I just talk to one of my best friends. He had surgery to repair his rotator cuff. When he awoke from surgery the doc told him he was unable to repair the cuff. He cleaned up some of the ligaments, removed the bursa (?), and ground down a bone spur, but was unable to repair the tear.
Now other docs have told him there is an operation where they remove tissue from somewhere else to reattach the ligament. It would mean at least a year of rehab and surely some loss of his range of motion. If he doesn’t get the second surgery he will have more range, but less strength and greater risk of both injury and contracting arthritis. He was a charger. Lived for years in Kauai and Maui, made several pilgrimages to Puerto. He liked big waves. He says he’ll not be surfing big waves again and may not be able to surf at all. Being a plumber his livelihood is at risk too.
Kind of got me thinking. Just how important is surfing? It’s what I look forward to all week while I’m at work. I think about it (and board making) all the time. But if I couldn’t do it? I think I’d still make boards, watch a lot of surf movies, probably get a sailboat…
What would you do if you couldn’t surf? And how important is it to you?
surfing is really important …ie moved away from home, lived in a car, ditched classes/jobs, ultimately set up my life so i could surf quality waves (and thankfully have a rewarding career/personal life also)…various injuries (and ever-increasing awareness of mortality) have forced this “what if no surfing” question for myself as well…during previous injuries i’ved kayaked (during knee injury rehab), biked/hiked (rehab from broken ribs when I couldn’t lay on a board), etc. an amputee just summited everest, so there’s always hope/alternatives. i have a friend with no hands who surfs better than most…tell your friend to keep an open mind and not sit around too long feeling sorry for himself.
As much as I like surfing, I think I’d get over it if I couldn’t. Just walking the dog at the beach beats any day at work. If I was wheelchair bound, there is wheelchair access to sit on the bluff and watch for whales, etc.
Trust me, stuff happens all that time that could change your whole world in a fraction of a second.
Surf? Some people are damn happy to still be alive.
Haavard’s daughter, as an example, might not be so lucky.
I know a guy who for medical reasons is unable to surf any more and started taking surfing photos to keep his stoke going. Although there are a lot of guys taking surf photos and selling them on the net, which he does, I really believed him when he told me that when he takes photos of us, he is surfing through us. I think I’d end up doing something like he does, taking photos or video if my ability to surf were taken away from me. If I were still able to shape, I probably would try and keep doing that too…maybe using a shaping program like APS3000.
snowboard…shred the gnar! but the funny thing is no matter how good the powder is when you get to the bottom you always say…“thats the closest thing you can get to surfing”
Surfing can be as bad as heroin addiction…something better than “real life”…totally addictive…something which you can dedicate your life to and do as much as humanly possible and then after a point you will get worse and worse at the longer you do it! Ha ha ha…if one spends the same amount of time playing a musical instrument your abilities increase as the years go by…
Ahem. doesn’t mean anybody who lives it would trade the experience. There are many adaptations and alternatives available, and people seek them for many different reasons. I could amuse myself for hours just swimming in the surf zone on small days. I’m not sure I could keep a lifestyle together based on that, though. If there was some theoretical situation where I couldn’t effecively use my arms and legs well enough to go in the ocean then I would probably switch mental gears and follow water in other forms…rivers, fishing, lakes, sailing…maybe just watching clouds…
…and I would continue to think about surfing every day of my life…
Only one person can truely heal you. YOU. Have your friend stay busy and focus on self healing with his mind and staying positive… He’ll be back in the water if he really loves the ocean… I think he has time and enough body to continue at some capacity that could be fun. I remember doctors telling me I’d never surf again and first thing that crossed my mind was the fact that they would be proven wrong. I had plenty injuries and a few major ones. I remember laying in hospital beds focusing all my thoughts to the injuries and them healing… As corny as it may sound, I feel a positive mind focused on healing works unreal… Medicine and Doctors are only there to assist you…
But if I absolutely couldn’t, I’d find other ways to thrill myself. A person can find joy in many things… If surfing was the only thing in life that gave me joy, that would suck! If I were confined to a wheelchair, you can bet my wheelchair would have a bitchin motor with good suspension/tires and I’d be blazin all over the place! Surfing is a awesome thing to do but so are other things… Surfing is what keeps me from doing other fun things in life… If I couldn’t I’d be stoked to have the time to pursue other passions…
Off the top of my head, here’s what I’d do if surfing were taken away from me right now… Just these things alone would be taking up more time than I have…
Spend even more time with my family
Get heavily back into Dirt Bike riding.
More fishing
Shoot more photo’s and video’s
Build my businesses even stronger
There is life without surfing but for now, I’m going to enjoy surfing everyday that I can!
I’d go for kneeboarding/bodyboarding kind of thing… mayby SUP surfing…
But when I lived in Michigan for 3 years, I really got into mnt. biking. Similar feeling, being in the woods, going fast, drawing lines… Worked for me.
I haven’t surfed since November 1976. And I have never lost my love for it. Never. To put it in perspective; before I was injured, I had been skiing for years—an average of 120 days a year---- in Sun Valley Idaho. I was MUCH better as a skier than I was (or ever would have been) as a surfer. But I have NEVER looked back on skiing. It’s a done deal.
Surfing is totally different. I used to wonder why I still love it. But I don’t question it anymore…because I have been able to enjoy it without being frustrated because I can’t surf. I get huge enjoyment watching big surf and taking pics.
I would not want to lose my love for it.
So I guess to answer llilibel03: for me it’s Sports Car Racing. There’s lots of the same stuff going on; concentration, precision, it’s a hard-thing-to-do-well, etc.
I might sell the race car, if I could find the time and ability to get out in big surf on a PWC, to take pics. There are many who don’t want to see PWC’s jetting around in the lineup(s). And, I think I’d feel the same way if I was still surfing. But a PWC could get me there now. But I’m not sure I could eat the big stuff if I became separated from the PWC; and my thinking is that if I can’t take the worst that a given day might dish out, that it might not be a good idea to go out. Nevertheless, I think about it all the time.
wouldn’t know until I crossed that road . . . of course will need lots of help from above with that . . . but surfing is not the end but a means to an end . . .
I keep thinking that there is ALWAYS a way to surf- check out that video (around here somewhere) of the brazilian skater with no legs who is WAY better than I ever will be, or Jesse Billauer (sp?), who goes out with friends and gets a hand on the takeoff.
At first I was sort of thrown by the shoulder thing- hard to paddle, stand, and drop in; then somebody mentioned mats and, hey, game on. Been wanting to get into that anyway… maybe it’s time I throw down and lay down, at least then if anything ever does happen to my knees/shoulders (a DISTINCT possibility as I get older and harder-used), I’ll already be set up on the good end of the learning curve. Besides, I’d imagine my wife wouldnt gripe so much about the hassle of lugging a boardbag or 2 everywhere we go.
Good thread. Now where can I get me one’a them hi-grade mats?
Howzit llilibel, I am one of those with a bad shoulder which has limited my surfing to short if any go outs but I am able to body surf and that is one natural way to go, plus it's lots of fun, just you and the wave.After surfing for over 40+ years I think loving the ocean is what counts and any form of enjoying it makes me happy. Aloha,Kokua
