surfers over 50

General Discussion
101

Go get 'em Mr. Clean…One day at a time.  I turned 60 in December, in January I was paddling for a nice one, went to push up and someone stabbed me in my shoulder.  Managed to paddle in but could not lift my arm past my nipples.  Three weeks ago, I had rotator and bone spur surgery.  Six weeks in a sling, eight weeks before I can start strengthening.  Might get back in the water by February 2013.  Can’t shape, can’t even play guitar…But, I’m making plans for a little trip about one year from now.  Somewhere tropical with lots of rights, head high to triple overhead.  That’s what keeps me going along with all my surfing friends and Sways.

Never take surfing for granted.  Enjoy each wave with a smile, 'cause you just never know.

102

I’m going on 67, never smoked, not much for alcohol abuse, blown my knees many times, the worst was about 13 years ago, kept me out of surfing for over a year.

But another minor knee foo foo, got the tendon back in the groove, moved the loose piece of cartilage ? Couldn’t afford to get it ortho’d, but after a 17 year hiatus from surfing competition and a real concentration of getting my biz back on track, I can again surf and have been competing for a bit more than a year.

I am some where between 4-5th in the coalition of California surfing clubs, and believe me, there are some tought competitiors in the geezer division, former pro’s and champions.

Brukah, get your ass back in the water

103

I’m 54 now.  Been surfing since I was 14 with no time off except to rehab injuries(knee, shoulder, compound fracture tibia). I love it more than ever and sometimes I can still surf pretty good. I’ve been athletic my whole life.   Never stopped.  I still try to stay fit to keep the fun going as long as I can.  I know it will end someday.  But, not today.  

We all get old if we live long enough.  My advice is to live one day at a time.  From moment to moment is even better.  Like a dog’s life. I make an effort NOT to take it for granted.  We are all on borrowed time and we don’t have time to sit around moping and getting pissed off about shit that doesn’t matter.

My life has been blessed and every day I pray for the health and well being of my family. I often wonder what I deserved to have this wonderful life.  To surf. I came to the conclusion that I have not done shit for it and don’t deserve it anymore than anyone else.  Just lucky. So I thank God and continue living one day at a time and not take it for granted or think I’m anyone special that deserves this wonderful life.  On borrowed time.  Because the whole thing can come crashing down at any time.  So don’t waste your time or let other negative people waste your time.  

Try to keep the gut off, too, you smelly old fuckers!  

Mike

104

One day at a time, yesterday my pal of over 30 years, Wayne Coombs, you that know who he is are aware of the talents the man had, had a heart attack at home and was unable to be revived, we are only renting our space on planet earth one day at a time

105

I’m going to be 62 in a couple of months, and I’m going as strong as ever. A few years ago I let myself fatter than fuck & I couldn’t surf because I couldn’t get my fat ass to my feet even on a 10’2’’ x 24’’ longboard. It killed me not to be able to surf so I let it motivate me to lose 90 lbs and get in better shape than ever. It took about 6 months of hard work but paid off in spades. As we get older we need every advantage to stay in the game. Today my boards range from 6’2’’ to 8’0’’ and I’m still able to run up and down the cliffs in San Diego’s north county and stay in the water for 4 hours, in fact I did just that yesterday. It’s hard to come back from an injury or just being fat. Conditioning and diet will keep you in the lineup, I want to surf until I’m 100, then I’ll sponge it until I can’t.

 

106

50 this year - yay.

Been feeling older for a long while after a lifetime of injurious physical abuse - some mornings worse than others but being in the water is for the most part a cakewalk compared to some of the crap I’ve put myself through.

The wife is thrilled to have a hurricane named after her that’s throwing waves this way and the last two days have been great regardless the extra effort involved in our our side-shore paddle fest/walk-a-thon and getting worked overtime when the outside storm swell hits.

Besides being exhausted from work and surfing the only other downside is “Richard” rash which goes into overdrive with all the sand and sea trash that gets stirred up.  A trip to the hardware/ag store for some bull salve or O’Keeffe’s usually brings it under control but simply put:

all the regular aches and pains of being 50 fade behind junk rash.

