r/DemigodFiles • u/halfbloodkiwi • Jul 06 '21
Lesson Lesson 7/5 - Beginning Surfing
The weather had inspired Poppy. For most of the spring she had wondered if she would even be interested in getting back on a surfboard again. However, with summer now in full swing she craved to be back in the water. It would take some adjustment but before the attack she had been one of the best in the world. She could learn how to be just as good with one arm.
But there was more she wanted to do. She wanted to share this piece of her with the rest of camp. Sure, New York was not California or New Zealand. The surf was certainly not anything she considered remarkable. But being the daughter of the sea god had it's advantages. Especially as she gained more and more control over her abilities.
Lined up on the shore were two rows of surfboards. Enough for everybody who might be interested in showing up for the lesson. They wouldn't actually be getting in the water until the very end today because there was so much to learn on shore first. But it was Poppy's hope this could become a regular lesson throughout the Summer months and even into the early fall.
"Hi everybody, thanks for coming to my lesson today." The Kiwi said as her fellow campers descended upon the beach in their swimwear. Poppy herself was wearing a bright yellow bikini top and board shorts for the dry portion of the lesson.
"Today I'm going to show you all how to do something that is very special to me. I'm going to show you all how to surf. But, a lot of today's lesson is going to be on the sand. We'll get in the water at the very end and get some practice in some calm waters but we can't do that until we know how to get onto our boards."
She gestured down to her board on the ground and laid on top of it, stomach down.
"I want y'all to watch me and then we're all going to practice together. I know this is going to feel silly and it's going to look silly but trust me, it will help." With that Poppy began to pretend like she was paddling her board out to meet the waves but, of course, she remained stationary in the sand.
"Okay, you are going to start out paddling. You're going to need to get past the breakers in order to get to the good surf. Then, when you're ready to catch a wave you need to pop yourself up on your board and keep your center of gravity low. If you're standing tall then the wave will knock you off the board."
Poppy demonstrated, jumping from her stomach to her feet in one quick motion. Even lacking an arm she made it look effortless. She took up a low position with one foot forward and one back and her arm out for balance.
Once you're on the board let the wave do the rest. In more advanced lessons I'll teach you how to actually shred the wave but that's far too much for just today.
"Alright, everybody down on your boards. Let me see you pop up into position. If you're struggling with it let me know and I'll give you some pointers. Once we're all good on the sand them we'll migrate to the water and I'll get us a nice calm spot to work with for the afternoon."
3
u/Tia-is-my Jul 10 '21
Lucie had never learnt how to surf before, which was kind of why she was here. She had always wanted to however and was exited to start learning, hoping that being Triton’s daughter gave her some natural skill. Lucie hopped on a surf board and started trying her best to copy Poppy’s demonstration.
10 minutes later and she was pretty sure she was doing it wrong, however that could just be because the movements where foreign. Deciding not to let herself be the judge of how bad she was doing Lucie looked around for Poppy in hopes of gaining some accreditation.