What is so hard about surfing?

Question

I personally think it looks pretty easy, but everyone says it is the hardest sport, so i don't understand what makes it so hard? I snowboard, and there are billions of tricks to learn that can be really hard, but surfing they just kind of ride down the wave, so whats so hard about that?

Answer 1

To be honest, nothing but balance.  All you need is good balance and a lack of fear of sharks and other "dangers" i dont consider sharks dangerous.  Surfing tricks are a whole new story though, getting arials you need to be with your board and to have a complete understanding of the rest of the wave.  Snowboarders have the board attached to their feet.  The surfer must also have a good understanding of the water they're in.  Hope this help.  Happy holidays.

Answer 2

Even though I live by the beach, I don't think I'll ever try surfing. I'm scared I'll get eaten by a shark, or drown.

Answer 3

Surfing is just like anything and everying. The more and more you do it, the better you would get. Everyday time you go out and surf you could could see yourself growing in surfing.But it might be dicouraging in the begining becuase you may not catch every wave that you go for. But as you keep surfing, you learn just slightest littlest tricks that may help.

Answer 4

iv'e been surfing for a while and it is definetly not easy.  you have a lot less balance when you are on water then when you are on snow.  and when your surfing you have to wait for the perfect wave, you cant hang 10 on just any wave you get it so the wave is crashing down on the end of your board so it will balance out when you go forward.  if you have snowboarded for a while it will give you a start but it will still take time to learn

Answer 5

When the last time that your snowboard flipped over on you when you stood on or it, or you had to duck dive 10 moguls, or you had to paddle like h**l  to actually try to catch a hill.  Snowboarding is infinitely easier, and yes I do both. Surfing only looks easy.

Answer 6

Surfing is fun like snowboarding, so both are similar in fun.   As far as difficulty goes, with surfing you have to contend with many more variables to learn to "do" it.  1) You have to be in quite good condition to be able to paddle out through the waves.  If you are not in condition, you won't even be able to get to the lineup unless you are satisfied catching white water.  Also, you have to be in condition to paddle and catch the waves.  2) Assuming you reach the lineup, you then have to contend with the crowd to catch a wave which is much more difficult than it looks because everyone wants to catch a wave.  3) Once you get comfortable with the paddling and catching wave part, you have to learn to manuveur the board.  Believe me, you won't have many chances to practice manuveuring during a session because you will be competing with the crowd to catch waves.  4) With surfing you will have to deal with conditions (wind, current, temperature, crowds, type of waves, and size).   You will have to learn to deal with these variables. 5)  The manuveuring part or "surf moves" that you think are easy really take a lot of practice to master if you want to do it right.  Keep in mind that one wrong move means a you wipe out which then means that you lose the wave and have to go to the back of the line to get another chance, which then means that you have to fight the crowd to catch another wave.  With snowboarding, you just pick yourself up and continue.  6) There is a fear factor to deal with since size of waves and conditions of the ocean are not always good.  7) Because you are not on land, you will have to learn water safety first and foremost before even entering the water.  If you are not familiar, it will severely hinder your learning curve as you muddle through the home of fishes.    

Overall, the most difficult part of surfing (like most sports) is the beginning stage.  I think the beginner remains a beginner longer in surfing that any sport because of the many variables to learn about the ocean as well as your physical conditioning, and dealing with competitive crowds to get a chance to catch a wave.  However, once you past the beginners stage, the progression for improvement is like any other sport in terms of being able to improve to your optimum level.

Answer 7

Have you EVER surfed?

You ride on snow, it's not moving 20-40 mph.

You ride down a hill,  we ride a wave that's moving and pitching. When you fall,  you fall on snow,  oooowww, that's hard. Give me a break, I've fell on snow skiing. It's nothing compaired to being dragged across a coral reef when you fall from a wave. Can you drown from snowboarding?

You've never been pounded by a 10 ft wave have you?

Try it, I want to see you try to learn to surf. Like you said,  it's easy.

Answer 8

How can you pass judgment if you haven't tried it yourself?  Maybe some people don't think that snowboarding is hard.

Answer 9

paddle out at pipeline on a 6-8ft. day then you tell me...naa..!

Answer 10

Try it you puss....mountains dont move or land on top of you when you eat it. And look how many girls rip at snowboarding.

Answer 11

well consdering i snowboard and surf i would say surfing is harder because, surfing you need alot of balance and you can never look down and you need to be very physically and mentally strong, and most people are scared of sharks drowning and hitting coral reefs and its hard to learn tricks in water when your fighting the force of a wave that is probably strong than you. snowboarding is hard no doubt in my mind but not quite as hard because you need balance and good feet and you dont need to be as physically strong and yes ppl are scared of getting hurt but id have to say getting biten by a shark is not theyre fault gettinghurt in snowboarding is, and  well you arent really fighting a force in snowboarding. only snow, and i think your strong than that. =)