for those over 35

[diggerdickson]

The reason ive started this topic is that ive found that age (42) has caught up to me a little bit with my surfing, suppose its only natural, not as loose as before or as fast. My surfing style has definately changed from wanting to always smash a wave and try to dominate it, to now looking for places to drive a beautiful roundhouse or smooth floater and go with the flow, plus also what I find attractive surfing has changed ( This topic is discussed in another thread) Im presently working on getting a lower center of balance on my boards and trying to really drive through my roundhouse and concentrating on keeping speed back into the shoulder. Sometimes I fail here due to my lack of flexability or should I say skill.

I love drawing out my bottom turns so it leads into a gouge, nothing like planting the back foot. What are us oldies working on, as I know we always are striving to improve parts of our surfing even if age is catching and changing us.

[Surfin Turf]

I saw in the board size thread that you are riding a 21" wide fish, and you say here that you sometimes struggle believing that it may be flexibility or skill ... sure getting old has it's effects but if you are capable of doing roundhouse cutbacks and floaters etc and wanting to do carving bottom turns, you might want to ask yourself why are you riding a 21" wide fish ... part of your battle could be that type of board which are a lot harder to get rail to rail ... a few years back I showed up at my shapers place and started babbling on about how I was getting old and I should probably move to some different type of board ... he told me I was wrong and it would be a waste , and he shaped me a board for smaller surf with a little extra area in tail and a nice double concave and a narrower faster board for bigger stuff ... and he was 100% right ...

there seems to be so much development going on these days on the various types of boards that there can sometimes be a fusion of designs in that shapers can take some inspiration from one type of board and modify it and apply it to another type of board ... I always recomend talking to a good shaper and showing them what you ride while telling them want you want to a achieve which should net you out with a board that you can work with ...

not sure if this was the sort of comment you were looking for but by the sounds of what you were describing in your surfing and what you were riding it just seemed like there may be some opposing factors at play ...

for me, predominently surfing the northern beaches it's hard to focus on working on anything in particular given the conditions are always changing ... but if I had to narrow it down to one thing it would be maintaining speed, because with speed it's easy to do anything. so I mainly concentrate on positioning and repositioning after a turn or whatever to attempt to maintain maximum speed ... I find if I do this I am ready to really enjoy it when the surf turns it on , like last monday morning I was having a ball belting up some long rights but it was all falling into place after all the fiddling about in the cr@ppy conditions we've had on the NB's for the past month ...

[diggerdickson]

[quote="Surfin Turf"]I saw in the board size thread that you are riding a 21" wide fish, and you say here that you sometimes struggle believing that it may be flexibility or skill ... sure getting old has it's effects but if you are capable of doing roundhouse cutbacks and floaters etc and wanting to do carving bottom turns, you might want to ask yourself why are you riding a 21" wide fish ... part of your battle could be that type of board which are a lot harder to get rail to rail ... a few years back I showed up at my shapers place and started babbling on about how I was getting old and I should probably move to some different type of board ... he told me I was wrong and it would be a waste , and he shaped me a board for smaller surf with a little extra area in tail and a nice double concave and a narrower faster board for bigger stuff ... and he was 100% right ...


mate, I know this, that is part of my trouble, am saving for another board, but considering the surf im mainly riding the fish is good for that, not perfect, but being on a tight budget is one thing, and saving for another board is another, Im adjusting my surfing and laying off the back foot a little bit while on the board, though that does not stop me from trying, the board is good for slop but once a bit of juice not suited to how I normally surf, moved here from sa and use to a little bit of juice so do struggle in the smaller weak stuff, its all adjustments and a new challenge for me. I would love to have a quiver but sold most in getting a house and have never got to replace them so starting again

[pridmore]

36 tomorrow and feel like I am surfing ok, sometimes when the waves are right I feel like I might even be surfing my best somedays, but I work on it by surfing every day when there are waves ( which has been all the time for as long as I can remember )...My surfing probably isnt helped by my passion for riding different boards all the time, it does give me a beeter understanding of design but I know that when I get a board and ride it exclusively for 2 weeks or more, I feel my surfing improving ... Surfin Turf made some good comments about riding the right boards , just make sure its the right board for you and not someone else...Talk to a shaper and be honest with him and even better still, go surfing with him....I am working on trying to surf with more flow but still belting the shiittt out of it...also want to cutback like I used to, used to really bury a rail and give it plenty but these days seem to go the smoother, softer option and make the turns more often....been loving doing the long backside floaters too, I forgot about them for a while.....