107

I’m 44, I surfed with Jim a few weeks ago. I paddled out on my 10’4" balsa and he paddled out on his 9’ stringerless styro. He caught about 2x as many waves as me. We swapped boards and I tried to grab a few on his while he got anything he wanted riding mine. I see him get a wave, ride it to the beach, run up the beach and place the board on the sand then he ran up the stairs which are probably 75 treads worth. I thought he saw someone breaking into his truck or he had a massive shit attack. Neither. He came scurrying back down the stairs with his 6’ something" styro shorty and paddled back out. Getting old is not fair. 

108

hiya Huck! 

It’s interesting, to me, that this thread reappeared during my week away from the computer, because the last internet contact I had was with brother Simon, on facebook, commenting on a photo I took of hopefully a future project of mine. 

He was expressing concern that my outline was / ? looked? “a bit too narrow” …at 19 1/2" wide[!] his comment was quite interesting. He said [I quote] … “21” is the new 19", for surfers over 50" …[!] interesting, as when I looked at the widths of most of the boards in my quiver nowadays, they DO vary between 19 to as wide as [the Walden] 22" [!!] 

I like 19" upwards for widths , but that may be because I am still attempting to ride boards under 7’ in length, the majority of the time 

My ‘shortboard’ lengths are 5’8 [‘fish’], 6’1 [x2], 6’3, 6’4, 6’6 [x2], 6’11. All are fairly THICK too, 2 3/8 to 2 3/4" [!!] and 9’4 [3 1/4" thick ] is my LONGboard [mal] … although now , at my weight of 60kgs [and about 5’10 tall], I could EASILY ride a 7’6 mini mal or an 8’er, maximum, all through summer . 

Before making my first mal in 2006 [a 9’er], my longest board ever was my 7’ single fin! [I rode that board all through summers, for ten years. It was twenty inches wide, with pretty flat rocker.] 

I stretch [minimum of thirty minutes] every morning, walk a lot [no car], ride my bike [bicycle] a coupla times a week, and try to go surfing whenever I can / there are rideable waves. For what its worth, I am 51 years old 

cheers!  Ben

109

Turned 58 two weeks ago, both my main surfing buddies are 60 now. I don’t have any real problems except I know my stamina is not what it was when I was 22. Both of my guys have problems - one has a recurring shoulder problem that really buggers his pop-up, and the other has developed an intolerance of cold water, so he wears a sharkskin ever in summer. But we keep paddling out.

Celebrated my birthday by finally buying a '74 Aipa Sting from a collector I’ve been nagging for a few years. Looking forward to using it in some Hurricane Leslie surf at Kitty Hawk starting today.

Other than being a parent, nothing has informed my life so much as being a surfer. Last night I picked up my copy of “Stoked” by Drew Kampion and just looking at the photos reminded me of that first time I picked up a surfboard, way back in '68. Luckily, I’m still stoked and I hope the same for you guys.

 

110

56 with three knee surgeries for MCL tears and no meniscus left in one knee any mobility is challenging to stay in shape least surfing.

to me the challenge is in maintaining quickness, stamina,  or any severely or awkwardly twisting moves and finally confidence in the length you can hold your breath under extreme conditions. These add up over time especially not being able to take the punishment of bad wipeouts and long hold downs. I think these lead to most drowning of older surfers.

if you surf for hours every day you are most likely not to have issues with age because you keep all the joints loose and muscles in tone.

when you are not in the water surfing your body uses different muscles that may lead to challenges when you can get into the water. 

seems like things just get tougher over 50 if you don’t adjust your lifestyle (food/work/exercise) with age.

 

 

 

111

Man, I hear you about the lessened ability to deal with long hold-downs. When I was 22 I once held my breath for just under 2 minutes. Nowadays I’d be lucky to manage a full minute. The lungs are like any other muscle, I guess - they lose their elasticity as time goes on.

But, you know, I’m convinced that those of us posting here are in much better shape than the average Joe. A visit to the local mall will convince you of that, as you survey the crowds of overweight people struggling to walk from the car to the escalator. My dad had his first heart attack at age 55, and he more-or-less considered that typical of a man his age. Just one generation later, we are still participating in a strenuous, even dangerous, activity and we do it for fun, at age 60 and above.

