Ask Carroll

[Nick Carroll]

Do the fat fcuk's surf board's that suit their body type's?? What type of surfer's could they be if slim or did their body type suit their style??

How do the board rider's and developing pro's target their surf fit program??
I would imagine the most important aspect would be a fast paddle and pop up which would be aimed at utilising fast twitch muscle fibre's then a good stability would be required so core exercises are next then you would be targeting strong explosive movement's and stability which would require a strong range of motion's in the hips, ankles and shoulder's as well as a good lower back and hamstrings.

How does surfing Aus tailor their program's?

Yeah I wouldn't be calling them fat fcuks myself, the surfers who I'm thinking of here are mostly Hawaiian guys like Junior Moepono and other big fellas at Vland, Makaha etc, they didn't ride super big fat boards and their styles a pleasure to watch, as I am trying to point out, not associated in any particular way with their physiques.

You're asking questions here about athletic training for surfing that require very long and detailed answers or very short ones, the long answers aren't really appropriate in this setting, so I'll keep it short - the successful pro level training programs are all quite different to each other but all focus on a mix of strength, flexibility, aerobic recovery and fatigue management. Technical skill work is kept quite separate to the athletic side which is really about supporting the surfers efforts, not trying to create or foster them. Ie, they don't train in order to improve their surfing technique, they train to support their competitive efforts. This is a subtle but quite clear distinction.

What holds true for a pro holds true for every surfer; if you want to surf better, surf more. Everything else is secondary.

[bomboraa]

Nick do you know the origin of the nautical/weather term white horses?
According to doco saw last night it's connected to the Ark, the arrogance of unicorns and the great flood. Twas interesting.
Very much enjoyed last two editions.

[Nick Carroll]

Wow I did not! I guess I always thought it was a natural take on open ocean chop and wave crests etc, maybe seen by people who were more used to land.

I'm glad you're enjoying White Horses, it's a real labour of love on Gra's part and likewise on many of the contributors'.

[bomboraa]

The story was Noah called all earth's animals to enter the Ark as the rains started.
Unicorns, always white, loved themselves so much they said nah, no way Noah, we'll just keep preening and prancing and knowing how gorgeous and amazing we are.
The rains keep going, so much that eventually all earth is covered by water. The unicorns finally realize their arrogance and vanity was a big no no and all the planets unicorns start charging towards the Ark, masses of white horses galloping across the vast shallow waters towards that massive wooden boat.
Have never heard that story either.

[Trev]

The story was Noah called all earth's animals to enter the Ark as the rains started.
Unicorns, always white, loved themselves so much they said nah, no way Noah, we'll just keep preening and prancing and knowing how gorgeous and amazing we are.
The rains keep going, so much that eventually all earth is covered by water. The unicorns finally realize their arrogance and vanity was a big no no and all the planets unicorns start charging towards the Ark, masses of white horses galloping across the vast shallow waters towards that massive wooden boat.
Have never heard that story either.

And Noah looked out through the driving rain,
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games.
They were kickin' and splashin' while the rain was pourin',
Oh, them silly unicorns!

And I always thought the Irish Rovers made that up.
Every day, something new.

I, too enjot "White Horses".
Nick, I'm amazed how many tour competitors there's been over the years. That was a great read.

Also, I noticed a couple of names in the subscibers' list for supporting the T Shirt donation. John Sojoski, who built me a great board 11 years ago which is still going strong and at least one Realsurf regular.

[MrMik]

Yes! But most of them have developed or had inflicted on them an eye condition after they became highly skilled surfers.

I dont know if you do other sports MrMik? I sort of imagine that if you're sighted well enough to drive then you'd be able to work on your surfing ok.

I'm legally required to wear glasses for driving, and sports have always been somewhat hampered by the need to wear glasses.

I had a crack at different sports including soccer, handball, badminton, tennis and various martial arts, but nothing ever struck a chord with me like surfing does. Consequently, surfing has been my only sport for the last 20 years or so. I was only really good at sports for which wearing of glasses makes little or no difference, like road bicycling (strictly for transport only) and swimming.
I was rather hopeless at shooting, even with glasses.

My unaided vision is good enough to triangulate my position in the surf (if there are clear enough landmarks like spaced out trees and high-risers) and to see other surfers, but I can not read their facial expressions or recognise their faces from more than about 10-20 meters away (depending on how "striking" their features are). When I surf in locations with dense vegetation on the beach, triangulation becomes very difficult, because the trees and bushes all look the same to me from a distance. They all look like fluffy featureless green things...

I can see waves coming and I probably have a good idea about their size, because I seem to know when a big one is approaching at the same time as other surfers; but I cannot see clear details of the wave.

How much fine visual detail of a wave is used by eagle-eyed expert surfers when they pick a wave, and how much fine visual detail is required to decide what to do on a wave?

