Injuries in surfing - tell us yours!

[guialbernaz]

Hey everybody! Hope everyone's doing well!

I'm interested to know more about injuries related to surfing, so I'd like to ask you:

Which injuries you have or had due to surfing?

If you want to, feel free to write how your injury happened and how do you think it affects your performance today. I'm sure there must be others interested in this, maybe someone had a similar experience and can help you

I'm gathering some info to write about injuries and performance improvement for surfing in the future and help others to train and avoid these problems. =)

Thanks in advance to all!

[Big H]

I once got thrown over the falls so hard that today I now know that I don't want to get thrown over the falls like that and do my best to avoid being in that situation.

[oldmansurfer]

I have had a few minor scratches due to contact with the reef/rocks and my surfboard. I have had numerous stings from Portuguese Man-o-wars (jellyfish). I lacerated my heel while surfing a wave with about 12 to 15 foot face. It was closing out so I went up the face and launched into the air and my board stayed on the water while I went around 15 feet into the air. This was before board leashes. I landed on the edge of my board causing a laceration in both the board and my heel (did not require a doctors visit). The worst injury I had was a poke from the nose of my board after wiping out. It hurt but seemed ok so I kept surfing but after a while I realized it was bleeding slowly and went in. I called someone to come get me and take me to the hospital so I could hold pressure on it while I was being transported. It stopped bleeding right when I got to the emergency room but I went in anyway and had them check it out. It healed fine. My ego suffered far worse injuries None of my injuries affected my performance.

[oldmansurfer]

I think avoiding injuries is part of the subset of skills that make up surfing. It is something that can be learned but exactly how???? I am not so sure. I bodysurfed and took judo before I surfed and I think those skills helped me to not be injured. I try to wipe out in very specific ways to avoid getting hit by my board or the bottom of the ocean. It is a whole set of different things I do in different situations that I learned to do over the years.

[Surfinjb]

I had to register when I saw this one...Im unlucky in general but through the 20 plus plus years of on and off surfing Ill list them in order of severity.
1) Broken Tail Bone: When I told my buddies I had broken my tail bone surfing carrying around that doughnut and stool softeners for months you would think it was a badge of honor surfing of heavy conditions.. it was knee high breaking in about 1 ft of water on a sandbar and I jumped off my board at the end of a wave with knees bent my heel actually broke my tailbone. Thats right I broke my own ass on my own foot on sand in 1 ft waves
2) Concussion, stitches, hairline fracture, permanent scare and maybe would have drown (but not as painful as above): I dropped in on my buddy who just started surfing. He was on an old 50's-60's wood 100lb longboard. He had gone straight all day so I thought nothing about taking the shoulder to make the most of the few 2-3ft sets coming in the rather flat afternoon. I hear him yell look to my right to my surprised the shoredweller was actually riding the face right toward me. He jumped off the board inadvertently sending that heaving tree turd into my skull just above and to the right side of my right eye. Next thing I remember he was holding me above water it was again 2-3ft deep and seeing blood everywhere. He helped my to shore where a lifeguard who saw what happened checked me out and told me to go to a doctor.
3) 3 severely Jammed toes and 1 broken: Over the falls feet first into shallow sand this time on a bigger one
4) Numerous Permanent Scares from fin cuts some down to bone and blender feet from a session of a lifetime from the rocks of Punta Roca: My last physical the doctor asks me were you in an accident or what are all these scares? Watch those fins guys. Do they really need to make them that damn sharp? The WORST one was when I landed straddled on my overturned board and went over the falls and one fin clipped a nut. Alls good I have 2 kids now..
5) Not a physical but mental injury: I mainly surf by myself where noone else does..2 times in large surf my leash has broken and I had to undertake what I thought would be the end of me both times. I was further out than our fishing pier goes and with size enough to create 3 individual surf zones. I remember laying on my back to rest in between sets and zones thinking Im freakin dead and stupid and noone is going to help me out of this. I have never been comfortable in larger conditions since, its my biggest fear surfing. Although one leash actually broke at the lifetime guarantee swivel most breaks are at the attachment rope between your board and leash. Ive had many happen this way and in critical situations this quickly turns into an emergency. If I could pass on one thing to all you newer guys out there..PUT 2 ATTACHMENT ROPES FROM YOUR BOARD TO LEASH.. It may just save your life..

