The Importance Of Grit

[BoMan]

Yes, you need Grit to push thru, but too much Grit can be a problem too…When my first actions are successful in getting a satisfying ride I can easily quit soon after that, but it's when I'm struggling the downside of Grit occurs. The adrenaline gets pumping and I go on and on in trying. I just don't know when to quit, and must pay the price. Again and again.

I also pay the price but it doesn’t connect with my rides. I just always stay out too long. It happens because I only surf twice a month (living an hour’s drive inland) and want to make the most of every sesh. Since everything gets me sore, cross training helps. While recovering from a surf, I jog. While rebounding from a bike ride, I skate. There’s always something fun to do.

For most of you your best waves are out there waiting for you but for me it is very unlikely I will ever get waves anywhere near as good as the waves I already have ridden or if I did that I would ride them as well. So no need to search for the perfect wave, any wave is fine for me.

You have the experience to enjoy whatever the ocean brings.

[Tudeo]

I also pay the price but it doesn’t connect with my rides. I just always stay out too long. It happens because I only surf twice a month (living an hour’s drive inland) and want to make the most of every sesh. Since everything gets me sore, cross training helps. While recovering from a surf, I jog. While rebounding from a bike ride, I skate. There’s always something fun to do.

Staying active is key, but as we get older we need Grit for that
I can understand very well the will to make the most of every sesh if u only surf twice a month. I guess u can afford to overdo it then, since u got enough time to recover.

Here I could surf every day, if I didn't needed my resting days in between.. It's a bit frustrating cos I want to go out every day, but it's a luxury problem I'm in the process of accepting. Also I noticed when I go out with lesser frequency my stoke seems to increase My surfing feels so much better when my body is fresh and I can paddle hard to get in early.

[oldmansurfer]

You have the experience to enjoy whatever the ocean brings.

Long ago my typical day would be go check Wailua because it is right in front of where I live then if it wasn't good I would check Kealia, then maybe check Anahola and then Kalihiwai then back to Kealia because it was the best option. I just wasted 1 to 2 hours looking for surf and ended up at Kealia because it had the best looking surf. Kealia became my stopping point. If there were any waves there I would surf there. Kealia had a variety of breaks but most often I surfed a break we called the Landing because it was where ships used to off load stuff long ago. Anyway I found that even if the waves didn't look particularly good if I went out there I enjoyed it. My technique was to look for good waves among the usual junk coming in and then paddle out to that area and try to figure out the lineup. Some days it took me two hours to figure it out then I would surf another two hours all by myself. So instead of cruising around for two hours looking for surf I was surfing and by two hours riding some reasonably good waves. People would often paddle out and say "What happened to the waves?" Because they were watching me after I had figured out the break and it was a tricky day. So I realized there is usually a way to find good waves any day as long as there are waves. These days I am restricted to surfing only 30 minutes and quite often I have just figured out the break or not at all. Also because I have only 30 minutes I tend to just try a variety of peaks unless I hit the right one pretty quick because I want to catch some waves and not just be figuring up the break the whole time. But it is a challenge and I enjoy a challenge. So sometimes I just have to milk a fun ride out of a crappy wave ride it inside to see if it reforms and presents a better wall to surf on or a closeout to do a floater. Anyway I don't worry about it and just do what I can do and work at my skills including reading waves lining up the break and riding waves and dealing with getting caught inside or going through the surf. There is always something to improve on. What better way to waste your time then to learn to surf?

[BoMan]

My technique was to look for good waves among the usual junk coming in and then paddle out to that area and try to figure out the lineup...So instead of cruising around for two hours looking for surf I was surfing and by two hours riding some reasonably good waves.

I like it! With all the choices in Kauai, it could be a big time suck to find the perfect spot. Time spent surfing is always better than driving.

Being retired gives me the luxury of time to sort out tricky days. After each paddle out, I like to sit for a while to watch where and how the waves break...and to catch my breath. Shifting currents and tide change where the best takeoff spots are and which waves are best to take advantage of "reforms" inside. Some folks don't have patience to find the patterns and give up too soon.

[Oldie]

Shifting currents and tide change where the best takeoff spots are and which waves are best to take advantage of "reforms" inside. Some folks don't have patience to find the patterns and give up too soon.

We had that today. The beach breaks in SW France dont hold the 7-8ft swells we had the last days so well, and together with always strong current and a local phenomen called Baïne, provided for a quite chaotic situation and very tough paddling. For this old beginner, no chance to get to the lineup. So, as it was the first day of surfing in 3 months for me and my daughter, we looked for those reforms and it was a matter of patience and physical endurance to find and get to the right positions. In the end, i had two great rides that completed a nice first day of vacation.

