Don’t expect to be a champion overnight
Indoor surfing is very similar to snowboarding or skateboarding in terms of how you move on the board, but it’s not the same. If you have those skill sets already it will help, but it’s not going to make you a pro overnight. The boards are a lot smaller than conventional surfboards, and that’s where the skill set changes.

Don’t move your upper body
It’s all about the balance of weight on your feet. If you put more weight on your backfoot you’re going to travel upwards. If you put more weight on the front foot you’re going to travel downwards. You really need to work hard to understand how to shift your weight.

You will wipe out...
...and your friends will laugh. It doesn’t matter how good you are – you’re coming off the board. You’re surfing a sheet wave of water about two inches thick, and the surface underneath is fairly similar to a trampoline. So when you take a tumble it’s not going to hurt – but you will get very wet.

James Macdonald, head of adventure at Twinwoods Adventure, Bedford

• As told to Laurie Clarke