[RinkyDink]

5) Not a physical but mental injury: I mainly surf by myself where noone else does..2 times in large surf my leash has broken and I had to undertake what I thought would be the end of me both times. I was further out than our fishing pier goes and with size enough to create 3 individual surf zones. I remember laying on my back to rest in between sets and zones thinking Im freakin dead and stupid and noone is going to help me out of this. I have never been comfortable in larger conditions since, its my biggest fear surfing. Although one leash actually broke at the lifetime guarantee swivel most breaks are at the attachment rope between your board and leash. Ive had many happen this way and in critical situations this quickly turns into an emergency. If I could pass on one thing to all you newer guys out there..PUT 2 ATTACHMENT ROPES FROM YOUR BOARD TO LEASH.. It may just save your life..

Good advice. I'm going to take a look at my leash strings again and see if I can double up. I think you're talking about the leash string that goes into the leash plug. I would love to use two, but I can't fit two through my leash plug on most of my boards. It's probably a good idea to rinse those leash strings in fresh water after your session as well.

[dtc]

Lots of people suggest using para cord instead of the standard leash strings - cheap and stronger (but make sure you get the MIL-std 550 stuff, not a random knockoff)

Even better, although slightly more expensive, is spectra cord (which is a boating cord). It’s almost twice as strong as 550 paracord

There is also dyneema rope - you can use it pretty thin as back up if you want and can’t fit 2 standard cords eg 1mm has a 200 or 250kg breaking strain. Just tie it a bit looser than the main cord so they aren’t taking any of the strain normally.

Of course if you let any cord fray or run etc it can snap. And for the above cords you do need to burn/melt the ends with a lighter (which takes about a second)

Edit: if course if your leash is too strong you can rip the leash plug right out of the board!

[Big H]

I use something that looks like paracord....they sell it cut for leash cord at rip curl here with a fin key attached I suppose to justify selling a bit of cord for USD 2-. Really strong, doesn't fray much. I use a fisherman's knot and a double loop thru so that I can regularly remove, inspect and re-tie the cord.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman%27s_knot

[RinkyDink]

Edit: if course if your leash is too strong you can rip the leash plug right out of the board!

That's true, but hopefully you have a leash cord that has enough stretch in it to keep that from happening. Thanks for the leash string tips. One thing I want to do before winter comes along is get my leashes ready for the extra strain. I hate, as I'm sure all of us do, when my leash breaks.

[oldmansurfer]

I do a double layer wrap in the cord plug which doesn't leave much room for another one but my guess is it is twice as strong. It might be good to do the 2 separate single wraps because while it would break easier just one would break and then you can place another. More hassle but more safe.

[pmcaero]

I'm a wuss and don't go out in big waves so haven't had many issues so far...but early on I did pull an arm muscle and it hurt like something I'd never experienced before.

[hit_the_lip]

I was surfing a reef on a chest-shoulder sized day and it was a negative low tide. When it's decent, it's a very crowded wave, and the longboarders sit on the far outside taking the good sets. When this happens, I often move to the inside to snag a few the longboarders aren't interested in. I took off late on a steep one, and during the drop my nose dug at the bottom of the wave, which sent me flying over the handle bars. Upon going over the handle bars I was body slammed into the reef shoulder first. It was probably 2 foot deep, very shallow. I seriously injured my shoulder. Dislocated, tore the labrum, tore fibers that connect shoulder. Couldn't surf for a year. My shoulder still isn't fully recovered and it's been 1 year and 2 months. The shoulder is healed enough to surf, but my skills have badly declined because haven't been in the water in so long. Almost like learning all over again. My first session back after over a year of not surfing, 3-4 foot waves looked HUGE, lol. Lesson learned: when surfing on reef on a super low tide, don't take chances. Take off on safe waves. When the body hits the reef, really bad things can happen. If I would have landed head first, would probably be dead or paralyzed.

I've been stung by a stingray twice as well.

[oldmansurfer]

Shallow reef breaks often have nice waves but dangerous conditions. If you are going to surf shallow reef breaks make sure you have the skills to avoid serious injury and I say serious injury because injury is going to happen. I took judo and can fall in lots of ways on solid ground and not get hurt. It translates very well to surfing. I can surf shallow reef breaks but don't do it very often more for concern for my board which I lack the skill to protect but for myself I am fairly good at shallow breaks of any kind but on shallow reefs you are going to get some reef cuts. I surf a deeper reef break regularly and never contact the bottom. You can get just as dead or paralyzed with shallow sand breaks as well.

