What are good surfing goals for beginners?

Take 5 lessons, stand up on 10 whitewater waves in one session, and surf on 20 days this year. Stay at beaches with lifeguards, on a big soft board, until you catch green waves on your own.

What is a green wave in surfing?

An unbroken wave, caught before it turns to white foam. Beginners learn in the foam first. Catching a first green wave on your own is a classic first big goal.

How can I practise surfing without waves?

Train the pop-up on the floor, 20 a day, and time it. Swim laps for paddling fitness. Both count toward your next session in the water.

25 surfing goals, from the whitewater to your first green wave

Updated October 4, 2026

Glass orb filling like a rising wave as surf sessions are logged

The ocean decides how many waves come, so a good surfing goal counts what you do with them: waves caught in a session, pop-ups on land, days in the water. 20 pop-ups a day for 30 days, 5 green waves in one session, 50 sessions this year. Here are 25 surfing goals, from the whitewater to the line-up.

Surfing goals for beginners

Beginner goals are about standing up in the whitewater, on a big soft board, at a beach with lifeguards.

Take 5 lessons with a surf school.
Stand up on 10 whitewater waves in one session.
Ride one whitewater wave all the way to the sand.
Surf on 20 days this year.
Learn the surf etiquette rules from your instructor and follow them for 10 sessions.

Pop-up and paddling goals

The pop-up is the one part of surfing you can train on the floor at home, and paddling can be trained in a pool.

Do 20 pop-ups on the floor every day for 30 days.
Pop up from lying flat to standing in under 2 seconds, 10 times in a row, on land.
Paddle for 20 minutes without stopping.
Paddle out past the breaking waves 5 times in one session.
Duck dive or turtle roll under 3 waves in one session.

Wave and manoeuvre goals

Once you can stand up, count green waves: unbroken waves you catch on your own, before they turn to foam.

Catch your first green wave on your own, with no push.
Catch 5 green waves in one session.
Ride along the face of the wave, left or right, on 10 waves.
Link a bottom turn and a top turn on the same wave.
Cross-step to the front half of a longboard on 3 waves.

Surf fitness and ocean safety goals

The ocean is the part you cannot control, so swim fitness comes before big waves, and swimming goals build it in a pool.

Swim 400 m without stopping in a pool before your first surf trip.
Do 10 minutes of shoulder and core work, 3 times a week, for 8 weeks.
Surf only at beaches with lifeguards for your first 30 sessions.
Before each of your next 20 sessions, check the beach forecast and ask the lifeguard about conditions.
Learn to spot a rip current with your instructor, then point one out on 5 beach days.

Surf session and trip goals

Session goals count time in the water, and a trip is where it all adds up. Travel goals help plan one.

Surf 50 sessions this year.
Surf once a week for 12 weeks.
Take one surf trip to a new beach, with a surf school there.
Surf 3 different beaches this year, each with lifeguards.
Log 20 sessions: wave size, board and waves caught.

What is a good surfing goal?

A good surfing goal is a count of something you do, not a result the ocean hands you. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had by far the largest effect on performance (1.36). Goals about your own results came next (0.44), and goals about winning had almost none (0.09). "5 green waves in one session" is yours. "Surf like a pro by summer" depends on the swell.

Calm counts too. Staying relaxed when a wave holds you under is the same skill a jiu-jitsu player trains when pinned on the mat, and BJJ goals count it there.

Safety is part of every goal on this list. The U.S. National Weather Service says to swim only at a beach with lifeguards, and to check the beach forecast and talk to the lifeguard before going in. It quotes the U.S. Lifesaving Association: the chance of drowning at a beach with lifeguards is 1 in 18 million.

How to track surfing goals

Write down your waves before you leave the beach. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that recording it beat keeping it in your head.

Sessions are a day count. Waves caught and pop-ups are amounts that add up. 20 pop-ups a day for 30 days is one of the simplest 30 day challenge ideas there is, and it needs no ocean at all.

Once a week, read your log and pick one thing to work on next time. That is all a weekly review is. Flat weeks happen, and a picture that fills one wave at a time keeps the season in view while the ocean stays quiet.

Frequently asked questions

What are good surfing goals for beginners?: Take 5 lessons, stand up on 10 whitewater waves in one session, and surf on 20 days this year. Stay at beaches with lifeguards, on a big soft board, until you catch green waves on your own.
What is a green wave in surfing?: An unbroken wave, caught before it turns to white foam. Beginners learn in the foam first. Catching a first green wave on your own is a classic first big goal.
How can I practise surfing without waves?: Train the pop-up on the floor, 20 a day, and time it. Swim laps for paddling fitness. Both count toward your next session in the water.