Safely Taking a Beating

In the immortal words of the Bene Gesserit (Dune)

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

 

Here's a few thing that will help.
1. Like someone said before, cardio, cardio, cardio. When Tres is gettning ready to break there is a reason you will see a lot of people jogging or biking up and down the hill hard to remain in proper cardio shape.
2. Research some breathing and breath holding excersises. Research free diving breathing. The longer you can hold your breath in the pool, the more your mind will be at ease.
3.Check and double check your equipment. A new leash and rope is a good idea, even if yours is relatively new. I have snapped near new one's in big surf. Its worth the peace of mind.
4. Take off on waves you know(or at least think you know) you can make, especially in the first part of the session. You will build confidence as the day goes on.
5. Stay in surf shape. It's hard as hell around my parts, but before I go on a big trip I take long paddles in the canal behind my house, sprinting then med paddling then sprinting again. I also will tie my leash to my pool hand rail and just paddle, also adjusting the rate and digging sometimes then more of a med paddle.
IF you do all these things your MIND AND BODY will be more at ease in most any situation.
Oh by the way, whats up dude?

 

yeah on the leg rope thing i should get a new one mine re all like 3-5 years old.

 

My fav writer...Well played Yank.

 

This treade is good. Keep 'em coming boys.

Know your limits. That fine line between pushing yourself and getting in real trouble. I've had to give myself a stern talking to a few times in the last couple years. With all the operations I've had, so easy for me to pop a knee or shoulder out. Could end up in real trouble.

As much as I love surfing, at the end of the day I have to come home to my wife and kids. That's not optional.

DPSUP - didn't catch your story about having to paddle in with your shoulder pop. Focking hell man, that sucks. One of the worst pains I've ever felt was that thing hanging on the nerves.

 

Guess when your life depends on it ya just gotta suck it up. But yeah, ragdolling that arm around...fock that.

My shoulder is the same, usually pops back in. Rt knee usually pops back in too. Biggest fear is my left knee popping, as it can be a PITA to get back in, sometimes I can't get it back in by myself...on dry land.

As for the ER, at least I was in the states.

Godspeed sir...

 

Yea... good advice on the "mental" part. I guess you could say it all comes down to confidence.

Confidence in...

your ability
your fitness
your toughness
your equipment (including propere leashe knotte)

If you have all that going for you, you will be less likely to freak out, use up 02, and make a mistake. Keeping your head on straight and being able to think under pressure always helps. Outside of that, it's just finding that Zen moment, and surviving.

 

Yup

 

The only bad thing I say to boardwalk surfers is where's the pictures. When in doubt don't paddle out. All the cardio and breathing training doesn't help when that DOH Closes out on top of you. If you do decide to paddle out stay away from the surf lanes ! Control your board don't make the surfer riding in have to choose between hitting you or your board! Sea You In The Ocean

 

+1
Only had to ever climb up my leash for air once. Most scarred i ever been out in the water.

 

Larger surf can ferrsure be intimidating. Not saying I surf large waves but ive had multiple sessions kickin DOH+. My number 1 advice is to surf as much as possible. The more comfortable you are in the ocean, the more comfortable you'll be when the conditions start macking. I learned that I only feel comfortable surfing anything a few feet OH at a spot that I have previously surfed at a few times so I understand the break fairly well. Staying in shape is also important. I jump rope and hit the gym daily with all my exercises consisting of low weight and high repetitions with little rest to build up my muscle endurance. As for equipment, make sure you have a fairly new lease and a board that is proper for the given conditions. Using a board with not enough foam= going over the falls. I know this sounds weird but the first few times I surfed OH+ waves I purposely went over the falls on my first wave in order get a good beating. Everytime I would pop up completely fine and realize its not that bad. This really helped my confidence because I knew what to expect for my next beat down and that its really not that bad. As for avoiding a beat down on a wave make sure you penetrate the water and get deep if you know you aint making the section. Its a lot easier said than done though. Probably the worst beat down ive ever had was at blacks macking DOH+ waves and I realized I wasnt ganna make the section so I attempted to dive into the water but unfortunately I didn't penetrate the water and instead I skidded across the surface for a second or two and took the lip straight to the back. Got rag dolled, hit the bottom pretty hard and my leash snap. Pretty crappy situation but I remained calm and just thought of how tight that wave could have been if I made it. Sh!t happens and you just gotta go with the flow. Everyone has to pay their dues. Pay your dues and your confidence will grow because youre still alive...What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. If you don't push yourself then you wont grow.

 

What a productive, helpful post ^^

Heyyyyyyyyyy TUFF GUY! Props for the help bro an' bro an' bro....stayin' outtta yer way, bro, youse one bad mofo mutha (shut yo' mouf....but I'm talkin' bout SHAFT!)
Where's yo' pics, eh yo' & shiiiiite!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s695pzIiRDg
This video shows what can happen when you take the first wave of a large set.... doesn't always end well

 

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