More surfing with dolphins...

[khiemtran]

A spectacular Sydney winter's morning this morning for my fourth surfing lesson. Not only were the ocean spirits out, but the dolphins were there again too. I was just wading back with my board after catching a wave, when I saw the silhouette of a dolphin gliding through the green of the breaking wave in front of me. There are few better ways to start a Saturday morning than to look up and see a wild dolphin. This time there at least eight or nine and they stayed to play - porpoising up and down amongst the surfers and surf ski riders for at least ten minutes. No photos, tragically, but it's something that will stay forever in my mind.

On the surfing front, I'm still on the broken waves, but I'm far more confident at catching them now. By the end of today's session, I still wasn't catching every wave, but I found myself expecting to catch each one. I had one go at catching an un-broken ("green") wave and never got close to standing up, but I think it won't be long now.

One of the funny things about surfing is that staying upright on the board is actually the easy part. This is because of a principle known as "steering for balance", which is the reason why it's easier to stay upright on a bike or a skateboard when they're moving than when they're standing still.

The whole key to steering for balance is what happens when you start to tilt to one side. When you're on a surfboard and you lose balance just a fraction (say to the left), then the surfboard itself is going to tilt to the left. Now, when it's stationary or moving slowly, that's only going to make things worse. The more it tilts, the more it's going to throw you further off balance. This is what's known as a positive feedback loop.

But when you're moving, everything changes. Because when the surfboard tilts at speed, it's going to start turning in the direction it's tilting - which has the effect of correcting your balance. The positive feedback loop has turned into a negative one. When you're well-balanced on a surfboard, it's actually amazing how solid it feels - your course may wobble as you lean one way or the other, but it really feels like a magical force is holding you up.

Of course, it doesn't work forever - the more you turn the more your speed drops, which means the less tilting the board will cause it to turn, and the magic stops working.

The hard part, as it turns out, is actually getting into a balanced upright position in the first place. The recommended approach for young, fit people is to spring from a prone position into a low crouch in the one movement - something that requires very good arm strength to body weight, and which is a bit too jarring for my back, given my history of disc problems.

The approach for every one else is a multistage approach, where you go first to a kneeling position with your hands by your legs, then bring one leg forward, then finally stand up. This breaks the process down into more achievable chunks, but it means that each movement consumes time and has a chance of increasing your instability. I also find the very first stage also requires a lot of explosive force from my arms and shoulders, and sometimes I won't have the energy to get all the way to my knees if I've already exhausted them by paddling.

Still, it was pleasing today that I seemed to get it right more often than I got it wrong, and I'm getting enough standing time now that I am starting to work on turning where I want to go. And next, hopefully, I'll onto the green waves...

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

That sounds like rather hard work!

But, oh! Dolphins! How magical!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a good workout... On my first lesson, our instructor told us he often had people tell him they wanted to surf so they could get fit, but it turns out you need to be fit first. That said, one of the people in our class is a retiree and he's much better than I am at standing up. You also see lots of older people who make it look easy.

Also, it turns out that the reason you often see surfers just sitting on their boards isn't just because they are waiting for the right wave. A lot of the time, you just need to get your strength back for the next big effort....

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Any day with dolphins in it is a good one...

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

The recommended approach for young, fit people is to spring from a prone position into a low crouch in the one movement - something that requires very good arm strength to body weight

I know this move! J had me doing a total surf fitness program with him for a while, and yeah, hard. :P My arm strength is not what it could be. Like you said, you have to do it after paddling out to the waves. :P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I thought my arm strength would have been pretty good from all my swimming, but it turns out this move is something else again. Plus, I'm very wary now of any any action that jolts my spine and that was happening a bit when I was practicing on the ground.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

My arms are as strong as boiled spaghetti, and the thought of being able to be strong in relation to my middle-aged weight is laughable. I'd need a personal trainer :-P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

My shoulders seem to be getting noticeably stronger (and sorer) each week. Obviously there must be some muscles there that I never use. But at the multi-stage process feels comparatively easy now.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Did you get to actually surfing?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

He did, but not moi. I just did stand-up paddleboarding. :P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Stand-up paddle boarding looks very cool. I bought a voucher for a lesson last summer, but the outfit shut up shop for the winter before I could claim it.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I've only done it once, but it was fun. Fell off several times, even though the water was pretty calm, but I was still able to do it enough to enjoy myself.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

You're living a dream: you're interacting with aliens in an alien world--you're living science fiction and fantasy. Amazing and wonderful. And when you describe it, for a minute I could feel it. Oh boy--so wonderful. Keep posting, PLEASE. It may be the closest I ever come to surfing, and through you I can almost live it.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure you could do it too, especially since you already skateboard. I think there's a board wide enough and a wave small enough for just about everyone.