When it comes to surfing there are only a couple of necessary basics that you need to get started. The first thing is one thing is that you never need to press "W" while surfing you will only need "A, D, and sometimes s". learning to surf straight ramps is the first step to becoming a "surfer" when you go at a straight ramp you press the key that is facing the ramp, but the more important part is creating a smooth curve with your mouse since surfing is pretty much just learning to find the right angles and movements for your mouse. when you are surfing a ramp try and imagine that you are creating a ramp with the movement of your mouse so if you are trying to get the max distance and height doesn't matter to much then you want to be going at an angle ~45 degrees but that doesn't mean just look at a 45 degree angle but smoothly look towards that 45 degree angle so you keep your speed. I felt like adreN does an excellent job of providing visuals and a good narrative voice for explaining surfing I would recommend watching his video then continuing with my guide since I go over a lot of stuff he did not seem to go over or I feel like needed to have more attention drawn to.

OK so next thing we are going to go over before we head onto curved ramps is how to air strafe and what air strafing is. If you have ever done Kz or B-hopping maps then you are probably already familiar with what strafing is so you can just go on to the next paragraph. Air strafing is pretty much what it sounds like it is turning while you are in the air in Kz maps you do it to jump around walls or build up speed for long jumps. in surfing it doesn't really help you gain speed. now that you know what air strafing is we will go over how to do it. To air strafe all you have to do is match your keys with your spin for instance if you are turning to the left then you press "A" and f you are turning to the right then press "D". pretty straight forward sounding but getting the timing down for this is essential. You are going to use air strafing on every surf map you will ever play on so getting comfortable with this idea.

Now that we have gone over doing a straight ramp and air strafing we are going to move over to doing curved ramps. one thing I see a lot of new surfers having trouble with is trying to figure out how to do curved ramps and keep speed. when doing a curved ramp you are going to do the opposite of what you do on a straight ramp and by that I mean if the ramp curves right then you are going to press "D" and if the ramp curves left then you are going to press "A". But when you are doing a curved ramp I find it easier to picture myself doing a very slow air strafe doing curves he proper way requires you to have some speed to begin with so in some instances you may slip off the ramp or have to press the opposite side key to save your self but it is very important to not try and surf curved ramps as if they were straight ramps because you will just keep flying off the top of the ramp every time you try it.

Something I get asked a lot when i'm on lower tier servers is what I mean when I talk about linear maps vs. stage maps. Linear maps are maps that have 1 start point and 1 end point simply it is a point "A" to point "B" type of map. Stage maps are maps that once you complete one part of the map you move on to the next so it is more like going from point "A" to point "B" and then from point "B" to point "C" and so on.

One more thing just to have in your mind is most surf servers will have auto b-hop scripts so you only need to hold down your jump or if you use scroll wheel to jump then it doesn't matter just know it will always be a perfect b-hop.

I have gone over all the most basic steps to learning how to surf.

If you ask anyone the question "What should I do to get better at surfing?" and almost every single one of them will say something different. So my way of practicing may not be the best but it is what worked for me and made me a much better surfer.

For those of you at the beginner level or just entering into surfing I would recommend spending some time on the map Surf_Beginner only because that map will help you get some basic ideas of how to surf. You don't have to be able to beat it but I would say give it a while and see how far you can get on it. Once you get stuck and can't pass a level I would recommend finding a server with Surf_Utopia_V3 it is a linear map that I feel requires you to have all of the basics to complete. After you have spent some time on those maps you most likely are going to be a little sad that you can't beat them so I recommend playing surf_Aircontrol this map is an easy linear map that if you will be able to beat on your first or second day of surfing. There are a lot of good maps that are designed for beginners or entry level surfers to practice on that I didn't mention just look for maps that are tier 1 or 2.

Just playing linear maps will help you get smoother mouse movement and will teach you through muscle memory since you are going to repeat movements a lot playing them. I feel like stage maps are great for testing your improvement when you are getting started and linear are great for getting better endurance (Continually accurate and smooth movements) and overall improved skill level. Surfing with a friend or 2 will definitely make the time go by very quickly.

Surfing is by no means an easy thing to master for many of the best surfers they have been surfing for years but if you put some effort in and practice efficiently you can become a proficient surfer in no time.

85.3 tick servers such as Horizon surf servers are easier to surf on since this is the optimal tick rate to surf at. It is kind of like doing Kz on a 102 tick server everything just feels a bit easier but for a lot of people 64 tick servers just feel more natural since there is less dead time floating I personally have no preference I started surfing on 64 tick and later began surfing on 85.3 tick and it seemed like a pretty easy transition but I've heard from some people that it is a hard transition going from learning on 85 an moving to 64 tick later. The advantages to 64 tick is that there are a lot more 64 tick surf servers out there than 85.3 tick.