Product Description

Surfing has evolved from a relatively obscure past time to one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Today, there are millions of surfers across the globe. In his new book, competitive surfing coach and Olympic Ski Team coach, Raul Guisado presents the first-ever guide to avail participants, both beginner and advanced, with the same training and coaching principles of the more established and traditional sports. This book will empower both recreational and competitive surfers to improve their technique, expand their repertoire, and prepare themselves to catch the best waves. It covers boards and other equipment, the anatomy of waves, body position and stance, and techniques for everything from paddling to "walking the nose". Special chapters on competition, training, biomechanics, and psychology round out this comprehensive training guide to the sport.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #519018 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover
Whether you're a pro surfer who wants to win a world title, a competitive surfer who wants to turn pro, or a recreational surfer who just wants to shred over your friends, The Art of Surfing will help you achieve your goals.
In this book competitive surfing coach Raul Guisado brings the same coaching and training principles of the more established and traditional sports to surfing - to help you enhance your performance and take it to the next level.
Inside you'll find information on: the basics of boards and other gear, the anatomy of waves, and a review of basic maneuvers; advanced techniques for everything, from paddling to turning to walking the nose; basic and advanced exercises for improving flexibility, balance, and stability; strength-training and power-building routines; cardiovascular endurance workouts, as well as cross-training options; tips on performance nutrition, and the latest advances in sports psychology.
A chapter on surf contests rounds out this coaching and training manual. Let The Art of Suring help you develop a game plan to boost your physical, technical, and mental performance - and prepare to catch the next wave.

About the Author
Raul Guisado has a B.A. in Biological Sciences and is pursuing an M.A. in Sports Psychology. He has been coaching skiers and surfers since 1989 through his business, Peak Athletic Coaching. Traveling the globe as a World Cup/Olympic Coach for the United States Ski Team, he was a coach at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano and the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. He one day hopes to coach surfing in the Olympics. He splits his time between Santa Cruz and Tahoe City.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Art of Surfing will give you ideas for ways you can take your surfing to the next level. If you're serious about improving, this book can be a great resource-a textbook if you will-in your development as a surfer. The first chapter is dedicated to the basics of surfing in hopes of filling any gaps in nitty-gritty knowledge and getting everyone on the "same page" so to speak. Whether you've been surfing all your life, or have only recently "gotten hooked," I urge you to pay close attention to the information in that chapter. Even though a great deal of it may sound familiar, it will help lay the groundwork for this book's performance enhancement sections. The remainder of the book was written with the intermediate to advanced surfer in mind. I aim to empower both the recreational and competitive athlete and, as a result, improve the way surfers prepare to reach their goals. Knowledge of performance enhancement techniques can help you surf better every day without injury, get ready for a two-week surf trip, or aid you in reaching competitive aspirations.

Customer Reviews

A thorough analysis of the sport of surfing
I have been surfing for 20 years and I have yet to read a book that breaks down the essentials of surfing as well as this book does. It's very easy to read and contains a lot of helpful photos. I picked up numerous tips on technique and cross-training that have already improved my surfing!

Fair & Honest Review
I feel some of the other reviews were a too harsh. I first read the book at Borders and really liked it :) Obviously no book or video compares to time spent in the water but I found the book to be very good and informative. Most "learn to surf" books always seem to contain the same basic info (paddling, popping-up, duck-diving) but this book goes far beyond and can be appreciated by the advancing-beginner & intermediate surfers looking to improve. I'm hoping to teach a surfing class at the college I work for & would seriously consider recommending this book for any surfing students. The other book I really liked was Taj Burrow's Book of Surfing but I believe is for more advanced surfers and contains too much surf jargon & slang for the beginners.

enjoying in putting to use in cold maine waters.....
some of the review are too critical. The author does a great job of breaking down surfing etiquite as well as providing beginning, intermediate and advanced tips that can be used for all surfers. I have checked out other books and while they are good I find this book to be a great reference for those of us who try to surf as often as we can. the conditioning tips are very progressive and opened new facets of training for myself and some friends.