Each wave surfer goes through four stages in each surfing cycle. They are: paddle, lurk, pop-up and ride. Let us examine each stage one by one while looking at the proportions of the body and brain power required for each step:
Paddling to the break will consume about 90% of your energy for the daily surfing session.
And maybe only 10% of your brainpower. If you are new to the break, you'd learn the chanel -
looking for the path to the line up where waves and currents are weakest.
As you progress, and on stronger waves, you'll learn some techniques of passing over or
below the waves. Just be careful not to cross the path of people with their feet on the board
already. Paddling is workout, the easiest part of all.
You are there. You have arrived to the line-up, the area where
the waves break.
You may greet the fellow surfers now, even if you're new. Take a deep breath,
look around, adjust your attire, check the wind direction, assess your position
in relation to objects on the beach. The surfing begins.
You are the hunter here. You are hunting waves. Chose your game very carefully -
the animal you are after may devour you! Or escape graciously and laugh at you.
In the line-up you sit or lie on your board observing the ocean. In this stage you will
spend maybe 5% of your physical energy, but 60% of your brainpower. You have
three jobs here.
All three are performed simultaneously in the constantly changing environment:
Seems simple? People spend months or years learning precisely this.
OK, a dozen or two waves have passed and you have finally decided
on the right combination of spot, wave and moment.
In the next 2-3 seconds you'll spend maybe just 2% of your energy and 20% of the brain power,
but beware: your must switch your thinking into turbo-mode.
You start paddling strong - but not too early and not too late. You are in the
multi-tasking mode, too: watching your wave, watching the direction, awaiting and
assessing the acceleration, but also observing a casual surfer who might show up out
of nowhere.
Then comes the pop-up itself, in the right moment and with the
perfect move which you have trained for so long. But the board is not your carpet.
It will not forgive a wrong foot placement or being just half a second late.
The rest of your energy and the brain power are used for riding the wave. That's why you became surfer in the first place, right? The reward will be unforgettable. And addictive. You will have heaps of fun in water.
Here, too, there are plenty of skills to to learn, but once you have positioned yourself stable on your feet you are going to enjoy the ride in any case.
© 2019 by Richard Urban.
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