Is Surfing a Sport?

 Surfing is a SPORT, a hobby, a lifestyle, an addiction. Think of every sport you know of and what do all of them aim for; they aim to win. Surfing aims for the same things rather it be against a friend, yourself or in a contest where you compete. In surfing competitions surfers are scored on a scale from 1 to 10 based on the surfers ability to execute the most radical maneuvers with speed, power, and flow in the most critical sections of a wave.

Why is the SPORT of Surfing Hard? What Muscles are used?

 People have to realize that water is constantly moving in all directions. Compare this to the sport of tennis. Tennis of course is a great sport that definitely gets you in shape, but doesn’t require the same extra challenges as the sport of surfing. Surfing requires you to have balance, stability, and of course mobility. It requires a great deal of upper body and core strength, which is mostly used in the sport. The posterior muscles of the body is constantly getting worked in the water, these muscles are neglected the most by people that workout in the normal gym or weight room. We as strength coaches understand the importance of the posterior side of the body and often call these our “go muscles”. The reason for this is because everybody wants to work the “show muscles” which is the muscles people like to look at in the mirror, but hardly help us move efficiently as athletes.

 Below is a picture of our posterior muscles

Still Not Convinced?

ESPN recently ranked surfing the 23^rd hardest sport in the world. This number is out of 60 total sports and judged by ten experts they have plated at many levels of sport including surfing. ESPN also reports that Hawaii has officially made surfing a high school sport starting in 2013. 

 Sports Personality Dan Patrick recently asked the question, “Should Kelly Slater be ranked among the worlds greatest athletes?” Kelly Slater has won 11 World Titles in the SPORT of surfing; he just recently turned 40 years of age and still competing for his 12^th.  Kelly Slater is also trying to make Surfing a competitive sport in the Olympics through his Wave Company project. Check out the videos below on Kelly Slater

Surfing Isn’t Just for Men

 Here is a video of some of the up and coming female surfers. For many years guys have ruled the surf world, but people are now saying these girls are helping the surf industry grow. You can go to a local store and see CoCo Ho’s face representing Gatorade’s G-Series Fit (an athletic sports performance drink). 

Video is sort of long but check it out