Back in the '70s we used to say “surfing is a way of life.” I didn’t realize at the time how true that is.

For those of you  on Facebook, “friend” Mickey McCarthy in Kill Devil Hills NC. He’s the owner/shaper of New Sun Surfboards and a great surfing photographer. He’s been posting some excellent shots of the Hurricane Leslie swell, which is turning out to be one of those swells that people will talk about for a long time. And since Mickey is in his late 50s, you’ll see lots of shots of grey-headed guys ripping it up.

Stay stoked . . . 

112

…well said, Mike! especially the last sentence, mate! WHY do so many people let themselves balloon / ‘blimp’ out [from their thirties onwards , it seems , nowadays ?! ]    …it’s sure got ME baffled ! cheers ben

 

113

The blimping is due to an overly comfortable life causing laziness. By overly comfortable I also mean abundant food supply. I think modern electronics also play a big part in it. TVs and computers to be specific. Too much sitting around. Or you could be like me and have a wonderful wife who feeds me way too much food every night. Maybe she wants me to be overweight so I don’t look so attractive? 

I carry an extra 20 lbs of excess weight around my midsection, and it’s very hard to get rid of without constant work. At 54 it’s hard to start working out slowly and not get hurt. We want instant results, but that always leads to an injury and then we get sidelined and add to the problem. I sit here typing with a sore back. Pulled a muscle in my lower back this weekend carrying something the wrong way. I thought it might have been a bad disk I have in my lower back. I can sometimes get it fixed by surfing and getting a few good back flops or belly flops. When I tried this time, I could hardly get to my feet. Must have looked like a real dork.

Brother Bernie lost 20+ lbs from a ruptured Appendix. Still recovering and not back to work. UncleD just had heart surgey and is on his way to full recovery. Both just past their mid fifties.

114

“I carry an extra 20 lbs of excess weight around my midsection, and it’s
very hard to get rid of without constant work. At 54 it’s hard to start
working out slowly and not get hurt. We want instant results, but that
always leads to an injury and then we get sidelined and add to the
problem.”

I’ve lost 20 pounds since I retired (almost 6 years ago): shed the belly flab and got my abs in shape.  Having toned abs instead of a gut goes a long way towards keeping minor back problems at bay.  I’ve had debilitating L5 issues in the past, but (knock on wood) am not currently troubled by them so long as I work my abs regularly and don’t do careless things such as stooping to lift or lifting excessive weight.

There is an entire “diet” industry in our culture which suggests that TEMPORARY life-style changes can correct problems of excessive weight and poor physical conditioning.  And they can, but only TEMPOLARILY.

Dietary and exercise habits are just that: HABITS.  If yours are causing you to be out of shape and over-weight, you’ve got to change them PERMANENTLY if you want your physical condition to change PERMANENTLY).  If a person goes on a temporary diet and excercise regimen and then goes back to laying on the sofa, scarfing pizzas and guzzling brewskies, the flab and its associated problems will return.  This is true in spades as you get older.

I’ll hit 64 next January.  I don’t drink any soda and very little beer or wine; eat fresh fruits and vegetables, consume more fish and poultry than beef or pork and eat very few desserts and no candy.  I work out regularly, especially on days on which I don’t surf.  I don’t feel “starved” or “deprived” of any of the foods I’ve cut back on or stopped eating altogether.  Nor do I feel “punished” or “put upon” by “having to exercise”: regular workouts and a healthier diet has just become my new “normal”. 

You get what you pay for: nothing comes “free”.  It’s a matter of where your priorities lie.  If you want to be in better shape, you’ll have to discipline yourself into making some dietary sacrifices and sticking with them and you’ll have to put in some regular work (aka “exercise”).   The payoff is improved stamina and fewer joint and muscle issues brought on and/or exacerbated by being in poor shape.

Most of the exercises I do utilize my own body weight to create resistance.  In my opinion, that’s much less likely to cause injury than using free weights.

Am not laboring under any illusions that my above-outlined life-style is going to keep me alive any longer.  But I do know that it has quite noticably increased my ability to enjoy surfing.

