how to cope with waves, learning frustrations, and crowds. This edition has been updated with the latest information on equipment, technique, and resources.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-This second edition of a standard instructional guide features new photographs, updated text, and a new and very extensive list of resources, including Web sites. Using a relaxed, casual approach that is entirely appropriate to the subject matter, Werner covers basic instruction, surfing gear, safety, etiquette, and history. In addition, there is a fairly detailed discussion of different types of waves and of localism, the tendency of regulars at a particular surfing spot to band together to drive away outsiders. Minimizing neither the inherent difficulty in learning the sport nor the potential dangers involved, the author provides a solid and at times inspirational guide. More of a "how to" book than for reports, the title's usefulness may be limited to those areas where the sport is actually practiced.
Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This basic text provides a handy reference for those who need to learn about proper surfing technique and other fundamental information. Werner, an avid surfer from San Diego, manages to cover all the main points of the sport in its most elementary form. Chapters entitled "Surfing Gear," "The Right Waves," "Before You Paddle Out," and "Angling" all get to the meat of the matter. The author then fills in the big picture by including a brief history of surfing after the lessons. A glossary of surfing terms, list of resources (magazines, organizations, etc.), and some thoughtful, useful illustrations complete the package. Werner generally eschews the cutesy surfin' safari lingo that often plagues books such as this. An inexpensive and possibly useful purchase for those libraries that discern a need in their collections.
- David M. Turkalo, Social Law Lib., Boston
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Tracks Publishing; Second edition edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884654126
• ISBN-13: 978-1884654121
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Water Sports > Swimming
  • #58 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Surfing

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars mediocre at best, January 16, 2004

By 

Scott B. Crosson (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surfer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Surfing (Start-Up Sports series) (Paperback)

As a long-time climber who finally learned to surf this past year, I naturally assumed there would be a surplus of good instructional/reference books on the market for beginning surfers, like John Long's "How to Rock Climb" series serves for climbers. There aren't. This is one of the few I found, and I supposed it's better than the competition, but that's not saying much.

Surfing is less a technical and more of an intuitive type of sport. That said, there are plenty of technical aspects to it, and this book continually falls short in explaining or even mentioning many of them. The chapter on "paddling out," for instance, doesn't even mention duck-diving or turtle-rolling to get outside the wave break, let along teach them. These aren't easy things to do on a big, fat beginner's board, but at some point every surfer will need to learn how to get outside efficiently. A surfing instruction book should give you some hint here, but I had to go searching on the web to find step-by-step instructions because whatever I was doing wasn't working right and this tome is worthless as a reference book after you've been out 2 or 3 times.

Another example: the book recommends you get a "big" board. No explanation of the different types of beginner-appropriate boards (longboards, eggs, hybrids) vs intermediate-appropriate boards (shortboards, fish, etc). No description of the impact of different board parameters (rocker angles, nose and tail shapes, thickness) have on how a board handles surf; you're just told it's too complex for you to understand so don't bother to ask.

In any sport, you really need some basic instruction from someone who knows what they're doing to really get going. An instructional book should be there to help you remember and make sense of everything afterward, at night when you're not out there practicing. This book doesn't meet those criteria very well.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, excellent illustrations, a good starting point, July 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Surfer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Surfing (Start-Up Sports) (Paperback)

Over 70 photographs combined with easy to read text add up to a basic understanding of what is involved in surfing. Gets you from dry land to the standup position and covers surfing "rules". Most surfing magazines assume you have surfed. This book is for the very beginner.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars begining surfers please read this, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Surfer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Surfing (Start-Up Sports series) (Paperback)

This is a good general book. It doesn't answer everything and it doesn't prepare you for everything, but if you are a beginner it is a must read. Every sport has certain rules and basic techniques that you need to know to play them, and that is exactly what this book gives you