Surfing Waves

Grit describes the ability to persevere with long-term goals, sustaining interest and energy over months or years.

I preach this to my elementary students every time we start a project and reward them when I see it in their work. It’s an essential life skill.

Grit has helped me get through plateaus in my longboard surfing like… getting strong enough to hunt waves, taking off in bigger waves without pearling, and cross stepping. Without grit, I would have quit years ago.

What do you think?

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-importance-of-grit-and-why-surfing-is-one-of-its-best-teachers-20170724-gxhcii.html

I prefer shrimp with my grit. It's a Louisiana Creole thing.

Seriously, BoMan. IMO, there's a shortage of passion for a particular long-term goal or end state (e.g., grit) in the Western World. It results from too much good and/or easy living. It's valuable that you impart this psychological trait to your students. You may be the only source for this important attribute. Grit is something I help my nephews increase. The smartest one of them acknowledged a few years ago he lacked it and wanted it. It's part of the reason his parents sent him to live with Uncle Billie two years ago. He's tougher for living with me and enjoys his growth in this category. He returned home to Cologne, but will visit for two weeks in early August. I'm looking forward to his visit.

Fitness, determination, knowledge, experience is what makes a good surfer. I guess grit fits in there. You might say I have grit but I wouldn't. I am as lazy as I can afford to be. One thing though concerning that article grit doesn't make you not permanently paralyzed.

Im am not sure you can do something like surfing in order to build grit. I think it is the other way round. First you really need to want something so very much that you are ready to work hard for it. There are so many other choices in our world that often the path that people chose may not be perfect, but still good and satisfying. So I think it is more about finding what excites you, what do you develop a passion for. But building grit in order to be successful in one thing does not mean it automatically has an effect on other parts of your life, it can just become an isolated addiction. I think discipline is an important part for true grit for which the upbringing at home plays a key role.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better

. ....not me. Beckett

I quit surfing for 12 years and during that time I realized how important surfing was to me. It was the only thing that motivated me to be fit. I was getting so out of shape after quitting surfing and no matter what I did to try to get back in shape I just couldn't make myself stick to a program. I made up my mind to find a way to start surfing again but instead of an extremely fit thin 18 year old like the first time I learned I was old and over weight and out of shape. Before I even tried to surf again I got some dumbbells and started doing daily exercises and watched my diet . Amazingly I was able to stick to it for 6 months and bought a used surfboard. I was still horribly out of shape but there was no turning back. I hope I never have a reason to quit surfing again because it will not be good for me to quit. But as it is I do just enough to where I think that is the minimum I need to do to relearn how to surf at a reasonable rate because I am a busy person.

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

Oldie wrote:So I think it is more about finding what excites you, what do you develop a passion for.

Well said. Passion gets you started and grit keeps you going. For me that will happen next week when the new swell arrives!

oldmansurfer wrote:I quit surfing for 12 years and during that time I realized how important surfing was to me. It was the only thing that motivated me to be fit.

Me too. I run, cycle, skate and swim so that I can surf. One fun leads to many others.

Nice read!

Good the article put's Grit in positive context: "The important lesson here is that developing our passion and identifying our purpose can help us persevere with the activities we love."

Without that, Grit will just as wel kill you, swimming against live's many ripcurrents..

BoMan wrote:Passion gets you started and grit keeps you going. For me that will happen next week when the new swell arrives!

hahahaha I don't need no stinking swell ..........ok so maybe it helps but I surf anyway. I need to keep in shape for when the next good swell hits. I surf on days that most surfers I know would call it "flat" or "choppy blown out wind swell "or my favorite is "victory at sea" but I call it "challenging conditions" and since I am time restricted I just go surf.

Good thread! Passion and/or strong motivation for positive outcome encourage perseverance. Building grit is not limited to surfing. Mastering a musical instrument is another.

oldmansurfer: contrary to what you say, you seem to have plenty of grit, otherwise you'd be making excuses to not stay fit or skip a session

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

Nice article.....grit can be developed from anything I suppose....surfing certainly has it's share of opportunities. My grit was installed in me at an early age from my mother via household chores, a paper route, raking leaves, shovelling snow off walks and driveways in the winter and cutting grass in the summers which taught me the relationship between hard work and rewards, and most of all a grandmother who at 8 years old was waiting for me after I returned from playing soccer all afternoon instead of raking her leaves like she asked.....she made me rake for two hours in the dark until it was done, the whole time lecturing me about the value of a man's word, how hard it is to develop a reputation and how easily it can be destroyed through careless behaviour, how good things do not come easy and hard work is needed to achieve anything good in life.....I could write that whole lecture down now, all two hours.....stuck with me my whole life.

