Newbies practice on the sand.

Hi All, this is my first article on surfing. But being a learner this is what i picked up and thought i'd share it. Any feed back would be appreciated.

Popping up
Lay your board on the sand and then lay flat on it about half way up. Bring your hands up so they are about level with your shoulders placing your palms on the board just inside the edges (rails). Very quickly do a “press up” or "pop up” moving your front foot underneath your chest taking most of your body weight. Bring your other foot up so that you are in a standing/crouching position with your knees bent keeping your feet apart. If your feet are together you will fall off, and let’s hope you have waxed your board first.
Your feet should now be in the middle of the board with your front arm facing the beach or the direction you're going and your back arm facing the wave. This is the most important point of learning to surf if you can’t push up or pop up on to the board you can’t surf so keep practicing.

Paddling.
Having a good paddling style will be the difference in catching loads of waves or not. With a good paddling technique you can learn to surf quickly, with a bad technique you will always be trying to catch a wave but never with enough speed for the wave to pick you up.
For the perfect paddle lay on your board so its front or nose is slightly out of the water by say two inches, don’t lean too far back otherwise the tail will be too heavy and slow you down. If you are too far forward the nose will dive under the water and slow you down and can throw you off balance.

Always paddle one arm at a time two arms together will only get lots of laughs and moans while you go nowhere. As you bring your arms down in to the water take them slightly under the board and out this will give you greater speed. The stronger you are and the better your paddling technique will determine how many waves you catch.

Standing up are you Regular or Goofy.
This depends on which foot you naturally have at the front. Regulars have the left foot forward and Goofy’s the right foot, it doesn’t matter which one you are. The first time you try your push up or pop up you'll use the foot that feels more comfortable or stable to you.
Ok so you have been practicing your pop ups on the beach, you have been working at your paddling now it’s time to get on some waves.
Make your way out in to the surf until you reach about waist deep. When you see the waves or white water coming towards you lay on the board and start paddling towards the shore. If you are paddling correctly and have gained enough speed the wave will pick you up. If it doesn’t, either you weren’t paddling hard enough and probably lying too far back on your board with its nose in the air or you've had to many beers!!