Any surfers here? Still at it?

[23window]

Feeling old today. Been surfing on and off 25+ years. After about a year off I find I just don't have the same flexibility. My pop-up is crap. I can't seem to get my lead foot (goofy foot) in the right position. What do do? Stretch? Yoga? Floor practice? I'm 64 and hoping to surf beyond 70. Any 65+ surfers out there? Saddens me to think my surfing years are limited.

[gerntz]

That's why I see your post. Every day.

[ronin]

Join the club. I'm 68, been stand up surfing since I was 14. I do a lot of mtn biking now. It doesn't help. I did Aikido for 20 yrs. Seemed to compliment. Now I am looking at my long board and saying "hey, old friend."

[CaSurfer]

Long time surfer-50+ years. Have been addicted to surfing since I was 14. Life choices have revolved around surfing. They still do but spouse & I have evolved. It may not be a popular choice with many surfers but we have been into stand up paddling in waves for about 10 years. We are long time”locals” at the same spots for all those years. SUP & surfers can peacefully coexist in the waves if all the normal rules of etiquette are followed.
Most of the fights we’ve seen are because SUP’ers get greedy. Share the waves, don’t take off in front of others.
We have custom shaped boards, good fiberglass surf paddles, and it’s just like riding the long (9’) boards we used in surfing. Because you’re already standing up when you take off it eliminates the slower pop-up that happens with age.
We never thought we would be SUP’s but it has let us stay in the ocean riding waves & I think at 65 I’ve got at least 10 more years in the waves if we’re still motivated.

[rodi]

Not a surfer - but I hang out at the beach with a bunch of older surfers. Most are your age or older. Some are religious about stretching.

Just don't turn into a grumpy guy... a friend seems to have more bad surfing days than good ones - you can always tell when he comes in cursing and practically throws his board down. I keep reminding him to follow his bumper sticker (no bad days.)

If you want to hang out with some of the older surfers... and are in San Diego... La Jolla Shores Surf association seems to have a lot of daily surfers who are older but regular at it. They hang out at a bench just south of the north bathrooms at La Jolla Shores. (Or did pre-covid...)

[braumeister]

Calling Nords ...

[sengsational]

I had a waterlogged board at age 12 through 17 and lived in south Florida (east coast). The waves generally sucked for surfing (had to go "up coast" to Sabastian for anything decent). But I was more into sailing (had a catamaran) and scuba, so could barely stand up on the board.


Recently, I went to Costa Rica to a surf camp, but couldn't keep up. Even so, probably had more minutes actually standing up, under control than all my school years. But I realized if I do a trip like that again, I'd need to train with push-ups, burpees, many months, daily or I'd only last 20 minutes before my body would refuse to cooperate.

[rdy4er]

Check out jetson surf technology, only $6000[emoji16]

[Badger]

I have been living in Fl since '62 but I never took up surfing. I did try to teach myself many years ago without any guidance but it didn't work out so well. I do have a friend who is 67 or 68 that surfs every time the surf is good which is about 3-4 times a week on average. He has to make sure his blood sugar is under control (diabetic) but I don't hear anything from him that he is going to stop surfing. He doesn't stay out all day though. Two or three hours and he is ready for a beer. On his off days he rides a bike to stay active.


More regular surfing and swimming are your friends and will help you regain flexibility.



(Nice Avatar. I wish I still had my '71 VW Westfalia)


Cheers!

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Calling Nords ...

Thanks Braumeister!

Maybe TromboneAl and DonHeff will check in too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 23window Feeling old today. Been surfing on and off 25+ years. After about a year off I find I just don't have the same flexibility. My pop-up is crap. I can't seem to get my lead foot (goofy foot) in the right position. What do do? Stretch? Yoga? Floor practice?

"Yes."

I turn 60 in a few months, and it takes all of those. I don't do yoga regularly (but should) and I could stand to stretch more often too. The most important part is laying on my back to do situps and flutter kicks for my core. Dammit.

