Surfing Waves

In your imagination what things do you do or have you done to help out your surfing. I say in your imagination since it's likely that some of what we do to surf doesn't help. Currently I do several things to help me surf.
1) I try to surf at least 2 times a week. This is probably one of the most important things for me in learning to surf better.
2) I do daily stretches to keep my old body moving less rigidly
3) I lift dumbells twice a week to strengthen my arms and shoulders and I do leg exercises to strengthen my legs
4) I hike up and down a hill that is 0.8 miles to the top and about 500 feet elevation (2 to 4 times a week). It helps my cardio conditoning.
5) I work so I can buy new stuff and fix my old stuff
What I did in the past was
a) swimming, I loved to swim and took a number of Red Cross swimming classes and Junior Lifesaving class and I was on the swim team in intermediate and high school (also in 6th grade)
b) body surfing, paipo boarding, kneeboarding, inner tube riding on waves, skim boarding for a couple years I was still better at all of these than I was surfing but they helped I am sure
c) skateboarding water skiing and snow skiing
d) rock hopping and downhill mountain washout running a couple of activities that I did that probably helped my general proprioception

I've been trying to swim while I'm out the coast, but it hasn't been as regular or frequent as I want it to be. I find swimming in a pool a little boring actually . Maybe it requires some time for it to grow on you!

I used to skateboard, but right now I don't, at least not close to as often as I used to. Would be a good idea to train my balance though (or maybe build a balance board).

Also, this is kinda minimal, but I train dry static apnea on spare time, just to build more confidence on hold downs. Might sound stupid for a guy who biggest paddle out was like 2-3ft overhead, but I don't see any harm on trainning it..

Appart from that, I often try to study the sea, rip currents, swells formation and propagation, breaks. Some might not be that useful for the surfing itself purpose, but I like reading about it. Sometimes taking my attention out of my college classes

I forgot I used to work at swimming under water and holding my breath underwater long before I started surfing. It's always good to be overprepared

I've been reading some nice texts here, wanted to join the forum for some time cos of exactly this kind of subjects. So here I am, 52 yrs, 6ft, 73kg(160lbs). lower end intermediate trying to get in better surfing shape for more frequent sessions.

At this point for me the best activity that helps my surfing is sleeping.. My body can feel completely powerless and painful in the joints after a bad night of sleep. One of the problems I encounter is after a great surf I cannot sleep, must take a pill then to sleep.. Maybe it's the mental excitement or a physical reaction on too much activity on the old body?

The second thing that's very important to me at this stage is 2, 3 or even 4 days of rest between surfs. I must explain I'm a later in life beginner, was never a great surfer (2 weeks a year on hollidays). After I moved to Bali 4 years ago, a back injury kept me out of the water(!) Now I'm surfing again but must be very careful not to overdo it, or some new (or old) injury will stop me again.

That brings me to the third thing that helps me: specific exercises for old injuries during the non-surfing days. I must do a bit of bicycling on a hometrainer to keep my knee going and some low weight shoulder exercise. Next to that I do yoga exercises to keep the surfing parts of my body (that's about every joint..) flexible, but very careful stretching on tired muscles.

Off course I try pay much attention to warming up and cooling down after the surf.

Also I bought an easy board for paddling and wave catching (Firewire Addvance 606) that is a lot of fun and motivates me to the bone to surf it more and more.

Now I must mainly be patient after my latest little shoulder injury and try to pelan pelan (slowly slowly) build up the surfing frequency.

A very nice thing is that on my 52yrs of age I'm still improving my surfing. Maybe my surfing doesn't look impressive but no one can beat my stoke!

Welcome to the forum Tudeo. Great first post, lots of old folks here (I am 61). I am not sure about your claim that no one can beat your stoke. Have you seen Jester's postings?

I stretch a lot, drink a lot of water, do about 20 jump ups a day, stay trim via good nutrition and portion control (no fast foods or alcohol also), push-ups, chin-ups, dumbbell exercises, duckwalking and a variety of squatt and lunge variations, dips and other body weight exercises, but mainly I just go surf a lot. Nothing like paddling to train paddling muscles....I also have an Indo board which seems to help keep leg muscles toned as well as a sense of balance feel through the soles....I watch videos and contort myself into various body positions and hold them to remember the feels, or stretch to better achieve that certain position.:..look at videos, read books and articles to learn theory of various aspects of surfing from spiral v's to rip currents to surfer's shoulder to breathing patterns for power bursts to reasons behind board wax temperature ratings.

oldmansurfer wrote:I am not sure about your claim that no one can beat your stoke. Have you seen Jester's postings?

Good point

I also like to stop by and just watch various breaks when I'm out and about and have a few extra minutes. I try to learn something new each time and review what I've learned while relaxing and gazing. Worse ways to pass the time.
I like to fiddle with equipment; take find out and wash out fin boxes, strip and re apply wax, check grub screws, inventory new dings and triage for repair urgency, check and replace leash rope ties, inventory and refill the med kit, witch fins and positions around, and generally putter. Sometimes I get motivated and will do turtle rolls or duck dives in the pool, but it usually evolves pretty quick into just watching football bobbing around on the board.
I'll talk surf a lot too. It's the culture here so pretty easy to do and comparing notes on conditions of your last surf is a usual small talk around here, but one that actually yields some useable info.

I do be likin my time in the water now!! haha you can't beat it, though Big H is giving me a run for my money in sheer intensity of actual effort put in! I'm just a lazy git compared to him but then I do only get to go once a week.

As for things I do to make my surfing better, I don't know but I've noticed on the way home my surfing makes my DRIVING better!! Everything just flows and feels so well connected, smoooth like. Anyone else or just me?!

My driving is terrible after surfing......worn out!

I forgot one thing I do is balancing exercises 2 times a week. I stand on one leg and raise my other leg forward then down then sideways then down then bring my knee up to my chest then down then rasie my leg backward then down and repeat 10 times. I can rarely do it without having to touch both feet on the ground other than switching from one to the other but did it this morning for some reason.

exercise on rowing machine
exercise on elliptical machine
lift free weights

Here is a new device that may be helpful https://youtu.be/XNqOU4jx62I

Off road ! Yeah!

JUST TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY!!!

Looks fun