[Nick Carroll]

49 and definitely don't surf as much as I used to -- I can remember many times in younger years forcing myself to surf on bad days or when I didn't really feel like it, I think it was probably important back then in order to learn things I'd otherwise have missed through slackness, but I'm sorta hoping I've learned those things now and don't have to go through it again.

But stay on top of it physically through surf swimming and racing board training a la the clubbies, it means that when I do feel like surfing I'm more than ready. And because I'm only surfing when I really want to, I'm almost always more than ready in the head so I can be highly "present" during the surf and not lose focus.

Really just try to concentrate on catching the waves I want to ride and then opening my mind to whatever lines appear in front of me. Also to minimising errors and uncovering small details that help tune my technique.

Generally my surf sessions feel way higher quality than they were when I was in my late 20s, each wave feels like it matters more and I'm paying a higher quality level of attention to each one, rather than just hammering through a surf without much awareness.

[Butts]

MP, HAPPY B'DAY FOR TOMMORROW YOU "OLD" FARRRRRRRRTT

I'm older than ALL of you ST reckons I'm not :? Fark, grandpa NC just posted before I did
So NO I'm not the oldest
Seriously, the main thing I concentrate on is "fitness,fitness,fitness"

ST will tell you, I'm not the "best" surfer, bu I have a hell of a lot of fun. It doesn't matter whether its
3ft - 8ft, I'm either surfing it or sitting in the water with the camera trying to capture it.

Even though I'm old, and that is subjective too, I feel that the fitness I put towards being able to shoot from the water with the camera
holds me in good steed for my surfing.
I'm NEVER going to do airiels!! I'm not going to launch myself into some pit with ABSOLUTELY no chance of coming out either.
Thats what you do when your young.

The main thing is I'm trying to improve my surfing. I enjoy the experience, watching others, and trying
to progress my surfing.
I enjoy picking up little nuiances, from a photographers point of view, that I can apply to my own surfing.

Surfing with ST has added value, he has the style and comments to assist my progression.
He's ALMOST as old as me

[Trev]

Sorry Butts, as noted elsewhere, I'm 61 today so does that make me the oldest?
As also noted on these forums from time to time, I just ride longboards. Although I enjoyed a fling on the fat bat (thanks again Mark), I am happy on a mal.
Strangely I am surfing better now than for many years. There's a simple reason though. With retirement and living closer to the water, comes more water time and better fitness.
I am in the water every day there is surf but am grateful I don't have to surf rubbish anymore to keep in practice.
The more time you spend in the water, the more everything seems to slow down on the wave. You can see things happening more quickly, react more quickly and think further ahead.
I certainly am more aware of my limits on big days. Have pulled my head in a bit there (around 6' stops me most times).
The biggest problem I have is in late take-offs. This used to be a specialty of mine and would draw favorable comments often enough for me to recognise it. Nowadays, I'm much more circumspect about late take-offs. Not sure why as when I force myself, I can still pull it off. Must be some sort of old age, self-preservation thing.
Anyway, in other areas, I'm pushing myself harder, reacting better and enjoying it more.
Bring on 35 x 2.

[rodriguez]

[Surfin Turf]

Surfing with ST .... He's ALMOST as old as me

maybe so ... but I make up for it all in crankyness and short temper ... in crankyness I am twice your age, and in temper I am half your height ...

what I will say is that Butts is one of the most dedicated surfers I know ... every dawn, surfing or photo-ing, always happy to meet up or help out in the surfing community and definately having fun ...

[speedneedle]

In the circles I used to move in I was always the youngest one, the guy the old bastards would warn...

At 37 I'm no longer the eternal grommet, but I'm still in limbo between wanting to tear like a hot-rat and settling into a cruisy approach like a lot of the peers ...

My biggest problem is arthritis...no shit...in my hands and wrists from power tools, compounded by old skateboard injuries. It affects my level of enjoyment in the surf when pushing up to take off.

My boards have in fact gotten shorter since the 90's but a tad thicker and wider. The older guys are all frothing over extra volume and old-school planshapes. I'm only now starting to hear them, though I'm still on resolutely high-performance designs. Give it a little while...

