I don't disagree. It took a long time to develop a gate that allows me to continue to run without too much impact stress on the joints. If I'm not feeling up for a run, I'll go for a fast walk (fvck I'm a geezer!!!!). Yoga seems to be the one thing that allows me to do most of the other things.
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Becoming an older surfer
- Thread starter pastel
- Start date
Table tennis helps my reactions. Quick thought and strategy, quite like surfing.
i don't like giving tips to other surfers because fook you kooks but another thumbs up for pilates here. i feel like i set the clock back 20 years doing reformer pilates a few times a week.
I've surfed 2-6 days a week since I was five years old. I am now closer to 70 than I am to 60. Most of the time I'm riding a 6'-6'2". I surfed well going into my 50's. Still have good days by mid 80's standards. But I make mistakes now that I never did previously. Primarily on takeoff. I've talked with a number of my childhood surf heroes and everyone says the same thing. Coming to your feet, the first thing you learned, is the first thing that goes. Which is humiliating. On a little board, hitting your spot and nailing that first turn is everything. Or a lot anyway.
My MA training is good for surfing. My reasons for still training have nothing to do with fighting anymore. Reflexes, balance and flexibility in one package. My tip for the popup is get yourself an WaveStorm. Cut it off to the length of your favorite shortboard and take the fins off. Throw the thing on the garage floor and pop up. 20 times. If you can nail 20, everything is working. The fatigue on rep 19 makes it more difficult. If you are screwing up your foot placement, stop. Quality reps. Put good stuff into muscle memory. Not sloppy. That and I got a paddle board. I only go at most about five miles. Sometimes less.
Waves of serious consequence are kind of off the menu now. I make mistakes I am not willing to pay for. That stings a little. But, got to be grateful for the run that you had.
Like I said, it's humiliating to have to work on things you did most of your life without effort/thought. But, a little humility is good for us. I'm not surfing much lately. My life has gotten messy with my father's death. I'm hoping to get things done and organized so I can go get the last few years I can squeeze out. My father rode his last wave in his 80's. But whatever. I've had a really good run. Over 60 years of surfing. It can all end tomorrow and I wouldn't regret a thing. I really need to kill my ego going forward. I've tried, but the MF'er won't die. Time will tell...
My MA training is good for surfing. My reasons for still training have nothing to do with fighting anymore. Reflexes, balance and flexibility in one package. My tip for the popup is get yourself an WaveStorm. Cut it off to the length of your favorite shortboard and take the fins off. Throw the thing on the garage floor and pop up. 20 times. If you can nail 20, everything is working. The fatigue on rep 19 makes it more difficult. If you are screwing up your foot placement, stop. Quality reps. Put good stuff into muscle memory. Not sloppy. That and I got a paddle board. I only go at most about five miles. Sometimes less.
Waves of serious consequence are kind of off the menu now. I make mistakes I am not willing to pay for. That stings a little. But, got to be grateful for the run that you had.
Like I said, it's humiliating to have to work on things you did most of your life without effort/thought. But, a little humility is good for us. I'm not surfing much lately. My life has gotten messy with my father's death. I'm hoping to get things done and organized so I can go get the last few years I can squeeze out. My father rode his last wave in his 80's. But whatever. I've had a really good run. Over 60 years of surfing. It can all end tomorrow and I wouldn't regret a thing. I really need to kill my ego going forward. I've tried, but the MF'er won't die. Time will tell...
Yup, the pop-up is the first thing to go, have been painfully aware of that over the last decade. I actually traced the outline of my short board onto a yoga mat with a sharpie, with a couple of X's where I wanted my feet to land... Made it a point, over the course of the last few winters, to do 10 pop-ups every day wearing 3 lb ankle weights. My goal was just to keep that coiled inner spring in good shape, but my approach is a little rough. I like your emphasis on form and will keep it in mind this winter - I need to do better.
Also, your comments about ego are spot-on as well. this probably deserves its own thread, but dang it's going to be hard letting go of surfing. Certainly there is an emotional and psychological investment in being a lifelong surfer. It's going to be hard to check out gracefully.
Well, Your “pack’in left n’ right could go with her “flapp’in camel toe jig” ??I'm on board! I'll need to get some tight pants. The only dilemma is, do I pack everything on the right or the left? It'll give the ladies walking the rail trail something to gawk at.
