Surf videos are not just footage of surfers in the water. They help you improve your own surf skills, can be used as inspiration for future surf trips and are a vibrant part of surf culture.
For many professional surfers who earn their living from wave riding, producing and publishing surf videos is also a source of income that should not be underestimated.
What are surf videos?
Surf videos show the beauty of the sport and the ocean, but also the hard work, the passion and the sometimes elaborate preparation that come with surfing. They also raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection and the fragility of the marine environment.
The clips and films offer a glimpse into the world of surfing and make our favourite sport accessible even to those who don’t live by the sea and have never come into contact with wave riding. One of the best-known examples of a surf film, “The Endless Summer” by Bruce Brown, infected the whole world with surf fever in the sixties. The documentary, which followed two surfers around the globe in search of good waves and the never-ending summer, is one of the first surf films. This film laid the foundation for the surf film genre and inspired surfers around the globe to go on surf trips to faraway countries.
Surf videos awaken your wanderlust
Today, films and video clips of surfers on social media or video platforms still serve as travel inspiration for the next surf trip or as a (short-term) remedy for surf cravings and wanderlust.
To prepare for your next surf trip, you can look for footage of the waves in the area and get an idea of the conditions. Or you can find out which time of year has the best conditions for your surf level.
On the other hand, surf videos can also open up new horizons and take you to waves, countries and places you hadn’t even had on your radar (or screen) before. Because off the beaten track there is still a lot to discover!
Surf videos to support your surf training
But surf videos are not only useful as travel inspiration – they can also serve as a source of information to improve your own surf skills or learn new tricks and turns.
Have yourself filmed while surfing and then spot possible surfing mistakes in a video coaching session afterwards. Nothing helps your surf skills as much as seeing on moving images which movements aren’t quite “running smoothly” yet. Only then can you find out exactly what to work on to take your surfing to the next level.
You can either ask a coach or your surf buddy to film you from the beach or directly from the water. It’s important not to film just a single wave, but several waves, to see which movement patterns keep recurring. Only then can you really see what you want to improve and what you want to work on in the future.
That’s also why we take lots of photos during the sessions in our surf courses. As a souvenir of the surf trip, we’d all prefer the photos of ourselves surfing the best wave of the day completely relaxed. But it’s above all the infamous fail photos and videos that show us where we can improve.
Coaching videos offer you another way to improve your surf skills. There are now many videos on YouTube all about learning to surf.
On the Barefoot Surf YouTube channel you’ll find lots of “How to surf” videos in which everything from the take-off and exercises at home to turns and manoeuvres is explained in detail. We also like to use these videos in our theory sessions after surfing to go through them step by step and find out exactly what to pay attention to.
Professional surf videos and documentaries
Professional surfers and those who want to make a living from their sport publish surf documentaries and video clips, some of them elaborately produced, that take them to the most beautiful surf spots in the world. These surf trips are sponsored by well-known surf brands, among others, which in return can advertise with impressive surf photos and clips. And we get to dream of green waves and barrels and plan our next surf trip…
By the way, here you’ll find a few surf films for rainy days. Enjoy!
At the Ocean Film Tour, which tours selected cinemas across Europe once a year, selected (short) films are shown on the big screen. As the name suggests, the films focus on the ocean and all the related water sports, and if the tour stops in your city next spring, we can only warmly recommend going!
As you can see, surf videos can spark wanderlust, increase your longing for the next surf trip and at the same time help you improve your surf skills. You can analyse your own surfing on videos or photos and find out what you want to focus on in your next surf. Or you can learn from the pros how it’s done properly – after all, the good thing about videos is that you can watch and pause them again and again…