I can surf on consecutive days, but after two days of I'll pay the price. My favorite routine is 2-3 times per week, perhaps with a recovery nap after a couple of those sessions. This week I paddled out on Tuesday in 6-8 feet and had a great time. The Wednesday forecast was even better at 8-12, so I paddled out a second day in a row. I was humbled by eight-foot closeouts and had to paddle back in after an hour.

When my daughter and son-in-law visit Oahu, they usually paddle out every morning for up to 10 days in a row. I can keep up with that (using a lot of ibuprofen) but by the third day I'm spending a lot more time on the inside break than the outside.

When I teach new surfers who can't get to their feet quickly enough, I tell them to rotate while they pop: focus on using their core to yank their knees straight ahead of them until they plant their feet under their butt. It focuses their attention on their abdominals instead of on hips & knees. Once they're on their feet then they can stay in a crouch and adjust their feet.

When you can name a problem with your surfing, you can search for it on YouTube and watch a few videos. It's an amazing way to figure out solutions. As well as watching surfing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronin Join the club. I'm 68, been stand up surfing since I was 14. I do a lot of mtn biking now. It doesn't help. I did Aikido for 20 yrs. Seemed to compliment. Now I am looking at my long board and saying "hey, old friend."

Sorry to read that, ronin. I had to give up taekwondo (knee injuries) and I've lost a lot of the speed/flexibility. But I'll be surfing something as long as I can float and figure out how to get back to the beach. And that probably depends on water temperatures of at least 76 degrees, perhaps with a 2mm neoprene jacket.

Have you read William Finnegan's "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life"?
https://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Day...dp/B00G3L6JMS/

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaSurfer Long time surfer-50+ years. Have been addicted to surfing since I was 14. Life choices have revolved around surfing. They still do but spouse & I have evolved. It may not be a popular choice with many surfers but we have been into stand up paddling in waves for about 10 years. We are long time”locals” at the same spots for all those years.

Exactly. I surf mostly longboards (and I'm trying to control a 7'4" in bigger surf) but I can see that my future is SUP. Ironically a SUP is probably better therapy for my knees because of the prolonged standing (hopefully) coupled with all of those small-motor proprioception skills.

The next step after SUP would be a surf ski or a kayak. After that is our local non-profit AccesSurf.

When I watch the AccesSurf sessions (first Saturday of every month plus Wounded Warrior Wednesdays) I'm filled with optimism for surfing the rest of my days. When I see the people who are paddling out on their adaptive boards, I also stop feeling so sorry for myself.

One morning we walked on to the beach during WWW and saw a full prosthetic leg propped up against the wall. It had a reef sock on the foot. There was nobody around. It was clear that someone had lost all but a few inches of their leg... but where were they?

It turned out that she was in the surf test-driving a new prosthetic leg on her longboard. It wasn't enough to be standing upright and walking-- the prosthesis had to be waterproof and flexible while not dinging up the board.

[ronin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Have you read William Finnegan's "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life"?

Yes, a while back. Interesting tales. I could relate to a lot of it although in a less intense way. He must have swung through Samoa shortly after I left the Peace Corps there or I would have heard through the coconut telegraph. Any surfer in country while I was there ended up at my fale.

[Bamaman]

One of my best college friends moved to Oahu in 1977, and he never returned to the mainland. His parents had to move out there to be in his life.

Now, he's a 72 year old surfer boy. Just bought his first pair of shoes since he moved to Hawaii 43 years ago. Now, he's windsurfing.

We saw him 3 years ago when we vacationed there.

[Born2Fish]

Grew up surfing Florida east coast.

Left at 18 to make my way in life and only surfed a couple times on beach vacations. Managed to get up and cruise on a long board.

Retired east coast NC last year. 62 now and in great shape aerobically (run and hike a lot) but have not go my feet under me very well in several tries. Plan to spend some time on it this summer on a long board.