Strength training for surfers
Living down on the wonderful Surf Coast, Victoria we are surrounded by a huge fraternity of devoted, passionate and froth-seeking wave-hunters. Surfing is such a skill-based sport and I love nothing better than sitting at the edge of the bells track at Winki-pop or hanging at the Birdrock steps and watching the majestic display of talent amongst the waves. I cannot claim to be a surfer myself; I am merely a beginner on an 8-foot board who you’ll most likely find flailing hopelessly in the white wash on “big days” at Cozy Corner, yet I have a huge appreciation for the beauty and skill of the sport. This article is written with the caveat in mind that you must still do plenty of surfing to get better at your trade. Improving your shapes and manoeuvres on the board can only really be developed with a great surfing coach and time spent in the water. However, skill is not the only determinant of surfing success. Therefore, keeping in my lane as a strength and conditioning coach (and a very suspect surfer), I am here to explain why strength training may be the missing link to your surfing performance.
Jeremy Sheppard the current director of performance at Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and the former head of performance at Surfing Australia has researched surfing heavily from a performance and physical preparation viewpoint. Sheppard’s published a paper in 2012 on the anthropometric characteristics, upper-body strength and sprint paddling performance in competitive surfers Link to paper here. His study involved ten adult competitive male surfers and ten junior competitive male surfers and tested each athlete’s sprint paddling performance and upper body relative strength using a pull up exercise. What the study concluded was the importance of developing sprint paddling performance in competitive surfers and the need to optimise lean muscle mass and relative strength. These key factors appear to distinguish between an average recreational surfer to a professional level surfer within the surfing population.
Another study by Sheppard and team found there to be a high correlation between pull up strength and sprint paddling performance Link to paper here. Therefore it would be easy to conclude that pull up strength should be a key component of a surfers’ strength training program. From a sport specific movement perspective, there is commonality in the two movements for example, anchoring the arm and pulling oneself over the water surface and pulling oneself towards a bar. Thus, training varying pull up positions may yield an improvement in sprint paddling results in surfers and consequently surfing performance.
Without sounding overly polemic, in regards to appropriate training methods for surfers, there are questionable practices and beliefs with little or no evidence base pervading the surfing community. With more of a focus on mobility and balance training, “functional” movements and aerobic conditioning, there is no doubting that strength training seems to be occluded from the culture of surfing. Despite the findings in this research and the justification behind strength and conditioning benefits to surfing performance, it is not very common to see surfers engage in comprehensive strength and conditioning programs. Sheppard and his team have outlined this further in his paper.
“Without specific guidance from strength coaches and sport-scientists, it could be stated that surfers would tend to typically engage in mobility sessions (stretching, yoga), simple reactive balance training (eg. proprioceptive overload) and possibly endurance training. Although these training methods quite likely have their place in the preparation of surfers, they do not develop strength specifically, a consideration which is supported by the findings of the research as well as critical thinking about the demands involved in the sport such as paddling and explosive whole body manoeuvres”.
Some of the common misconceptions about strength training for surfers are that “resistance training will make surfers big” or that “strength training will negatively affect mobility. ” From the standpoint of an informed and experience coach, strength training for surfing will not only help to improve surfing and paddling performance, but it has considerable injury resiliency benefits as well. It is also relatively impossible to gain too much size with an addition of moderate intensity strength training, on top of a normal diet and combined with the typical volume of surfing training undertaken my most competitive surfers.
To conclude, the research and evidence points to the fact that strength training is an important component of improving surfing performance. Particularly at the higher levels of competitive surfing where everyone has skill and talent, setting yourself apart from the rest may come down to having superior physical characteristics, specifically paddling performance and upper body strength. No doubt, time in the surf practicing your skills is paramount to being a better surfer, as well as continuing to improve your flexibility, agility and balance. Yet if you really want to take your surfing to the next level you should question typical surf-training culture and adopt an evidence based training approach, which includes strength training and working with an experience strength and conditioning coach who understands the physical demands of your sport.
KEY TAKE HOMES:
Athletic qualities needed for surfing:
· Strength and power
· Mobility
· Balance and coordination
· Anaerobic and aerobic qualities
Key determining factors of surfing success:
· Sprint paddling performance
· Upper body strength/ endurance
· Performance of highly skilled critical manoeuvres
Strength training for surfing:
· Develop upper body relative strength (particularly pull up strength)
· Develop strength in fundamental lifting patterns (squat, pull, press)
· Include supplementary movements (shoulder, ankle-knee-hip, torso)
· In addition to specific strength training mobility and proprioceptive training as well as whole system sensorimotor training should be included