[oldmansurfer]

I know you guys think I have grit well ok so maybe I have mental grit. If I need to I can endure but I sure as heck am not going to put myself in a position where I need to show that. I may endure a wipeout or an arduous swim in to rescue my board from the rocks but not if I can help it. It's only when I screw up that grit comes out. It's no the day to day stuff probably many of you have to deal with in order to surf. Anyway I just listened to this interesting dialog from Kelly Slater about getting old and while maybe he isn't the most intuitive guy I think he hits it on the head here.http://www.theinertia.com/surf/kelly-slater-opens-up-about-the-insecurities-that-drove-his-success-in-new-interview/

[billie_morini]

Maybe I have a passion for surfing but it seems like grit means sticking it out through hardships but instead I am looking at the easiest methods not requiring enduring hardships. I can see how you might think I have grit but not from my perspective. Perhaps what makes my methods easier is that once I was a better than average surfer so what many surfers are striving for I have already accomplished so I don't feel the need for it ......perfect waves etc. You know what I mean?..... I don't feel like I am missing out on anything by riding crappy waves. I also realize that I may never be a better than average surfer again and I am ok with that but I'm going to see how far I can go in that direction as long as it doesn't require enduring hardship

I just realized that what I was trying to say here is that I am over the hill. For most of you your best waves are out there waiting for you but for me it is very unlikely I will ever get waves anywhere near as good as the waves I already have ridden or if I did that I would ride them as well. So no need to search for the perfect wave, any wave is fine for me.

Me, too...

[billie_morini]

Groms and Old Guys alike,
All this talk about grit got me thinking back in time . Would you enjoy a three minute lesson in grit? There's fewer better examples than John Wayne playing Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn in the 1969 movie, "True Grit." This stuff was woven into the fabric of my youth. Maybe yours, too. See here:

[oldmansurfer]

You would think with all the shots fired at first they would all be dead but instead they run past each other still missing and start to hit one another after they turn back around. LOL Well I liked that movie but woven into the fabric of my youth? Hmmmmm I guess so

[billie_morini]

You would think with all the shots fired at first they would all be dead but instead they run past each other still missing and start to hit one another after they turn back around. LOL Well I liked that movie but woven into the fabric of my youth? Hmmmmm I guess so

Replies, Ol' Man:
1. Action movie requires drama
2. Sure! Cowboys and Indians was a big part of my youth. Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, too. Lone Ranger, Gun Smoke, Rifleman, Big Valley, Bonanza, Maverick, and more.

[BoMan]

“Core surfers” have grit but what does that mean?
My effort is core but my performance is not!

http://www.surfer.com/features/split-peak-what-makes-a-core-surfer/

[waikikikichan]

Just happen-stance on to this Ted talk about "Grit". Start from the 1:35 mark.

it's about kids in school, but could will be about excelling surfing.

[billie_morini]

Surfing grit will take a back seat this week. Moto grit will temporarily replace it. My favorite nephew and his baby sister want to ride motorcycles on the beach and sand dunes in Oceano / Pismo Beach. These kids are from Cologne, Germany. So, Onkel Till (me!) will ditch work on Friday and give the "kids" what they want. Like billie morini needs an excuse to ditch work!

[Oldie]

I just had a session that required a different sort of grit. After not surfing for 6 weeks, I had been sick for 4 weeks with bronchitis in which I really struggled with breathing, couldn't do any sports and lost a lot of power. At the same time, due to a lot of negative stress at work, I was mentally really down, too. So a short holiday at the North Sea came at the right time, but I was not sure whether I would have the strength for surfing. We had a session quite late, and the conditions were ok. An upcoming storm was sending first waves, while the wind stayed a strong cross-offshore, which resulted in very surfable 2-3 feet waves, but very strong current. Unfortunately, besides being out of shape, I had forgotten my contact lenses, and we had the session late in the afternoon in dim light.

So here I was, out of shape, out of rhytm, blind and continously paddling for position. I knew the next days would be more difficult as the storm was coming and turning onshore, so I only had the goal to get a few waves. I struggled with that for a long time as my lack of fitness meant I was either out of position or not seeing the waves correctly, and the light was getting worse and worse. Finally, when he moon was up and shining bright and the last daylight almost gone, I caught one, and was happy to get another one shortly after that. None was really good, but I was soo happy to be standing on the board again (and actually watching the moon while surfing) and to survive a 2h session. It did not not matter that it was not a good session at all, only that I managed to hang in.

Unfortunately it was the only session of the vacation, as the storm was kicking in hard with 30-40mph cross onshore winds and huge, sometimes mast-high windwaves. Good stuff for the windsurfers up the beach who fought for the worldcup:



Great atmosphere with lots of (also former) worldstars being around, including my childhood hero Robby Naish who is here every year.

The wave riding competition, fittingly, was won today by a guy from this windswell country

We hope to be able to catch some remainders of that stormswell next weekend at the dutch coast

[jaffa1949]

Well I guess this could be my fate now!
I am registered stamped and approved for living in Austria courtesy of Mrs Jaffa' British passport, Aussies just cannot slip in!
Mountains of former trees turned to paper passed back and forth , bureaucracy in both Australia and Austria at it's finest.
Household possessions in a container on the high sea, the precious cargo of my quiver inside.

In good spirits as is Mrs Jaffa, she is actual very happy to be in the village where she did much of her growing up.

Going to surf in my fifth ocean

[billie_morini]

Hooray, Jaffa! Thanks for positive update. You demonstrated grit by making this big move look easy.

[Oldie]

I am registered stamped and approved for living in Austria courtesy of Mrs Jaffa' British passport

Hahaha! Making use of EU privileges while you can. Very clever

[HyrdoDoc]

Ive always said that learning to surf requires persistance, optimism and resiliance. Which I guess is grit

My wife usually adds a few other adjectives when I wake her up to drag her along for a dawn session!