on the climb, mid twenties traveling and surfing. Know it won't last forever but Ill lay groundwork for the performance plateau
Sick dude keep charging. Keeping the stoke fire lite when you can't surf is a big part of being a surfer.
I would like to think I'm still progressing even at the ripe ole age of 44. I really didn't get into surfing until I was in my mid to upper 20's. So starting that late in life has helped me maintain the stoke factor. I'm still fired up as ever to be out there as much as possible. It definitely helps that I live on the beach AND work from home so basically anytime it gets good I can surf. I also try to mix it up as much as possible....surf different spots, travel, ride various boards, etc. I also believe that almost every time you get in the water you learn something new which should translate into progression.
Progressing slowly but surely. Trip helped, new bort helps, riding my single fin helps, new spots help. Was in a rut for a bit with the same bort and spots, but back to experimenting. Ready to surf all day tomorrow. Woohoo
Thanks man, your posts definitely help keep the stoke fire lit when I'm sitting here at the office. My brother lives on the Oregon coast up near Tillamook and surfs about twice a year despite having a fully functional surfbort and brand new wetsuite and living a couple hundred feet from the beach (though I gather his closest beach is not really a functional break). The way he tells it, it's basically too big and choppy to be surfable for like 9 months straight, so it's refreshing to hear that you're surfing every day out there and killing it. Not sure how much better I'd be doing than my brother, based on the surf reports I see that are routinely way, way bigger than I can handle, but I like to think if I had his exact circumstances I'd be doing everything I could to scope out the more manageable breaks, get out on the more manageable days, and generally just surf as much as possible while doing whatever I can to increase the amount of "possible" that my ability permits.
Lol, I'd been wondering about that..I was reading it as eats well... For me, I would have to say over the past two/three years or so I have been progressing exponentially. Funny enough, this place had something to do with it. I had purchased my first new board in years, and after a few months noticed dings/cracks along the stringer. Posted about it on here and someone (correctly) pointed out that it was caused by bad/lazy pop-ups from me using my knee. I took the opportunity to view that as constructive criticism and started making a serious effort to correct all the bad surfing habits & techniques I had developed over the past 20 years. I also started eating a lot better, doing yoga, stopped drinking so damn much, and subsequently dropped 40 pounds. Once I started really getting good at having clean fundamentals, they became a habit. This has paid dividends in spades. At 37 I'm in as good if not better shape than I was at 18, and my surfing reflects that. I find that I'm having a much easier time in general, and now I find OH+ to DOH as when it starts to get seriously fun, and isn't intimidating like it used to be.
Regression due to lack of water time. It's as simple as that, family, work, etc. takes up most of my free time. Baby kook number 3 is on his or her way in another month so I don't foresee my water time increasing any time soon...
I progress when I go on a surf trip, then regress when I return to the flat coast. It's hard to progress when you have flat spells that can be a month long.
Dosxx, I'm sure almost everyone on this board can relate. There are some still out there (Trevolution springs to mind) that are still untethered and taking every advantage and opportunity as it comes. Living like that is something that they will never regret. As for my situation, it certainly doesn't help that I'm as far from the water as I am but it's worth it for my family and that's what is truly important.
Don't despair, there's hope in the future if you plot your course correctly. I grew up surfing, but surfed very rarely throughout my late 20's to early 40's with 8-5 job and young kids, but the kids became teenagers, and I ditched corporate life and started my own business. Now I'm 50, and I surf more now than at any point in my life. I never miss a swell and travel a fair amount. Stay healthy and fit, and start molding you life to the life you want, and when your kids become cranky teenagers that become annoyed at your very presence, then tell them you love them, but if they need you, you'll be at the beach surfing.