[Nick Carroll]

I had a good think about this while surfing Bells and Winki the past couple of days. I really awoke to how reliant I am to that fine detail, mostly just in positioning and last moment decisions re takeoff angles and stuff. I recalled times surfing into near darkness which is as close as I'd have got to impaired vision, and how it's always fcuked with my ability to make accurate choices in the seconds before takeoff, though riding the wave itself was fine.

I don't know if over time it'd be possible to make up for a lack of fine detail around that area of surfing, I would guess yes - I have a fair bit of faith in the human ability to adapt to things over time. But couldn't say for sure.

Is that where you find the most difficulty MrMik, in those few seconds pre takeoff?

[MrMik]

I had a good think about this while surfing Bells and Winki the past couple of days. I really awoke to how reliant I am to that fine detail, mostly just in positioning and last moment decisions re takeoff angles and stuff. I recalled times surfing into near darkness which is as close as I'd have got to impaired vision, and how it's always fcuked with my ability to make accurate choices in the seconds before takeoff, though riding the wave itself was fine.

I don't know if over time it'd be possible to make up for a lack of fine detail around that area of surfing, I would guess yes - I have a fair bit of faith in the human ability to adapt to things over time. But couldn't say for sure.

Is that where you find the most difficulty MrMik, in those few seconds pre takeoff?

Well, it does not feel like it's difficult in the few seconds before take-off, but then the consequences of decisions based on insufficient visual data make it difficult after take-off.

I guess it's a case of "I don't know what I don't know (don't see)", so that during the time before take-off, when you are most busy integrating all the information and deciding what to do based on it, I have comparatively little do do. But as a result I often pick the wrong waves and get mauled right after take-off, or the wave does not brake where I thought it would and I miss it.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick, I saw a photo of you in a wetsuit and your gluteus Maximus are very pronounced, taut and perky.

Do you isolate these muscles when exercising or is it just a by product of being a waterman?

Also, how do you think they would compare to Lairds?

Loofy you have me at a disadvantage, perhaps you could post a similar pic of your own rubber-encased arse and thus we would have a basis for the discussion

[Nick Carroll]

MrMik I have a suggestion, aside from the obvious (corrective laser surgery), maybe just concentrate your surfing on a single location for a while. Preferably a spot with some built in predictability, ie a reef or pt or predictable beachie. Single zone familiarity would make the takeoff decisions easier over time and you'd be able to figure out what to do, and eventually transfer some of that to other spots.

[daryl]

My eyesight is almost like MM's, When Simon said how good it is to see underwater whilst duckdiving, that was a foul blow.

[Indo dreaming]

@ Nick

What sunscreen do you use? or is there a sunscreen that sun sensitive pro surfers favour?

Sorry if this question has been asked here before, just thought id ask as you would expect with how much time pro surfers must spend in the water/sun they would be in the know, plus the conversation came up in a recent travel thread.

I did read somewhere a few pros use chick foundation/sunblocks like "Shiseido sun stick" last Indo trip i used, not cheap and it only lasted a few weeks (face only) but definitely up there with best.

Cheers

[marauding mullet]

On the vision topic, I surf often with a mate who uses contact lenses for surfing.
It takes him a minute or 2 in the car to get ready, but helps his long range vision.
It's the only time he uses them as far as I know.

[Nick Carroll]

Indo I'm not super up on what sunscreen pro surfers use, I think some use that foundation stuff (the girls definitely do) or a bronze zinc stick, I use a gel made by a company whose name I can't recall, it's thick clear stuff and stays on for hours in the water, v protective. They used to make an evaporating gel that was super effective but you can't find it anywhere any more. Maybe it was poisonous.

[Yuke Hunt]

The Ella Bache line of UV protective foundations are pretty good ... but outrageously expensive.

This stuff ...

Its far more cost effective and works well.

Mind you ... I do a two layer application. First off the invisible zinc is slapped on ... followed by some Cancer Council 30+ sports.

I've been using this system for some time and it works well (for me)

So ...

Its this ...


Then this ...

[channels]

Big waves. Watched some big drops at Qcliff bombie, Bower and Longie yesterday.

Once it gets to the 10 - 12 foot range, is it any more difficult than say the 4 - 6 foot range? Or is the only difference really the fitness required to cope with a hold down and the nuts to cope with copping one on the head?

[alakaboo]

Lot faster. You have to consciously delay bottom turns, after that your brain catches up
magnifies your minor errors.

[Nick Carroll]

Big waves. Watched some big drops at Qcliff bombie, Bower and Longie yesterday.

Once it gets to the 10 - 12 foot range, is it any more difficult than say the 4 - 6 foot range? Or is the only difference really the fitness required to cope with a hold down and the nuts to cope with copping one on the head?

Ah it's just a question of practice, there aren't many 10-12' days on the east coast and when they happen they're often best at quite tricky spots that hardly anyone has wired. So most guys don't know what to do with it.

If you've surfed a lot of waves in that size range or bigger, and have the equipment you'd choose to ride that day, then it's no harder than a 3' day at your local beach. But a hell of a lot more fun.

If you wanna stretch it and ride a heavy critical wave at that size then it gets a fair bit harder.