Book Description
128 pages, including 70,000 words of text, 120 black and white photos and sketches, 10 pages of colour. Now in it¹s fourth printing this book has taught thousands of people to surf. The inside information from four times World Surfing Champion, Nat Young. All the tips from his 43 years of experience, good clean advise for the beginner and the advanced surfer, including how to ride a Shortboard, Longboard, Bodyboard, kneeboard and Wave Ski.
The basis of this manuscript was first commissioned by the Warringah Shire Council in 1976 as a guide to Australia¹s first Surf School. Over the course of two summers directing their surf school Nat Young refined the information to make a clear, definitive book that could be used to teach people of all ages how to surf, originally coming out as Nat Youngs Book of Surfing.
Part one is BASIC SURFING. Including, Starting out right, Choosing your board. Learning to paddle, Going into the ocean for the first time, Catching your first wave, Standing up, Basic Manoeuvres, Helpful hints, Caring for your board, Things that bite and sting and an important chapter on Attitude.
Part two is INFORMED SURFING. Advanced manoeuvres, from tube riding to aerials. Surfing big waves, Competitive surfing, Waves and weather, Where the waves are, and History through design.
Part three is ALTERNATE SURFING. The art of riding a malibu or Longboard, Kneeboard, Wave ski, and Boogie board, and a Glossary so you communicate.
About the Author
Nat Young has lived the surfing life for almost half a century. He is recognised as one of the great surfers in the history of the sport. His motto is and always has been to " make it a beautiful life " he believes you have only one chance and you had better make it a good one. Nat was an integral part in the redesigning of the longboard in the late 60s and a co-founder of the longboard renaissance in the early 80s. The four times World Champion still lives his life totally devoted to riding waves, surfing either a long or short board at every opportunity he gets.
Nat has always loved good projects, so far he has written 5 books, 3 of which are available on this site. The other 2, Surfing Australia¹s East Coast and Surfing and Sailboard Guide to Australia are collectors items. He has made 2 movies, Fall-Line(1977) and The History of Australian Surfing (1984). These days he lives an idyllic but still eventful life based in his beloved Angourie, where he combines his love for surf with his other great passion, his family.
Nat¹s wife Ti is 44 years old, a tall striking blond from the Palm Beach on the northern beaches of Sydney, she loves the surfing life style but has never ridden a wave on a board, preferring bodysurfing as a much purer form of surfing. Naomi is Nat¹s eldest child, born in Byron Bay in 1971, she was a very fortunate girl growing up in both the country and the city. The beautiful Naomi is a competent goofy foot, who loves the cruising style of riding her longboard with her husband Nick and working as a flight attendant for Qantas. 17 year old Nava is the academic in the family. Another talented Goofy foot, she spends her life chasing waves, snow and trying to decide what course at which university will suite her best. Beau is the current star of the family, he has taken over Nat¹s place as the best surfer in the Young clan. At 26 Beau has already achieved his personal ambition by becoming the 2000 World Longboard Surfing Champion and his competative career is definately not over yet. 10 year old Bryce is exploding everywhere he chooses to open up, he is already in the top bracket of snowboarders for his age, can bust airs and carve on either his shortboards or skateboards. This completes the picture of what makes it a beautiful life for the Young family.