posts: 289888
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| post_id | thread_id | thread_title | post_number | author_username | post_date | post_date_iso | post_body |
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| 289888 | 16537 | Learning to accept that you don't rip | 62 | Nilus | Aug 16, 2023 | 2023-08-16T14:00:54-0400 | I've probably posted some of this before elsewhere. But basically, I'm currently 46. Always wanted to surf but was landlocked for the first 18-20 years so snowboarding was all I really had except for one week a year at the beach (boogie boarding). Then the next 15 years or so I had a little more opportunity but a 9-5 and living on the East Coast greatly limited my sessions per year. I had a few shortboards but mostly gravitated toward longboards and alternative shapes (hence my presence on this forum since the very early days). After moving to California and having my daughter start getting serious about surfing, I've ended up pushing myself a lot more to ride higher-performance equipment, surf more challenging waves, and to focus a bit more on technique. I watched her getting better and better, largely through time in the water ... often surfing the marginal days that I considered unworthy -- both because of my equipment choices and also because, frankly, I didn't have the quickness it required. So really, it's only been a few years since I've been trying to actually rip. In my mind, that means riding sub 6' boards and performing major maneuvers like full cutbacks, off the lips, etc. While I'm not fully there, I've made a lot of progress. I now expect to be ripping by age 50 or so. The other interesting thing is that pushing the envelope a bit hasn't diminished my enjoyment of -- or skills with -- longboards, fish, etc. There's nothing like the feeling of doing the best turn of your life, whatever the frame of reference. And there's also nothing like standing perfectly still in trim on a 10' glider. Bottom line: It's very possible to improve later in life, no matter what your starting point or end goal. It's a mix of intention and practice. The former can be as simple as considering the lines you draw and deciding to try something a little more radical next time you paddle out. I could write another 10,000 words on the latter -- but everything helps, whether visualization, land-based movement training, footage review, etc. In my case, it's mostly just surfing a lot and not worrying about falling or looking stupid. Oh, and obviously, blame any hiccups with something like "yeah, man, I was riding my hull yesterday so I'm having a hard time adjusting back to this board." |