3 Days To Forever

Chapter 11: Surfing Lesson!

"The first thing you do before you ever step on the board is stretch all of your muscles. Your arms and shoulders will be pulling you out there, so they have to be totally stretched out and ready for work. Your abs and back will be doing a lot of the work as well so you'll need to turn from side to side and get all those muscles awake and ready to go.

You have nice muscles in your legs so you won't have any trouble with the strength it takes to control the board, but it is a different type of movement on a board than what you are used to, so just make sure and stretch them out as well." DEAN continued stretching and watched as Jessy's fit body twisted and bent to warm up her muscles.

"Do you happen to have any old injuries that might cause you problems?" DEAN sat down in the sand and stretched her legs out in front of her, bent over, and laid her chest on her thighs. She grabbed her toes and pulled.

"My gymnastics career ended when my knee kept dislocating. After so many years of landing so hard, the ligaments and muscles just couldn't handle it anymore, and my patella kept dislocating. That is when I decided to retire from gymnastics rather than to continue doing more damage. But I haven't had trouble with it in years."

Jessy bent straight over and stretched out the muscles in her legs. After a few leans to each side, she was ready. "Come on teach, let's get things going."

DEAN smiled at her exuberance and pulled the boards out of the sand and placed them down on the ground. "Come over here, and lay down on your stomach on your board." DEAN lay down on hers, and Jessy laid down right beside her on her own board. "First thing is learning how to get from your stomach to your feet." DEAN glanced over and smiled at Jessy. "You want to lie toward the back end of the board with your toes curled and pressed into the end of the board."

Jessy started stroking her arms in the air like she was swimming out into the water.

"You'll use your arms and push you and your board out into the water. When you get out far enough, you'll use one arm and turn yourself around, or you'll sit on the board and use one foot to turn toward the beach. As the wave approaches, you lay back down and start paddling and kicking toward shore. After you've picked up enough speed and the wave is under you, you will place your arms on the board and push your shoulders and chest up off the board.

With your toes, push your legs up off the board, then you quickly push up with your feet and pull your legs up under you."

DEAN pushed herself up and turned sideways as she brought her feet back down to the board. "It is very important to keep your body toward the back of the board so you can control the front of the board.

You must make sure when you bring your feet up and underneath your body, that you place your body in the center of the board. If you are too far on the edges, you are going to fall off."

DEAN stepped off the board and walked over to Jessy's board.

DEAN had Jessy slide her body forward just a bit and then set her feet like she had told her, pressing her toes into the back of the board. "When you're swimming out there, you don't have to keep your feet like this but before you get ready to stand you must put your feet in this position. This pad on the back of the board is a grip pad and helps keep your feet gripping the board rather than sliding off.

The small strap at the back is to secure your leg rope which will be around your ankle. It keeps you and your board from losing each other. There are some other things I will show you in a bit. Relax down on your board, and pretend like you are swimming your board out into the water. Then get your feet set and bring yourself up to your feet.

You need to end off facing the side of the board, not the front." DEAN stepped back and watched as Jessy moved her arms like she was swimming, set her feet, pushed her arms up straight and then quickly pulled her legs up, turned and landed perfectly in the middle of the board.

"You got that on the first try. Are you sure you're not holding out on me?" DEAN had never seen anyone get it as quickly as Jessy did, but she had never taught a gymnast before either.

"The balance beam work is not much different from this. Of course, there's no risk of drowning, but otherwise it is very similar."

"Sit down on your board for a minute and face out to the ocean, and let me explain a bit about waves." She watched Jessy sit down and DEAN sat down right behind her and slid up and brought her arms around her stomach. "The wind is the key to the waves. Today there is a light breeze, and you can see the small rolling waves coming in. These are the waves for beginners to learn on. If the wind is strong, that is when you get the big breaking waves, and you are nowhere ready to go near them.

It is important that no one ever goes surfing alone. Always bring at least one friend with you, and the more you can get the better.

If you were to get hurt while you were out in the water and couldn't get back in, the people you have with you will help you."

DEAN gently ran her hand across the wet suit and Jessy's tight abdomen. Surfing was really the last thing on her mind right now, but she had instructed enough classes that she really didn't have to think too hard to do it. "If you ever paddle out and get caught in a rip, it is likely to pull you way further out than you had intended.

There may be other times you may get out where you are going and get hurt somehow. If anything like that happens, the signal to let the people on the beach know that you need help is to hold your arms way up over your head, and wave toward the beach until someone see's you. They will come out and help you get back in.

If for some reason you get cut and are bleeding in the water, come in right away. It's not the place to bleed."

DEAN and Jessy needed to get up for DEAN to show the next part, but she didn't want to move. Her hands were roaming over Jessy's stomach and down her thighs. She could sit here all day and just feel the body that was sitting in front of her.

"DEAN, surfing honey," Jessy said over her shoulder. She felt DEAN lean toward her and lower her lips to her neck. Jessy couldn't help but lean her head back and give DEAN complete access.

When DEAN started sucking on her neck, Jessy quickly wiggled out of her arms and stood up to face her.

"Is this how you usually teach your students?" Jessy said and tried to get her body back under control. She was actually looking forward to getting in the water in hopes of cooling off the heat that was settling between her legs.

DEAN pushed up off the board and walked toward Jessy. "You are a very special student and are getting some very special instruction." She kissed Jessy quickly and then got her backpack. She pulled out the wax and waved Jessy back over to her board. "Always rub down the top of your board before you take it into the water.

You don't have to do the whole board, just from the middle back. The wax is sticky and will help keep your feet on the board." DEAN started applying the wax in a circular motion on her board and then handed it to Jessy.
She crawled over to Jessy's board and showed her to move the wax in a circle all the way to the back of the board. She grabbed her bag and pulled out two leg ropes.

"These are leg ropes. They secure to the strap on the back of the board." She showed Jessy how to secure it in the strap. "When you get out to the edge of the water, you secure the other end around your ankle." She stood up and secured the strap around her ankle. "When you get thrown, you won't lose your board." DEAN lay down on the board with her feet at the back edge. She showed Jessy how, after paddling out to the water, to then get yourself quickly to your feet and centered over the board.

"I expect that part will be easy for you, except you have to counter the movement of the ocean. Your balance is so good, you only need to learn the right way to ride the board once the wave hits." DEAN got up and had Jessy lie down on the board to practice getting to her feet.

After a few times of DEAN correcting her feet placement, Jessy had the movement and position down easily.