Your rituals, good/bad habits

drink alot of liquids, eat something light, stretch, pack a fat bowl (if waves are bad)

 

my ritual is always blasting music while im driving down to the beach and my bad habit is probably overfrothing. This means i always paddle way too hard and fast to get out into the lineup when i first get there. i'm sorry haha, i'm just stoked!!

 

im gonna say my bad habit would be being sooo stoked on any waves that i paddle out at the first place i check..given that i dont drive and rely on my bike (15 yo) but still

 

I couldn't say it better.

 

Surfing to the point of being on the disabled list for work/school/life the day after or after the session. 10 hr sessions can put ya behind a bit but its a good thing.

 

Clif builder bar washed down with coconut water. Swell conditions and what I'm going to ride drives the tunes.

 

Bad habits... like the OP said, not stretching and telling myself getting into my suit and jogging down the beach is good enough. Also... tripping over my leash on that same jog, not waiting to take a good crap before a pre-dawn sesh, and coming home later than I promised.

Rituals... Gfootr said it best... swell and board choice determine the tunes. Also... coffee, sunscreen, and usually a banana or granola bar and bottle of water.

 

My only ritual is stretching. Longer stretches the bigger the waves are.

 

I usually get a little stretching in on the beach before I head out. Watch the lineup a little, figure out whos ripping out there and the best spot for me to sit.

My bad habit is always wondering if its better at another spot. When its crowded during the summer/fall I spend way to much time spot checking trying to find an empty peak. Sometimes I drive around for like an hour and end up back at the first spot I checked. Lately I've been working on that and just checking my number one spot and nowhere else.

 

Wait around on friends. Have a yeungling. Call friends. Have another yuengling. Realize that I have no friends. Have another yuengling. Close one eye, drive to beach alone, find shower, cry. Yeap, that's virginia beach surfing in a nutshell.

 

sleeping like absolute **** knowing pumping surf will be waiting in the morning. not eating a good breakfast before morning sessions.

right leg, right arm, right boot, right glove all go on before the left

 

Never, and I mean NEVER go in the water until I have taken a HORRIFIC DUMP! Pipe cleansing.
Bad habit: Jack Daniels and eating greasy foods (Pizza, etc) after 10 pm the night before a DP.

 

Bad habit: staying up too late every night when I'm not surfing, thus needing the aid of alcohol when I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour for morning sessions.

My routine is... drink a muscle milk (protein drink) an hour before I surf. When I get to the spot, I'll take about 10 minutes to stretch, drink a red bull, eat an energy bar, and snap a couple pics.

 

I like to throw on a favorite video from the collection and watch some of that while I have coffee and breakfast and get my gear all ready to go & I heartily agree that you must drop a deuce before leaving the house or you'll be cramping in the lineup.

Getting older & need to start stretching before I get hurt (again)- I'd say my worst habit it staying out there too long and being late for stuff, not getting good rest or oversleeping has been a problem in the past.

If I could give my past self some advice I'd have worn earplugs and a hood during the colder months at least and re-applied sunscreen.

 

Not to dwell on the grotesque... but you might appreciate this: Last fall I surfed with a guy one pre-dawn morning at a spot that's hard to access (and even harder to surf) and he failed to take care of business before we left. He actually got out, went up into the dunes, took off his 5 mil, and released the hounds before re-suiting up and paddling back out.

When he pulled up next to me in the lineup he says, "THAT was a GOOD one!"

I'm like, "Dude, no offense, but I don't need to hear about your latest, greatest dump."

He says... "No, man... I mean your last wave!

We both laughed. Was he really watching me surf while taking a dump? That's just wrong on so many levels.

 

My ritual is listening to music on the way to my favorite spot, my bad habits are just being to stoked to take the time to strech or even really look at the conditions, plus i have really long sessions 10+ hours sometimes so i usually sleep through school but its totally worth it

 

rituals: pack my gear, grab a bagel and a gatorade and eat/drink on the way, stretch for about 10 minutes while watching the lineup, paddle out.

bad habits: not checking other spots, skipping/speeding up the stretching routine when I'm pressed for time, eating like crap and/or drinking heavily the night before,

 

LOL LBcrew!

 

Sounds like my cousin. He drove down to NJ from LI for the swell right after Christmas, 2009. While checking the surf, he announced his predicament, pulls a roll of TP out of his bag and proceeds to the dunes. I was floored. Even better, was the lady walking her dog getting an eyeful. I was disgusted and in awe at the same time.