Also had a few wrestling and soccer coaches who used to abuse me and my teammates with competitive and ruthless practice sessions which also stuck with me for life and added the grit needed to suffer through various endeavours......been told to "suck it up" more than once! First few years in kitchens were like episodes out of a Gordon Ramsay Hell Kitchen series.....was nothing compared to Mr. Rodgers and 5 minute 90* leg angle wall squats, 25, 50, 75 and 100m shuttle runs, 10 min of suicides, getting whacked with a yardstick when riding in top position and not pushing the issue, going for a pin. Grit is good and has gotten me many places.

Was there ever a time when surfing was so hard you thought about quitting? How did you get through it?

For me, it was surfing a longboard at Dillon Beach in the winter where 4 to 6 feet waves came every 8 seconds and broke FAST. I got pounded while paddling out and was exhausted by the time I finally made it to the lineup. I had to angle take offs and popup quickly or say "hello" to the pit. And I had to ride on the top third of the face to keep up with the waves. My skills were weak in all these areas and I got discouraged.

I decided to focus on really small goals....one turtle roll.....one popup.....one turn... and build stoke with each success. After a while I could put them together into a short ride and then a longer one. It also helped to talk with other surfers in the water and on this forum. Having grit is easier when you are not alone.

I was probably hyperactive or something as a youngster. I used to only need to sleep about 4 hours a night and sometimes when I ran out of books to read I would hike up and down the mountain near my house in the dark just to kill time and often I would run back down in the dark (really exciting and probably stupidly dangerous but I never got hurt). Took karate in college and after a grueling warm up and practice I was the only one ready for more. I was so amped out it took me a couple hours just to calm down after practice. I am sure BigH and Tudeo have grit as well as Bowman but me I am just a different kind of guy.

BoMan wrote:Was there ever a time when surfing was so hard you thought about quitting? How did you get through it?

No. I started off bodysurfing so much that people would call me the best bodysurfer on the island although I didn't feel that way. Then I started Paipo boarding and took that to a very high level and then kneeboarding. Learning to surf was a challenge but never so difficult that the thought ever entered my mind that I might quit. In fact even though I did quit at one point it wasn't because of surfing it was my work. If you had told me at any point prior to that "One day you will quit surfing" I would say "You're crazy." ask me today and I would probably laugh and say "Yeah, can't surf when you're dead."

because of this post, when I was feeling tired and dehydrated yesterday after about 45 minutes I decided to paddle back out through the closeout and get a few more waves, and I found my second wind and had a better second half of the session!

Yes, you need Grit to push thru, but too much Grit can be a problem too.. Grit always came natural to me, but now I'm older I must be very carefull with doing too much. When younger I could allow myself to go all the way, until my body got so tired I had to stop, the next day I was ready to do it all again.

Nowadays I must be very carefull not to tire myself too much because the recovery takes so long then. But being used to just go on and on I must force myself out of the water.

When my first actions are succesfull in getting a satisfying ride I can easilly quit soon after that, but it's when I'm struggeling the downside of Grit occures. The adrenaline gets pumping and I move into fighting mode , and go on and on in trying. I just don't know when to quit, and must pay the price. Again and again..

oldmansurfer wrote:In fact even though I did quit at one point it wasn't because of surfing it was my work. If you had told me at any point prior to that "One day you will quit surfing" I would say "You're crazy." ask me today and I would probably laugh and say "Yeah, can't surf when you're dead."

You probably bring the same outlook to your veterinary practice (correct me if I'm wrong) and that's good news for your patients! I surfed all the time in college but gave it up when I got married, moved inland, and had two kids. I didn't have enough grit to be the family guy and the surfing guy, so I made a choice to put the passion "on hold" until I could give it the time it deserves. Now it's rekindled and I'm charging again...in a grandfatherly way.

oldmansurfer wrote: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.