Dangers of surfing

[Sower]

As a learner you wont have to worry about a 30 foot wipeout
Even being held down for 10 seconds by a 3 foot wave will scare the hell out of you if you're not used to it.

Lol, I remember the first time I went surfing and went under a medium sized wave and I can just remember how scared I was when the water was pushing me down for felt like forever.

I have mad respect for the people who risk those massive waves.

[oldmansurfer]

OMG *shakes the dirt off the post* When I bodysurfed back when I was around 12 or 13 years old, the first time I went out in really big waves (around 15 to 20 foot faces) I was held under for 30 seconds every wave. The first time it was scary, I was thinking "if this wave doesn't let me up sometime soon I am going to run out of air and drown". But I kept cool since there was really literally nothing I could do anyway but wait for the wave to let up it's thrashing of me. I went in and saw a guy on the beach and I was talking to him. I told him I thought I was held under for 30 seconds and he said "28 seconds. I was timing it" He had a watch. He went on to tell me that he was getting held down really long too. So I went back out. All the time I surfed I only had one hold down that was anywhere near that long but maybe longer and that was twice as big of a wave. Most often when I fall surfing I can penetrate the water and keep from getting sucked back over the falls.

[pmcaero]

You have 1, or 2 or 3 or more sharp objects you can't control near you at all times. I'm talking about your fins. Make sure you sand the edges, I learned the hard way. Even with sanded edges, a fin hitting you in the wrong spot can be annoying, to say the least.
Recently a fin on my own board hit my elbow and I partially lost feeling in my arm for a minute or so.

[oldmansurfer]

Weaver Fish. These little buggers can be quite nasty too!!

Wow that is cool. Never heard of that fish, had to google it. Thanks KS.... Yeah i know you don't remember posting it since you are 10 years older now ... by the way I think the correct spelling is weever fish

[mjames]

You have 1, or 2 or 3 or more sharp objects you can't control near you at all times. I'm talking about your fins. Make sure you sand the edges, I learned the hard way. Even with sanded edges, a fin hitting you in the wrong spot can be annoying, to say the least.
Recently a fin on my own board hit my elbow and I partially lost feeling in my arm for a minute or so.

Never thought about sanding the edges, is that common knowledge that I missed somehow? It sounds like a good idea and I can't see how it would really make a difference as long as you just took the sharpness off and didn't somehow alter the shape. I came home with an interesting fin scrape on the TOP of my foot last month, I'm not sure how I managed that... but I'm sure the wipeout was entertaining for everyone else

[dtc]

Was talking to a friend of mine the other day, who told me a story of when he was about 25 (so about 25 years ago), he was introduced to a famous shaper in sydney at the shapers house/workshop. My friend had just bought a new highly rockered sharp nosed short board and was really proud of it and had it with him.

The shaper said 'can I have a look at the board' and my friend handed it over. The shaper said 'do you mind if I do something quickly that will make this board even better'. My friend of course said yes.

The shaper turned on his high speed sander and promptly stuck the nose of the board onto the sander and took off about 1/2 inch. Handed it back and said 'the only benefit of a sharp nose is that it can take your eye out really quickly'.

Fins, yes, sand down both the front and the back (the back is often sharper). Avoid boards with sharp pointy noses or get a nose guard.

[oldmansurfer]

here is another danger

[dtc]

thats pretty gross!

[Tudeo]

I was held under for 30 seconds

My 'normal' response to a wipeout is to relax under water, that way I can stay under comfortable for 30 seconds easy. But last time I went over the falls in a place where I knew was a shallow reef, I rolled up like a ball but must have tensed all my muscles anticipating hitting the reef.

I didn't hit anything and couldn't have been under more than 10 seconds, but was completely without breath when surfacing. I must have panicked and spent all my oxygen in a few seconds. This would have been bad on a long holddown.

[icetime]

I was held under for 30 seconds

My 'normal' response to a wipeout is to relax under water, that way I can stay under comfortable for 30 seconds easy. But last time I went over the falls in a place where I knew was a shallow reef, I rolled up like a ball but must have tensed all my muscles anticipating hitting the reef.

I didn't hit anything and couldn't have been under more than 10 seconds, but was completely without breath when surfacing. I must have panicked and spent all my oxygen in a few seconds. This would have been bad on a long holddown.

I would have panicked too, knowing you're about to be pummelled into sharp reef isn't that much of a reliever, on the bright side we don't have that here but mostly rocks.

[icetime]

I got smacked by a set of 6 footers today at the beach, got caught inside after not paddling into a wave because I wasn't strong enough, we don't have reef so I do relax when I wipeout and go foetus mode hoping my fins don't cut me.

[oldmansurfer]

I don't do fetal position is wipeouts much. Generally I make sure the board is away from me and arrange myself to avoid or deal with the bottom. Panic makes you use up more oxygen and that makes you panic more which makes you use even more. Panic is not a good thing. I learned as a very young kid to not panic while underwater and kept that up till today. However I quit surfing for 12 years and restarted. When I first restarted I felt the sense of panic underwater even though I told myself "Don't panic. It's only a couple seconds." I just had this feeling that I needed to breath. I worked on my cardio and that sense that I needed to breath immediately after going under went away. In fact I never get held down to where I feel like I need to breath......so far since I restarted surfing.

[icetime]

I don't do fetal position is wipeouts much. Generally I make sure the board is away from me and arrange myself to avoid or deal with the bottom. Panic makes you use up more oxygen and that makes you panic more which makes you use even more. Panic is not a good thing. I learned as a very young kid to not panic while underwater and kept that up till today. However I quit surfing for 12 years and restarted. When I first restarted I felt the sense of panic underwater even though I told myself "Don't panic. It's only a couple seconds." I just had this feeling that I needed to breath. I worked on my cardio and that sense that I needed to breath immediately after going under went away. In fact I never get held down to where I feel like I need to breath......so far since I restarted surfing.

It's nice to see you're giving surfing a go after such a long time, I still get into fetal position anyways when the surf school gives me leash that's only a few feet.
I never had to deal with a hold down that made me uncomfortable, maybe it's the waves that aren't hollow here or something is up but the longest hold down I've had was 15 seconds and I felt just fine after it, only thing I don't like is being caught inside and dealing with a large set, it's annoying dealing with the board I'm currently using it's way too buoyant.

[oldmansurfer]

Whatever you do don't quit surfing....EVER!!!

[icetime]

Literally the same words of some well known big wave surfer told me at an event near the surf school the other day, I didn't even know who he was, had a little convo and left then my cousin told me who he was
Also surfing took a toll on my wallet and savings especially now that I'm about to spend 500$ on my own equipment for summer