After a hard bike ride and run on the Hawaiian heat at our annual training camp in kona, me and few of my athletes decided to go to the beach nearby and do some body surfing. After a couple of hours of fun, I decided to write this article about the importance of body surfing in triathlons.

How to catch a wave when playing in the surf, can be one of the most useful skills you'll ever learn when presented with a surf beach in a triathlon swim. It will also become one of those things you'll enjoy well after the awards ceremony has finished when you're back out there playing around in the waves on a hot & sunny summer afternoon.

First: GettingOut
Swim or dive through and under waves, never over them. It is the white -water you need to avoid when swimming out through breakers at a surf beach. By going under and through the wall of washing water you will be able to maintain speed and forward movement when swimming out through a surf break .

Try diving through just before each wave breaks and stay reaching with at least one arm as you kick firmly while still under water .

As you feel your lead-hand break the surface, start swimming again immediately. Don't allow yourself to lose momentum - it's too easy to do in the surf environment

Then the fun part; Coming In .
Catching a wave before it breaks or just as it breaks is much easier than when a wave has already broken. Generally only experienced surf swimmers are able to effectively catch waves that already have white water on them, so we will just deal with this first scenario .

Firstly, it's handy to know the feeling of what happens immediately before a wave breaks: there is a undertow outwards that is easy enough to feel around your ankles. This is an indication that the wave is about to break so if you can touch the bottom when this occurs it's exactly where you want to be standing. So as you wade out, aim to identify where this seems to happen with each breaking wave and you'll have found your learning ground .

So with the scene set, you in position, and the next wave rolling in, just before the wave starts to break, push firmly forwards with your whole body and kick like hell with your feet. Stroke quickly with both arms for no more than is required to create a surge of forward momentum, then thrust just the one arm in front of you leaving the other palm-downward by your side. All of this must all be done without hesitation in the direction of the beach. Hesitate and it will not work - it needs to be firm and deliberate.

The most important part of bodysurfing is your lead-hand: you must feel LIFT under it as you and your body skid along on top of it. That lead-arm must also be firm and extended as far as you can possibly reach. A weak effort with that lead-arm will result in a random result in your wave-catching attempt .

The next most important part of you regarding catching waves is your Chest - this is where you need to load your full weight distribution. When catching a wave, you must COMMIT FULLY to what you are doing by leaning down and forwards through your chest when reaching with the lead-arm. And keep your weight firmly there throughout the whole ride, otherwise you will be at risk of falling off the back.

As with normal freestyle in the pool, the position of your Hips is very important. If they do drop, then you are going to fall off the wave because they will act as a brake. So keep your back arched, hips up, and all the weight forwards on top of that firm skidding front-hand. Then when you get really skilful with this whole action, you'll even start to feel lift under the other hand as well - the palm behind you facing downwards by your side. And then this in turn helps keep the hips up further, hence you on the wave longer.

Now that you have all the technique figured it out, get out there and practice!!!! You'll have fun while learning to save energy and precious time on your next race.

Sergio Borges is an elite level Ironman distance triathlete. He has dedicated the last 10 years to studying the science of triathlon training. During this time, he has competed in 20 Ironman races around the world (9:38 PR and in 2005 placed 7th overall male at the Honu 1/2 Ironman in Kona, HI ), qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships seven times (so far). After opening a nutrition store in Brazil, he decided to apply his expertise to personal triathlon coaching. Sergio is a certified Level III USA Triathlon coach, expert USA cycling coach, head coach of the UCSD Triathlon Team, coached the USA Elite, Junior Elite and U23 team at the World Duathlon in Switzerland in 2003 and the U23 Tri national team in 2004. Also has worked with USAT at the Collegiate National Camps, Recruitment Camps, lecturing at the Coaching Level I Clinics and writes for 3 sport magazines. Sergio was the founder of the JCC Triathlon Master Program and the Kids XTeam Triathlon Club. For more information on Sergio and SDX training go to www.sdxtraining.com.

By: Sergio Borges
Head Trainer
SDXTraining.com - San Diego County