Getting on board

This how-to guide up from Down Under reads like a comedy, sports glossy pics like a surf mag and goes way beyond the basics. Aussie surf ace Taj Burrow and his cohorts deliver instruction for every level of surfer -- newbie to the rider born in boarding shorts.

The uninitiated can learn the purpose of various surfboard and fin shapes, what the pros use and how to buy a surfboard.

Burrow approaches the sport of surfing with a guy’s-guy broadness, touching on etiquette and lifestyle topics as well as offering practical advice on everything from the proper wipeout form (“never fall headfirst”) to the personal exasperations of day-to-day surfing such as how to adjust your trunks to avoid unpleasant friction.

The pro tricks -- the alley-oops, chop hops and floaters -- are all broken down into steps. For aspiring multilinguists, there’s even a flip book and glossary of Aussie slang.

-- Emmett Berg