How To Avoid Being A Kook

No one wants to be a kook.

While the definition of a kook varies from surfer to surfer, they all have one thing in common…

All of them are negative.

This is how the internet defines a kook…

“An individual with no understanding of the social and sartorial norms of surfing. In the water, a kook’s cluelessness can aggravate or endanger other surfers. On occasion, kooks can even be recognized solely by the faux pas they commit out of the ocean.”

Before we get into how to avoid being a kook, we want to stress one thing…

A kook is not a beginner.

It’s completely okay to be a beginner!

All surfers have been beginners at some point in their lives.

What makes someone a kook is the way they act.

There are a few tell-tale signs of a kook, and it’s easy to avoid doing them too.

So here’s 7 ways to avoid being a kook!

1. Don’t use a board too small for you

Too many people make the mistake of going too small, too early.

There’s the perception that a good surfer = a surfer with a short board, but having a short board doesn’t make you a good surfer.

Riding a high performance board with little volume will just make your life harder. You’ll catch less waves, have less control on the board, and will hinder your progress.

If you want to get better, you’ll progress faster if you’re catching more waves and on the right type of board. Plus – you’ll have way more fun too, as it won’t be a struggle!

2. Respect the etiquette - don’t drop in on people

It’s important to be aware of surf etiquette…

When someone catches a wave, that means the wave is theirs. They have priority on that wave. And that means the wave is now off-limits for anyone else who’s nearby… (unless the initial surfer falls or is too deep)

It’s a cardinal sin to drop in on anyone on a wave. It can cause collisions, broken boards, and is a fast way to lose any respect in the water. Plus, it’s dangerous too!

The line-up in the surf is a little bit like a queue in a coffee shop…

Imagine you’re queuing for your cappuccino. You’ve been waiting in line for 20 minutes. You finally get your coffee, take a delicious sip, and boom, someone comes and takes your coffee straight out of your hands.

That’s what it feels like to be dropped in on! Your wave that you’ve been waiting for, completely ruined.

3. Don’t be a douche, or a snake, in the water

There’s a lot of rules around who has priority when it comes to surfing. Some breaks are dominated by localism, but in general – the person who’s deeper (closer to the peak) has priority.

But it’s also important to respect how long people have been waiting in line. If someone has been waiting patiently in the line-up for a wave, don’t catch a wave and paddle right past them, straight to the peak again to catch the next one. That’s seen as “snaking” and is a pretty douche-y move.

Be kind and respectful of everyone in the line-up, and you’ll make more friends in the water too.

4. Read waves

Reading waves is an important skill in surfing.

You can often spot a kook in the water if they don’t know where to sit, or don’t look at the waves when they are paddling.

You want to always look left and right on all waves, to check you’re in the best place to catch the wave as well as not dropping in on anyone.

If you’re not sitting in a good spot and are struggling to catch waves – look where the good surfers are sitting, and follow them!

5. Paddle correctly

Kooks are often known for having a bad paddle, flapping around the water like a dead fish.

If you’re new to surfing, it’s a good idea to build up some muscle strength in your back and shoulders.

Practising yoga is also really helpful, as the “upward dog” movement helps to build lower-back strength and flexibility.

Here’s a useful video by Kale Brock on YouTube which you can check out to improve your paddle:

We were pretty impressed and couldn’t wait to see him rip! So we went surfing with him the next day and he didn’t catch a single wave.

There’s nothing wrong with being a beginner. Or whatever level you’re at! Just don’t claim to know things about a surf spot if you don’t really know, and don’t claim to be able to do airs if you can’t.

We hope this blog helps you to understand the surf etiquette a bit better, so you aren’t a kook in the water.

Don’t forget – it doesn’t matter what level you’re at, but you’ll make a lot more friends in the water if you respect the rules and don’t get in the way!

6. Be humble - be careful of your chat off-land

Finally, becoming a good surfer and understanding the ocean takes time.

But for some reason, many kooks like to brag about how good they are. And then when they’re in the water, they don’t know where to sit, struggle to catch waves, and generally get in the way.

Let us tell you a real story about what we mean by this…

We met someone a while ago, who told us about how he was sponsored and chose not to do airs anymore because he didn’t want to break his boards…