I could be fitter, have been the full Yoga freak...I go through cycles involving the dhurries and then a clean-up-act, which I have the discipline to sustain...for a while.

"Old age and treachery beats youth and enthusiasm" rings true when it comes to getting an edge at the take-off zone...push it just that sketchy bit too far into the zone and make it just because you have done it there that many more times.

I'll vouch fully for the value of Yoga for a pre-surf stretch at the very least.

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

[dUg]

The reason ive started this topic is that ive found that age (42) has caught up to me a little bit with my surfing

LOL... soooo many times I have been tempted to start an "over 40 and still riding a shortboard" thread .

I'm in the 42 club as well... gives me great comfort that I was born in the same year as Occy.

More recently I have tried to work on my backhand, but the years of neglect will take some undoing! That being said I am probably surfing backside better than I ever have, and although improvement is slow, it's continuing.

I've probably surfed more in the last 7 years than all the previous years put together, and saw significant improvement up until about 2006 when my forehand kinda plateued ( peaked maybe? I don't wanna admit that ).

I finally caved in after 25 years of rolling my eyes at longboard kooks and bought one ( mini mal technically... 8'2" ), and enjoyed getting that sussed and surfing it like a shortboard. Over the last few months I've taken some of that back to my shortboard surfing, and that's been more useful than I'd have ever thought.

I still go for closeout floaters and float fast sections, but I am a little more selective about them now I am surrounded by mates with blown up cruciate ligaments. I only managed to get airborne on purpose for the first time a few years ago, and while I will never ever be able to punt 1' sections like the groms, I still believe I will get better at it before injury or sanity forces me to stop trying.

All up there are some areas where I think my surfing is unlikely to improve now, but with so many others to work on, I won't get bored in a hurry.

To the other old farts, how do you go these days when there's a run of swell? Do you find you can just hit it every day like you used to... or do things start failing after a while? I managed 3 sessions yesterday and a lame one today, but I know if today AND tomorrow were good my shoulder joints or lower back would remind me not to push my luck for a fourth day.

[Trev]

To the other old farts, how do you go these days when there's a run of swell? Do you find you can just hit it every day like you used to... or do things start failing after a while? I managed 3 sessions yesterday and a lame one today, but I know if today AND tomorrow were good my shoulder joints or lower back would remind me not to push my luck for a fourth day.

Touch wood that hasn't affected me yet. I'm still finding that the more I surf, the fitter I get. After several days straight, I am paddling more quickly and with more powerful strokes. Take offs are a little easier, too (within the context of my "late take-off" concerns listed above.
I do find that if I have a particularly long session with lots of good walls to work, my thighs and knees ache from about 6 to 12 hours after the surf. But they're generally OK for the next day.

[oldman]

G'day digger,

currently 47, still riding shortboards, not nearly as well as I was about 7 or 8 years ago.

But back then I was riding much more regularly and I was happy to go out on crowded 2' onshore days. Can't be bothered with that anymore.

I'm managing to keep my fitness at a level where I can function out in the surf, so that is a constant background idea for me.

The two things I am working on at the moment are paddling out and paddling into waves. Sounds ridiculous probably, but if I paddle correctly then I will use less energy and probably still have shoulders in another 5 or 10 years.

And I have come to realise that my paddling into waves needs work, so I am working on a few things there.

If I can ever get to a beach that offers something other than crappy shutdowns than I would like to work on other parts, but for now getting into waves earlier will help other areas of my surfing.

I have never been interested in shredding and smashing a wave, just can't muster the mindset for that stuff. For me, the wave is just energy and I am trying to find the energy and flow with it and play with it. The flow is the go. It's the same attitude that I have to life generally.

And yes, I have bought and read Nick's book, and continue to work on things. Improvement in my surfing is just a surf trip and some nice waves away. Until then I have to be satisfied with what I get.

[daryl]

55 yesterday started at 44 so lucky to have plenty of stoke. Taken to a fat board it floats, carves, paddles, u can walk the nose for crissakes! Didn't ride it today for a challenge and went out on a small shortie no leggie m8 stuff labels like age and health, do your thing life's good

[Slowman]

I've just turned 50, well, back in October but at this age it always seems you've only just turned something because 12 months doesn't seem like a very long time anyway. I'll have just turned 50 and my 51st will here already!

