Surfing not a sport! WTF!

[oldgrom]

Nice Tomcat!! Gonna have to keep that one in the data bank for latter.

[Dmd*Grl]

pm me [/quote]

[phillwilson]

interesting one this,

I had always argued that it is EITHER an activity OR a sport depending on your reasons for doing it and your goals....if you are out there just for the fun and the ride then its an activity but if you are trying to perform moves and be judged against others then it is a sport to you.

this argument holds up well to other activities such as running which if done for personal fitness and well being is an activity but if done in a race then a sport....

but on reading this thread a new thought entered my head...

when running the road or surface isn't actively hostile to your presence..waves on the other hand....

so I now believe that there is a sporting element even in the recreational surfnig that I do as I am having to COMPETE with natual elements.

hmm, beard scratchingly interesting.

[oldgrom]

Yes.. (phillwilson) very wise indeed.. It is in our human nature we are allways seeming to be competitive on all fronts so at the very least we are competing with ourself. In the regards to surfing it is us we must try to master,,,, but for sure our competition are the waves and hell a surfers arena is only 2/3rds of our planet is that not enough in itself??? If It's not then I would chanlenge anybody to just swim a 30'-40' 50' wave with It's 1000's of metric tons in volume and force, heck 5' waves will bowl over the biggest and badest NFL lineman LOL. Yes,,,, for sure the natural element I have to compete against in recreational surfing is one that kicks my azz all over the place let alone the competition with myself. By all accounts,,, yes (SURFING) is a sport indeed.

[PapaW]

Phil and Old Grom -
but then you can take the view that the waves do what they do regardless and so is that a competition? Perhaps is more one sided, we choose to challenging them but we are in reality challenging ourselves.

On the other hand those like myself are simply using and working with the waves and how they break to utilise them for our own wicked pleasure

[oldgrom]

Yea... PapaW... For sure we our chalenging ourselves tryin to master our own skill/ability and using the waves to our own advantage (fun) but it can't be seen as there is no foe or adversary in it right?? For yes the wave will come regardless.... But even they are a chalenge that drives a conquer and master competitivness in us or at least for the ones that want to surf. Could the same be said for snow skiing,golf, I think yes and the are considerd a sport as well. But yea,,,,,,, our own wicked pleasure ahhhhhhh... works for me.

[phillwilson]

ditto...now wheres the bloody east coast waves, i need my wicked way!!

[parrysurf]

THE SPORT OF KINGS

Surfing is often referred to as the SPORT OF KINGS. This reference was taken from early Hawaiian royalty who first began riding waves on their shores hundreds of years ago.


any questions????

[ChasingDaylight]

'the sport of kings' is most probably something once said by some guy, and someone else thought it sounded good, and so it stuck and people still say it today. That's the case with the majority of phrases and names and what-not.

Surfing, though, like philwilson said, is about what the surfer wants from it; if they go out there with the goal to get pro and compete in every competition they need to to get there, then surely that's classifiable as a 'sport' (the dictionary definition: "an activity involving physical effort and skill in which a person or team competes against another or others.") But if the surfer paddles out purely to experience wave-riding for himself, to feel the glide and let nature surround him, and doesn't feel the need to compete with anything or anyone, then it is not a sport.

I think it enables the surfer to gain another state of mind that proves very difficult to describe once lost. It is like a gain of energy from the wave itself.

You cannot compare surfing with accepted sports. Unlike tennis or football or cricket, people still have difficulty deciding if it is, in fact, a sport. Surely that's reason enough to not class it as a sport?

The word 'sport' has lost all meaning to me now....

[parrysurf]

Surfing is a sport...just not definable or have scoring like the standard "sport".

The sport in surfing is the challenge of the ocean, the timing of nature, the chase, the conquest, the self betterment. The pastime of surfing is the chatting between sets, the quiver building, stories of past great swells...

call a rose by any name and it is still just as sweet....


keep the stoke!!

[oldgrom]

Nice parrysurf .... Nice

[cityslickr]

its not a sport! he's right.............................................................

[Jc]

its not a sport! he's right.............................................................

IT'S A WAY OF LIFE

Or/and an escape

It's whatever your need it too be

and more

I think i've confused myself

[dukdiv]

When Dmd*Grl's x said "its not a real sport" it was meant as a dis.
I doubt he would understand the 'surfing is a lifestyle' aspect.
Next time text him back "Dude, I played football on the first try", maybe he'll be stoked...nah.



Maybe we're all oceannasts!

[parrysurf]

if surfing is not a sport.......how does the world consider bowling, bicycling, fishing, and god forbid poker all sports??


Just because it is a sport, does not mean it is not also a lifestyle.

[cityslickr]

surfing is the act of riding waves.... thats it

[parrysurf]

So much want to be out of the main stream, calling surfing a sport threatens the identity you folks have built.
True??


I call it a sport cuz it has all the aspects of a sport.
1) A field of play exists.
2)Physical competition amongst participants in quest of common goal.
3)Obvious successes and failures.
No scoring exists until it is a contest situation so we won't address that.

I understand the argument that it is only a sport when done in a contest situation......so this would make all sports, non sport unless there was a scoring structure like football or soccer and the like.
That is absurd....that makes practicing any sport, not sport...you follow. By your logic, unless you are scoring the activity, it is not a sport. Run every day it is a lifestyle, enter a race it is a sport. Motocross like mad, not a sport until you are in a contest. Swim your ass off....you aren't practicing a sport Micheal Phelps, until the Olympics!!
Do you see my point...climb off your horses and accept you play a sport, it just can't be scored.

[parrysurf]

skateboarding is the same type of sport as surfing......except I get to do it everyday...concrete.

[ChasingDaylight]

parrysurf - "I understand the argument that it is only a sport when done in a contest situation......so this would make all sports, non sport unless there was a scoring structure like football or soccer and the like.
That is absurd....that makes practicing any sport, not sport...you follow. By your logic, unless you are scoring the activity, it is not a sport. Run every day it is a lifestyle, enter a race it is a sport. Motocross like mad, not a sport until you are in a contest. Swim your ass off....you aren't practicing a sport Micheal Phelps, until the Olympics!!"

But what you have failed to see is that when practising a sport, even when you don't keep score, you are practising the sport to be able to compete, at whatever level you feel. You cannot play tennis without a partner! Of course, you understand that you can't go out onto the courts at wimbledon and play the professionals without prior practise!?
Surfing, like running, isn't always like this. People do it for themselves. They do it, not always as a sport, but to have fun etc etc.

I think what it comes down to is what you personally think. I, for one, would never consider tiddlywinks a sport. Yet it is considered one by some...

[parrysurf]

practice is to make perfect.....thanks for making my point

I believe all people play/practice sports for the same reasons: exercise, fun and challenge.
The same reasons I choose surfing as one of my sports.


Tiddlywinks is a lifestyle!!