I find it amazing that our bodies
are capable of sensing the most intricate details of physical activities.
As related to surfing… developing
the ability with a surfboard to actually catch an ocean wave moving at whatever
speed toward the beach getting to your feet on that surfboard and not fall off,
let alone maneuver on the wave and move along just in front of the curling
breaking wave. It’s absolutely amazing to me.
Sure it can and does take years to
get really good at doing it. But all along over time you develop such acute
senses. I think of riding a long board and even the simpler things like
learning how after you turn in the direction of the breaking wave sensing how
much rail line of your board is in the wave face and if you need to make
changes to stay at a certain speed and at a certain level on the wave face to
maximize your riding experience.
Of course you don’t think about it
really. You’ve just developed your abilities to do what you know to do, sense what to do and react accordingly.
How about on a short board? You
take off get to your feet in a snap, drop to the bottom of the wave and sense
the exact time to set your edge and weight into a turn that sends you in a blink
of an eye to the top of the wave and while you’re climbing to the top of the
wave in a split second you are able to weight your board going from your inside
rail to your outside rail and in one continuous flow move with a sweeping arc
back down the wave face…. It’s amazing we can do that.
It all started years and years ago
but over time surfer after surfer has progressed to the point that now
launching off the wave face 3 or 4 feet in the air above the wave and
reentering with out falling happens regularly with some surfers.
So you think you want to learn to
surf. You see pictures or movies of surfing or you’re at the beach and see people
surfing and say I’m going to do that and
set out on your journey. It is a journey and because you want to learn you do.
As you keep at it you get better and better. It becomes more and more enjoyable
as you get more advanced in you abilities. Over time you’ve developed your senses beyond imagination.
Surfing… It’s truly amazing.
D.R.
