Forgetting your waves

you completely read my mind...i've had two pretty decent (but crowded) sessions the past two days that both ended with the best left of the day (that was weird enough as it is!) all the way down the line with cuts, and bottom turns, and into shore. this morning i was going to begin a thread, "what we take with us" but then ran out of time...so thanks for taking this on for me.

i cannot vividly remember a single wave i ever surf, not even the great ones. if i think really hard i get snippets (and i think they are only the moments where i'm thinking, 'what next' on a wave, as in, "am i going to be able to ride this longer and keep it going, where do i need to go/turn/cut/drop, etc) but it is only a still picture in my head. i was wondering, as you have here, if this happens to anyone else. and, if so, why is it that we continue to do this...

personally i can remember the "feel" of the wave better than the actual wave itself. and as far as i can tell, this kind of makes sense to me because i've realized i surf way more on instinct, or feel of what the wave is offering, than sighting what the wave could/would offer - if that makes any sense at all. it's only when i am not getting the power/glide/speed that i want that i look for where to go next. otherwise i am just, "floating in the moment."

so, yeah, i'm with you, on every single successful wave - and i am not a habitual recreational drug user. i can really remember a dream that i've had for longer, and better, than i can remember a wave, and sometimes it's sad, but i just get back on the board as quickly as possible full of stoke, and i guess that is enough for me to take away from the experience. in its essence, i think that might be what surfing is all about; the experience and sensation sans anything materialistic or quantifiable.

keep enjoying the ride braaahs

 

nice...that's awesome

 

whoa. now i feel GREAT about myself and what i did today. which was surf. that is some concept LBCrew…
i'm guessing you possess the wisdom befitting of a man (person) with your number of posts. or did you
spend last night in a holiday inn express?

 

This happens to me all the time I'll catch a awesome wave paddle back out and be like that was sick, then be like what did I do again. I think it's the adrenalin as we'll as seratoine and dopamine.

 

Yes, I can relate with having a complete lapse of memory when I ride waves at times. A fellow surfer will ask, "how was that wave?". And, my response will be, "I have no idea".

I think I use to analyze the rides much more then I do now. When I was younger, it was this very analytically process where you focus on improving. Nowadays, I'm not as concerned with progression, as much as just enjoying the moment.

 

Great stuff and we've discussed such things on here in several other past treads for whatever reason. "Peak performance" is used in the actual academic study of psych of sport and psych of excellence for those cats that want to stay away from the cliched "Zone" talk.

In peak performance, loss of concepts of time and self are common. You feel one with both your environment and equipment, so those of you who feel this timelessness of stoked sessions also likely feel as if the board is an extension of the body and the wave is as well. When you think about how we have to use the wave as our source of power that is the damn truth - we are part of the wave on our better rides.

This state of sublime is only possible when certain brain centers (focused on kinesthetics, vision, reaction) are heightened with others (logic, emotion, memory) being shut down. There are many, many regions of the brain that all do very different things and they can't (or at least shouldn't) all be firing at once. We'd be in a very erratic, schizophrenic state if so and it would not be pleasurable. The suppression of "default" brain regions during demanding, focused tasks like surfing make it possible for us to succeed in those moments and enjoy them.

If a two-column list existed of all the rides I've ever got that separated ones I remember from the ones I don't, the ones I don't remember would nearly all be from high-wave count sessions and my best sessions overall (as defined by consistency of performance throughout the sesh). It's those sessions where you get a good ride and then hop on another great set coming in on the inside when you're not even all the way back out and do that a couple times in a row. I bet you half of all the rides I've ever got have come within 1-5 minutes of the next ride. There's little time for reflection during those sessions and the only way you'll really enjoy and make the most of the sesh is to be emotionally free of the outcome and even the experience itself and just let it take its course at its own speed. Like my session on Sunday that was 12-15 rides in 45-60 minutes - can't really remember most any of those but know that it was an unreal sesh start to finish. I'd imagine the better you become as a surfer the less you will remember since you begin to get the most rides out of each session based on placement, skill, and experience.

Set to have another one of the hard to remember sessions today in this medium-period swell!

 

That's gotta be some ungawdly fine shiiiite you're puffing, LB.

I'm going with what you said - - sounds better than "I'm concussed again."

 

At my age, I can't remember if I took a sh!t this morning let alone the waves I rode. But I do remember the "feeling" of riding them. The last two days were good. I guess it's the same thing LB Crew was talking about.

 

Some seem to fade away quicker than others. My memory has improved since I stopped smoking.

 

On the contrary, I can't stop thinking about it. Then I tell everyone within earshot of the lineup how epic it was.

 

lol

k bro

 

i experience exactly the same mate ... good to hear that i am not the only one , guess my memory loss is not that bad

 

Was thinking bout dis tread a bunch lately. Have had some real good rides in the last month that I can barely remember afterwards and having to really focus and go back in my head to replay the tape. Not too worried about that as long as I can keep getting the good rides! Hopefully get some this morning. Serious temp rises and drops these days up in NE. Just need the winds to calm.

 

Ditto. Was thinking about that very thing earlier this week during a morning sesh. Happens to me all the time unless something out of the ordinary happens - even right after I'm padding back out from a ride in. Had thought it was age related.

 

Na breh. More stoke-related. Function of present moment existence and zone performance. The traditionalists here will be pleased that through the frequency of this euphoric amnesia, I'm getting a hell of a lot closer to "just surfing" lol

 

This is an awesome thread. There are three categories of wave memory for me:

1. Career Waves - Waves where if I controlled the universe I couldn't have created better timing, perfect sections, and made all the right moves. I remember these vividly for about 60 days, then I start to embellish the best parts and forget the details. These great rides dissolve and the hightlights go into "Career Moves".

2. Career Moves - Average rides with a holy-crap-did-i-just-pull-that-off move thrown in, or highlights from Career Waves. I remember the body mechanics as well as the visual aesthetics.

3. Natural Epics - There are a handful of "screen shots" and freeze frames that I will never forget, even though the ride itself was not necessarily the best. A deep bottom turn when the bottom sucked out and a belly high wave looked a hypnotic combination of deep blue and frothy, and towered above me, and time froze. I botched the actual ride, missed all the good parts, etc., but man I remember that steep, multicolored wall. And there is no sound in the moment. I TOOK TONS OF LSD IN THE 90S SO.......

 

You know when you've spent enough time in the water you'll grow out of being so analytical about how your ride was performance wise...your just having fun things be flowing naturally...that's when real stoke happenz dudez...
Hey I'm still half peeled from last night probably won't remember today...but they got a tent set up around da bench off in belmar banging doob step...I think I just saw a dude give a fist pumping claim...it's pretty warm out The drugs got me mellow and today's pretty suite

 

Yes, and it's to do with the part of the brain which is being used.

 

Thanks bro. You must be a rocket surgeon. Tell us more that isn't already common knowledge to most.

 

Yo!!! Dead serious, this happens to me.