At 46 I am not sure I belong in this thread yet but I am paying attention. Best words I got from an older Jiu Jitsu partner "the couch is the enemy" you gotta keep moving.
This thread feels like a confessional, and I might as well get it over with.
62, started with canvas mats as a small kid to Jr. Lifeguards surfing logs to my first board at 15.
Body has no current issues. Impinge shoulder cleared up with hangs and stretches. Achilles tear is healed but tight. My back gets sore when I ride the 5'10. No complaints from me.
Agree w/ Sharky popups are 1st to go and I'll add late take offs. I think riding midlengths and longer boards plays into lazy popups. In junk conditions, which is the norm now, I take out my 5'10 and just work on timing and doing clean take offs. It seems to help with other boards. Sometimes it is just a shtshow but not caring and screwing around like a grom has its own rewards.
In a decent wave session quality is much more valuable than quantity of waves now. If I get 1 or 2 decent waves, I am more than happy.
When I was in rehab for my Achilies I tried body boarding and knee boarding and body surfing, but I didn't find them satisfying at all. If I can't put a board on rail or take a highline on a wall it just doesn't do it for me. I'm guessing when those are gone that's when I will walk away.
I started Freediving and fell in love with that. I was hoping that would be a good geriatric substitute. Local diving sucks, no visibility and cold water; that and with some ear problems, I have difficulty equalizing at deeper depths make FD not so feasible here.
62, started with canvas mats as a small kid to Jr. Lifeguards surfing logs to my first board at 15.
Body has no current issues. Impinge shoulder cleared up with hangs and stretches. Achilles tear is healed but tight. My back gets sore when I ride the 5'10. No complaints from me.
Agree w/ Sharky popups are 1st to go and I'll add late take offs. I think riding midlengths and longer boards plays into lazy popups. In junk conditions, which is the norm now, I take out my 5'10 and just work on timing and doing clean take offs. It seems to help with other boards. Sometimes it is just a shtshow but not caring and screwing around like a grom has its own rewards.
In a decent wave session quality is much more valuable than quantity of waves now. If I get 1 or 2 decent waves, I am more than happy.
When I was in rehab for my Achilies I tried body boarding and knee boarding and body surfing, but I didn't find them satisfying at all. If I can't put a board on rail or take a highline on a wall it just doesn't do it for me. I'm guessing when those are gone that's when I will walk away.
I started Freediving and fell in love with that. I was hoping that would be a good geriatric substitute. Local diving sucks, no visibility and cold water; that and with some ear problems, I have difficulty equalizing at deeper depths make FD not so feasible here.
Years ago i included seniors and grandmasters heats in almost all the surfing events i ran. There is such an undeniable loss in ability that the participants were hard to judge. It basically got down to length of ride because every thing done without bending the knees looks awkward. The all were having fun and really that's all that matters. The real problem with age is you have to compete with younger surfers for waves. They absolutely have zero respect. Then you’re sitting for an hour in 60 degree water waiting for one of them to throw you a bone. That seldom happens. At 73 I can look back on a legacy of thousands of good waves, do my yoga that I’ve been doing since the early 70s and swim daily in my heated pool. Life’s good, surfs up!
These days it's a challenge just bending over to tie my shoe laces in the morning. I get winded.
Time for velcro or slip ons. LOL.
Time for velcro or slip ons. LOL.
I am lucky that of my surf pals there are a few older guys that are absolute speicimens...in their mid 60's still shredding and crazy fit it is really inspiring...I turn 50 this year and am committed to squeeze as much surfing out of the next decade as possible to make up for missing out on so much in my 40's...yoga and swimming. No running, my joints are done with that...would love to include riding a bike but in the city accidents are an inevitability.....My career is pretty much shot, kids are gonna be out of high school soon, looking forward to living like Im 18 again...plus the wife is making crazy money right now so that helps...
Would! That camel toe got me feelin some type of way.Have you considered Prancercise?
so what i get from this thread is that the erbb is filled with a bunch of old timers who mostly bodyboard and argue on the internet haha. sign me up!
wow I've never seen a moose knuckle prance like that