I have no surf friends

Surfing was always a way to escape people to me. I hate surfing with a bunch of people and if I'm out by myself and you paddle out deep down I'm hoping you leave.

 

and a SUP is utter and complete capitulation.

 

The battle is with the pop up.

 

Some simple, sport-specific exercises really help you stay in the game a lot longer.
Work the abs, do chest/arm/shoulder work, and cardio. You'll be amazed how much it helps after only a few months.

 

Absolutely, I do it all, and so far so good for the most part, but still...age marches on, and our pop-ups ultimately will suffer.

 

That's interesting. Same for me as well....sort of. As long as I'm not cold, I'm fine popping up on a 5'5" for maybe a 2 hour sesh. If I stay warm, longer than that is fine.

If I get cold, even a little bit, my hips start stiffening up, and the pop up starts getting really drawn out and i feel like i cant get my legs under me in a smooth motion and my feet start getting hung up around the tailpad.

With a longboard, this just doesnt seem to happen. Its like the whole platform is just so stable, and the takeoffs so much less critical, getting to my feet on a log never becomes an issue.

 

Two hours of surfing hard...I mean in decent to good surf where you are catching a lot of waves, I notice when I’m getting slack on my pop up.

I tend to drag my front foot as I am getting up and have to adjust my stance as I’m dropping/bottom turning. I hate that. It tends to throw off an otherwise good sesh b/c I lose my rhythm so to speak.

LB is right (and I go through phases) about core and upper body. When I’m serious, it’s less of an issue but man it’s definitely something to keep up with.

 

I have met a very good friend and his kid at worser spots a couple times out of friendship and it was a huuuge mistake. Now my buddy can't surf, and his kid is in college and goes on trips to the Bahamas and the islands down south with his crew. We are all still friends, like family but those waves that I could have scored if I ditched them and hit it at a bigger better reefier spot still haunt me to this day.

Not really, but I agree, friends are for dry land and wet bars. I'm kinda friendly out in the water, but just to keep the vibe chill. I'm not your friend, just a fellow surfer trying to score a few waves in peace. All my surf buddies from Pumphouse were always dicks in the water, I just ran into two of them getting some goodies, and neither of them can surf anymore due to motorcross and rad shit. Most of my crew are dead, dying or locked up. Or traveling and living the life down south. Or living on The Big Island.

Ya'll are my surf friends. Peace and waves

 

I'm not out to make friends, I'm out to make waves.

 

Nice post. When you're young, you run with your crew, you scrape up loose change to help pay for gas and you all pile into beat up cars to go surfing together. It's fun. You show off, try and out do each other, you surf to be seen. Now as I age I crave solitude, I'm happy with lessor waves if it means I can have it to myself. I love being able to paddle to my preferred take off position on a wave, and not being wedged into a poor take-off spot because of crowds, or having to think about crowd positioning strategies. It's a natural progression I guess, but the truth is, I love it all the more now, because I'm doing it for myself, for the pure love of surfing.

 

All my friends are dead, incarcerated, become douche canoes, or moved away. It's all about mi familia now. I mean, now that I spend most of my time in PA, I go out for beers with some guys I work with but from a surfing standpoint, it's usually just me or me and my youngest son.

 

Some good perspectives on here. I am 47. I mostly longboard but for me - it's what I like. Ask my friends, I surf 500x better on a LB. My style fits the LB. Props to you older guys still on the SB - no denying its is harder to surf a SB.

As far as out of the water, I'd you don't know me you won't be able to tell I surf. I don't wear all the fancy surf duds. Not out of spite - it's because i refuse to pay a ton of money for surf clothes (other than t- shirts). My wife and I will meet someone new who mentions surfing. After we meet my wife will ask why I didn't tell the dude I surf. The answer is because I don't want any more fools to surf around.

 

Most surf brand stuff is garbage anyway. Some will hold up more than a year or two, but 95% of it is crap. I need to get some mileage out of my clothes.

 

Would you be considered old if you still wear Levi's 501's?