my senior thesis please respond

Really, care to elaborate on what was wrong with that statement? Do you drive 8 hours to catch three waves in a weekend? Can you not play basketball anywhere anytime? Do you not get stoked on a great ride? Maybe you should stop telling everyone how wrong they are and how great your senior thesis is and concentrate on having fun surfing and not trying to be an ass.

Opps just read your profile now I get why you are such a tool. Disregard what I said above and keep spooning dudes and hanging at all your chill spots

 

Death?

Possible death? I would argue that any capable surfer stands a VERY small chance of such tragedy during even a large hurricane swell, certainly much smaller than the chance of over-doing it while out taking shots at the bars.

As for the driving, I see what you're going after...why the sacrifice? Why spend the money, miss the previous engagements, etc.? It's a limited resource that we crave. Madison Square Garden may have a better court than the neighborhood park, but NO ONE on the East Coast can surf big waves except during a hurricane (or other) swell. The comparison does not hold much water.

A better picture would be not having a basketball court or people with whom to play and driving a long distance to get that. To some extent, a lot of people do this. My cousin, a great hoops player, used to drive an hour or so into DC to play with some good guys, the caliber of whom he could not find anywhere closer. In surfing, however, there's also an emotional attachment to the spots we surf. I'd happily drive a few hours to score perfect waves at one of my favorite spots.

Our experience is unmistakably connected to exact geographic locations under specific ocean and weather conditions. The closest comparison I can think...golf maybe? I know a lot of golfers really love to play at (for the sake of an example, I'm not a golf expert) Pebble Beach. They'll spend a ton of money to visit their favorite course and play a few rounds. This still fails to match the East Coast surfing experience. The conditions golfers need for a great day pale in comparison to those we need to light up our favorite spots.

 

For me the motivation to surf is relative to the difficulty of the potential swell event. I've been surfing a little over 15 years (yikes) now. I'm comfortable surfing most conditions we see on the east coast. I don't get excited about surfing knee to thigh high waves, I won't take off work to surf that, I will paddle out for a pre or post work session. I surely won't drive three or four hours for those conditions either. That waist to chest high wave I might take a few hours off work, call in late or something. I might even drive an hour or two so I can find a better breaking spot. Anything larger than that I start getting excited, I make arrangements to be at the best spot, at the best time. Somewhere around chest to head, slightly overhead I can really push my surfing, I'm having the most fun in the shortest amount of time (of course depending on wave conditions, glassy and offshore versus side or onshore and choppy).
In the rare occasion it gets bigger around here, I'm now pushing my physical surfing abilities, dropping in on a well overhead wave might make me second guess myself, but if I make it, then it's the absolute best feeling in the world. If I don't, then I'm really paying for it. It might end my day, I'll sit on the beach and watch. As much as I wish I were an awesome surfer, I've been on trips to PR where the waves were breaking well beyond my skill level, and I sit and watch the better guys. If I paddle out, I endanger myself, I won't be comfortable, and I won't have fun.
I think there is a return on "stoke" factor you get relative to how difficult the wave is for you to surf. The most fun, memorable waves are the ones that push my limits, but I'll still go out for stuff that doesn't necessarily challenge me (I guess I get way more practice on my cutbacks on the smaller stuff).
As far as location goes, I think the only thing that gets me somewhat excited is the prospect of surfing an uncrowded break when it's catching it just right, or at least decently.

It's all experiential. I suspect most people have similar experience when pushing their limits in their respective sports. Whether it's climbing a higher/steeper mountain, playing an outstanding round of golf on a difficult course, or heck, beating someone that is better than you in a game of chess. But that feeling is what keeps me going back, and as I get older it's definitely not because I'm getting any better.

 

...nice haha

 

Thumbs up to schramb and live aloha. I like their responses. It takes a truly humble and self confident person to know when they have pushed their limit too far. Also, the golf comparison is the right one. People obsess over golf the same way they do surfing. Outsiders can't really understand either one. Personally, golf bores the hell out of me. Chasing a little white ball around for four hours seems like death to me. But my entire family golfs and none of them surf...they cant understand surf cause you cant quantify it. What's the point? they ask. Different strokes

As far as the guy who tells everyone they are wrong.....quit being a wanker

 

A thesis CAN be a question, conway is a moron

 

My thoughts exactly

 

A thesis cannot be a question. You are almost as dumb as rcarter.

And to rcarter.

You display a lack of reading comprehension skills. Indeed, when the OP said that surfers will drive for hours for the prospect of good surf and end up only getting a few good waves, he meant that even though they know the payoff might be low, they will still do it. He wishes to show what it is that drives surfers to put themselves through long drives, late nights, and a less-than-certain guarantee of payoff for a good wave. He's saying that you would not be willing to drive 8 hours to an exciting new basketball court if there wasn't a guarantee that the goal would be there, but you will drive 8 hours to surf an exciting new spot even though there's no guarantee that there will be good waves. He wants to show what the driving force behind that is. The way he worded it was a bit confusing, but I understood.

 

Why do we do anything worth while in life.....The stoke factor, the feeling of inner peace some say, the euphoria, pure enjoyment, the adrenaline rush. They are all the same but different to say the least. If you have caught one good wave you will do what ever you can to duplicate that feeling usually with no success(speaking for myself only). Storm surf is challenging, can be dangerous but you cant get that power from a small day. No wave is the same giving you a different ride and feeling each time since the characteristics of the waves are always changing due to changes in condtions. People don't just drive a few hours to catch the better waves they travel thousands of miles. Why do I do it???? I am compelled to.