I still ride shortboards and have surfed since I was about 10 I suppose if I include the koolite years. I never stopped surfing but about 20 years ago started doing triathlons and cycling. Partly because I was short on time and they offered fun ways of keeping fit that were less dependent on so many variables. At times I'd go maybe 3 months without a surf - that was about the longest. Anyway, keeping fairly fit I think has kept me on shortboards still. I still race (perhaps I should say participate in races) mountain bikes but I am hitting the water a lot more when it is good these days.

I can still do all the manouvres I did when I was in my teens and twenties and with modern surfboard design I can do a few more like floaters and more of a sliding snap in my cutbacks. I don't quite have the same energy and suppleness I did as in my 20s as I'm sure I used to fit more in on a wave but I don't think I'm that far behind and I put it down to improvements in today's boards. For a start the boards are faster than ever and move from rail to rail better. Dragging or bogging a rail just seems to be a thing of the past and with FCS you can experiment with fins until you find the best set up. So with the extra speed and better ride I don't feel I am too far behind.

As I'm still working, the battle for me is deciding how to spend my time available to get the best results for both sports. Nick seems to have that sorted by doing other sports that have him right there in the ocean anyway. Riding through bush isn't the same and getting up early going to the beach to find it is crap wastes the time before work I could have otherwise been training. So I rely on mates and that seems to help a bit and now working from home whenever I want to opens up some more opportunities to surf too. While fitness helps there are still a lot of things that are surf specific and that is timing. I don't think it matters how strong you paddle if you don't time it right you still won't get into the wave - and then there is that other thing confidence.

Since making a bit of a comeback confidence in more challenging conditions has been my biggest challenge. Old quote used often in surfing from somewhere "he who hesitates is lost" is so applicable and makes all the difference. You have to "know" and that is where I find spending enough time in the water pays dividends. The other one is to get away and find a nice long wave somewhere and get some long rides that are longer than a 2 second shore break where you are freaking to get to your feet to quickly do a bottom turn to aim it at the lip and hit it as it closes out. Sound all too familiar?

I just got back from a trip away during the big recent lull and surfed some nice waves and the difference a 150m long ride makes to your surfing is incredible. I think I was on the verge of almost "why bother" with most of what has been dished up this summer. Anyway after a trip away and some good waves my enthusiasm was renewed and it seems I've brought the swell back with me. I flew back in 2 weeks ago and I remember looking down to see swell everywhere as we came in to land.

I have surfed good waves for up to 4 days in a row and I must say it just makes me feel tired all over, not really sore anywhere just dead tired if I surf a couple of times a day and they are longer sessions like 3 hours each. I can still get up and surf again the next day without any problems but just when I am back on land I am more slothful than ever, which doesn't always suit my wife and children. I definitely can't ride a bike well in that depleted state as it seems to rob me of the strength required to go at my hardest. It isn't quite as bad the other way except tired legs will cramp in the water. For me the challenge is to find the right balance where I'm happy with my performance in both sports. Not working so I could do more of both might be the solution!

Keeping fit helps but getting away and getting good waves to keep the stoke and build confidence is like a shot in the arm.

[Buff_Brad]

I'm nearly 46 , still ride a shortboard and find that clubbing helps me keep fit and young. Chasing girls half my age , dancing for twelve hours straight , rippped on Spec K etc etc all helps plus being surrounded by mostly gay men with their ripped bodies keeps me focused on being fit and "looking" the goods down the beach especially at beaches like Bondi and Glamourama.

Seriously getting barrelled in your forties is a bigger rush than all of the above......well nearly all of the above.

Hi Dino! Surfing today pal?

[Slowman]

I'm nearly 46 , still ride a shortboard and find that clubbing helps me keep fit and young. Chasing girls half my age , ...

Yep it certainly improves enthusiasm and performance but unless you want children again, keep letting them go! Because more children = less surfing time.

[Karlos]

I'm nearly 46 , still ride a shortboard and find that clubbing helps me keep fit and young. Chasing girls half my age , dancing for twelve hours straight , rippped on Spec K etc etc all helps plus being surrounded by mostly gay men with their ripped bodies keeps me focused on being fit and "looking" the goods down the beach especially at beaches like Bondi and Glamourama.