I’m neither a professionally-trained medical doctor, a dietician, nor a physical therapist:  all opinions expressed are based solely on my own, subjective experiences. 

Sheesh: I sound worse than one of those nazi “former smokers”, don’t I?

115

I´m 52 and in these holidays were 3 hours a day! at least 18 pounds where gone!!! 

the initial adaptation (3 days) includes Aspirin, vitamins and good food; never got tired because I´m doing in “comfort” and not for training!  the cardiac rhythm never exceeds the 70 or 75% of 180 beats per minute and never let to get tired by any means, tired… in the gym usually see my resistance by the 2 km´s of run; If I can run 2 Km´s at 10 km/hour and I can speak with my colleague while I´m running it means that I´m okay!

116

I’ll be 60 in a month been surfing for 50 of those & keep reasonably fit. Got boards ranging from 6’10" to 7’8". The main thing I’ve noticed,with age, is the reduced confidence in takeoffs & pop ups I know I can make it but the old brain says “hold on ya old fart ya aint gonna make it” & I pull back which really lowers the wave count & gives me the sh!ts.I’m working on it but still it still keep doing it. Its getting harder but I still love getting in the surf & getting a few keeps me sane & happy.

117

Man that hurts, surfed with Uncle D at 3’s last March, Bucky Goo came out also, no one gets out alive, but you cannot give the Devil the upper hand.

I came from a family of heart attacks and obesity, it gave me the heads up long ago, I won’t be able to surf in I get like a whale and that leads to heart problems, not to say it could happen tonight, but I’m looking forward to many more reunions with past, present and future surf pals

118

“You get what you pay for: nothing comes “free”. It’s a matter of where your priorities lie. If you want to be in better shape, you’ll have to discipline yourself into making some dietary sacrifices and sticking with them and you’ll have to put in some regular work (aka “exercise”). The payoff is improved stamina and fewer joint and muscle issues brought on and/or exacerbated by being in poor shape.” 

…not to mention … having more FUN! Don’t know how it is with YOUR TV programmes there, but here, we have stupid shit like "biggest loser’, where lazy fat turds who have spent their lives on the couch, eating, and not exercised, are suddenly put on radical overexercising programmes where they do ridiculous things like trying to pull a train - not surprisingly, they spit the dummy [‘pacifier’] regularly, have little tantrums, cry, and generally act like little children when a personal trainer [usually something like an army sergeant major type!] barks orders at them, and gets angry when they are not shedding 10 kilos in a few days, and are not as fit as him / her. 

you gotta figure … if they took 20 years of sitting on the couch, eating, and slothing around, to be maybe 100lbs overweight, it ain’t gunna change in three half-hour episodes! 

giving people unrealistic exercise, that they hate compared to surfing [which hopefully we all LOVE doing!] as surfers, and swaylocks creative people [?hopefully?!] …we pays our money , we buys our blanks , we make our choices, 

cheers ben

119

[quote="$1"]

I'm going on 67, never smoked, not much for alcohol abuse, blown my knees many times, the worst was about 13 years ago, kept me out of surfing for over a year.

But another minor knee foo foo, got the tendon back in the groove, moved the loose piece of cartilage ? Couldn't afford to get it ortho'd, but after a 17 year hiatus from surfing competition and a real concentration of getting my biz back on track, I can again surf and have been competing for a bit more than a year.

I am some where between 4-5th in the coalition of California surfing clubs, and believe me, there are some tought competitiors in the geezer division, former pro's and champions.

Brukah, get your ass back in the water

[/quote]

At age 66 to be shaping professionally and surfing competitively is quite an accomplishment - congrats!

120

"…not to mention …

 

 

having more FUN !"

 

Bingo!

I see it as a choice between huffin’ and puffin’ while you do your conditioning/training and then enjoying your surfing because you’re in shape… 

…or…

…skipping the conditioning/training and then huffin’ and puffin’ as you sit by the waterline like a beached whale after 20 minutes of floundering in the next big swell because you didn’t “pay your dues” ahead of time and have no muscle tone or stamina as a result.

 

Kind of a no-brainer…