Interesting one.....there's a New Zealand big wave sufer who's name escapes me right now but I read a good article in which he mentioned that his partner had bought him a book on overcoming fear.
I'm finding that in my older years I have changed as a surfer in that I'm tending too often to er on the side of caution when " Do I GO.. or don't I ? " suddenly confonts me. In the 70's I'd late take off on any damn thing and I can distinctly remember one uncrowded, ...yes uncrowded on shore summer afternoon out at Trigg Point. It was a healthy 6 foot and I was taking off over that rock and bubble and intentionally wiping myself out in an effort to accustom myself with remaining calm in critical situations. It worked because on a few waves I managed to relax over the falls and actually land on my feet and through a blur of spray regain my stance. After that I found that I would go for the late take offs a lot. Watch Bruce Irons on his brilliant late take offs at Snapper Rocks in the surf Video " Traffic " and you might see what I mean.

I hear you brother, I know exactly how you feel. As you get older you realise that pain really does hurt..

The definition of courage is to disregard fear and act bravely. Having said this with age comes wisdom. The ocean is a good leveler.

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beastsurf said...

The definition of courage is to disregard fear and act bravely. Having said this with age comes wisdom. The ocean is a good leveler.

That's a good definition. When I'm out in the surf I never think of the word fear.
The word courage seems better to me when I'm thinking to myself.
I've let a few really good, but very late ones go. When I do that I think to myself
" Damn I should've gone on that one. "
But true, there's a balance that has to be met when we make these snap decisions.
Tricky one...I'm still workin' on it.
I've been thinking of taking up high diving at the pool. That may help a bit to pluck up a bit more courage and adapt.
True also though is that it's often better to be safe than sorry.

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surfnsirhiss said...

I hear you brother, I know exactly how you feel. As you get older you realise that pain really does hurt..

Yes surfinsirhiss. I hit the reef backwards up at Lanno a few days ago.
Over I went and said hello to a nasty rock. It was super shallow straight out in front of that small rock island slightly North of Edward Island. The rights were peaking and sectioning off far enough out to take off, but the inside reef was deadly. My left shoulderblade is still sore.
Surfing is quite a dangerous passion. Waves, any waves have so much power.

There is such a thing as a healthy fear though - its a fine line between stupidity and bravery

To be perfectly honest I dont really think about it, I just GO.
If you think about it too much chances are ul stuff it anyway.
Unless it one of those twisted,bowling,sucking double lip ones I usually get a little excited more than anything.....

Time to Fire up and CHAAAAARGE loner[}:)]

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KEARNSY said...

To be perfectly honest I dont really think about it, I just GO.
If you think about it too much chances are ul stuff it anyway.
Unless it one of those twisted,bowling,sucking double lip ones I usually get a little excited more than anything.....

Time to Fire up and CHAAAAARGE loner[}:)]

...Power to you Kearnsy. I spoke to an old friend of mine a while back and he said the same. Next time for me it'll be Kamikaze time. As in - GO !!!

Loner.
Fear, what a great and timeless subject, particularly for surfing.
Its something that has gripped my thoughts over a lifetime of surfing and maybe there is some thoughts here for further discussion.

The thing that addicted me to surfing early on, was fear.
An early near drowning experience (aged 3) left me with a monster in my head that had to be exorcised. Through surfing and perseverance the monster left me at about age 30.

The fear of late take offs, big waves etc, is a thing different for me.
They are directly related to knowledge and experience.

For example, late take off's shouldn't happen unless that's what you want.
It's about controlling the trim of your board while paddling in.
It's the simplest, most basic skill while learning to surf, But I still haven't mastered it! (keeps me trying).

Big waves are a matter of known fitness and putting the size in perspective.
They all look a bit smaller while standing up, But are intimidating while laying down.

Fear also has intuitive uses, Once while surfing at Strickland in 1980 I was struck with uncontrollable fear and had to go in.
The people on the beach showed me the huge shark that was cruising below when I was out there.

Surfing is a confidence sport. It relies on feeling good and positive to perform at our best. And fortunately there is no team as judge and jury afterwards about our days efforts.

There is also fear and fear.
Recently i was hit by a car while riding a motor bike.
The split second mind pictures of being airborne towards an oncoming vehicle, with my broken left leg flailing in the wind; have had a dramatic positive affect my surfing.
Nothing much about surfings old fears seem too important nowadays.

Surfing is a gift, overcoming our fears is the key.

All the best.

COMMIT
COMMIT
COMMIT!

Just remember "if you do what you fear, your fear will disappear"

Courage manifests from a amber frothy liquid, fear manifests as a brown sludge.

Fear is a tonic and is served to us as a test to see if we are still alive. Take the tonic with a clear mind then become focused aggressive and live through fear to reap rewards and become stronger for it.

Nothing to get scared about so far this winter!

Your fitness plays a big factor as to how much courage you have to charge big waves when your older, being fit you more confident in you ability and the fear factor will be less. As most know the older you get your fitness drops and you also become more wise, therefor the fear factor increases as you know the consequences of where your ability is at and what punishment you will get lol.

The end of the day if you want to charge big waves it is a important factor to keep fit, if your not fit you can put your self and or others in potential danger.

Bossman,
You are on the money. Well spoken.

One other thing i would like to add is, stamina increases as we get older.

(Hence Cliff Young jogging from Sydney to Melbourne in the 1980's.)

Growing old is definitely not all downhill.
Huey, give us the motivation to get to the pool on the bad surf days and use our ever increasing stamina to lift our standard of life and surf.

In the words of RIO: commit, commit, commit.

May the force be with us.

yeah cheers 'team egg' someone agrees. Marty's spill was a good one about doing what you fear and your courage will disappear!!

Fear is all relative, but we all get a dose of fear out there. I love a good wipeout from ttime to time but when you get truly smashed it can put a serious dent in confidence. Thats when commitment comes into it.

Because, you can commit to pull out of a take off or commit to the take off and paddle hard or get smashed. Or commit to that rio and come off the top like a champ. Or shoot the tube, you gotta COMMIT.

I aint preaching or anything but commitment can be a hard word for some.

What's the use of confidence when you can lose it again!!

Good thread. Save Sandtrax

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RIO said...

yeah cheers 'team egg' someone agrees. Marty's spill was a good one about doing what you fear and your courage will disappear!!

Fear is all relative, but we all get a dose of fear out there. I love a good wipeout from ttime to time but when you get truly smashed it can put a serious dent in confidence. Thats when commitment comes into it.

Because, you can commit to pull out of a take off or commit to the take off and paddle hard or get smashed. Or commit to that rio and come off the top like a champ. Or shoot the tube, you gotta COMMIT.

I aint preaching or anything but commitment can be a hard word for some.

What's the use of confidence when you can lose it again!!

Good thread. Save Sandtrax

Mate its "if you do what you fear, your fear will disappear" or maybe its should be "don't do what you fear and your courage will disappear" lol
Anyway I agree 100% COMMITMENT is a big part of it and in life generaly.

big OOPS!!!! yeah sorry marty. LOLOLOL

we dont want to lose courage...