[HyeSurfer]

Made a bottom turn and my fin broke off causing the board tho hit me in the shin bone.
Shin bone still hurts occasionally 3 months later.
Steve

[Big H]

I was surfing a reef on a chest-shoulder sized day and it was a negative low tide. When it's decent, it's a very crowded wave, and the longboarders sit on the far outside taking the good sets. When this happens, I often move to the inside to snag a few the longboarders aren't interested in. I took off late on a steep one, and during the drop my nose dug at the bottom of the wave, which sent me flying over the handle bars. Upon going over the handle bars I was body slammed into the reef shoulder first. It was probably 2 foot deep, very shallow. I seriously injured my shoulder. Dislocated, tore the labrum, tore fibers that connect shoulder. Couldn't surf for a year. My shoulder still isn't fully recovered and it's been 1 year and 2 months. The shoulder is healed enough to surf, but my skills have badly declined because haven't been in the water in so long. Almost like learning all over again. My first session back after over a year of not surfing, 3-4 foot waves looked HUGE, lol. Lesson learned: when surfing on reef on a super low tide, don't take chances. Take off on safe waves. When the body hits the reef, really bad things can happen. If I would have landed head first, would probably be dead or paralyzed.

I've been stung by a stingray twice as well.

Shoulder high and took a hit like that? Better not surf there on low tide then.

[BoMan]

I took judo and can fall in lots of ways on solid ground and not get hurt. It translates very well to surfing. I can surf shallow reef breaks but don't do it very often more for concern for my board which I lack the skill to protect but for myself I am fairly good at shallow breaks of any kind but on shallow reefs you are going to get some reef cuts. I surf a deeper reef break regularly and never contact the bottom. You can get just as dead or paralyzed with shallow sand breaks as well.

Tell us how you use Judo when falling in shallow water.

Where I surf, rocks appear as the tide goes out and I'm afraid of catching one on the head when out of control. I make a point to land on my board or at least grab it on the way way down. When pitched away I try to make a flat entry. Any other ideas?

[oldmansurfer]

The bottom is a hard surface and you roll on it just like you would on a judo mat. So it depends on the situation and ideally you have to wipeout in a semicontrolled manner. Going head first a shoulder roll, if landing flat on back slapping both hands down to lessen the force on your back, if landing on your side slapping with your hand down to lessen the force of the landing. However before I resort to that I try to avoid hitting the bottom. If it is shallow water I just plan on hitting the bottom. If I am in shallow water in a reef area and wipeout I often try to land on the wave and roll with the wave. This often will result in the wave passing under me. If you land in the flats then you need to be prepared to hit the bottom. If I am in a shallow sand area and there is a significantly sized wave and I land in the flats I try to land flat on my back feet to the shore and dig my heels into the sand then the wave will push me upright and I run along with it till it lets up. Prior to that I kick my board forward or sideways so this would require there is no one inside of me. I typically do this after a floater on a closeout shorebreak in inches of water when I don't want to risk turning the board. You can look up judo breakfalls to see some of the methods of falling safely.

[oldmansurfer]

If it's not too shallow then the starfish approach might work land flat with arms out flapping to try to keep you off the reef but that would be for falls not involving really shallow areas or the wave pushing you down or falling from a height. When I took judo they had me practice so much it was automatic when I fell. It has somewhat lessened in automaticity as I get older and I do sometimes attempt to brace my fall with my arm sometimes instead of landing full body. So far this has not resulted in any serious injuries. I also took diving and learned to dive in shallow water so use these techniques as well. I do a roll on the surface of the water if it is head first and if feet first I angle my body so it penetrates at an angle down then lift my legs after penetrating which guides my body to go flat instead of penetrating deeper

[angusmarshy]

I was surfing Valla Beach, which is Mid North Coast New South Wales Australia, and I bailed out of a close out and went flying, then landed on my neck and shoulder with my head turned sideways, straining my trapezius muscle and stopping me from tilting my neck to the right or looking to the right at all for about 7 weeks. Good Times.

[jaffa1949]

The shorebreak at Valla is pretty notorious, are you healed now?