Are The Skills and Fitness of Surfing Transferable To Snowboarding?
Two extreme sports that have seen a huge upsurge in their popularity over the last decade are surfing and snowboarding. It might be the case that one takes place on snow covered mountains and the other often takes place in warm waters with sandy beaches, but that doesn’t stop people enjoying both sports. But how much of the skills and fitness that are needed for one sport transferable to the other? Let’s compare 3 of the main elements needed for these sports.
Upper Body Condition. As any surfer will tell you, if you haven’t got great upper body fitness, there is not much point even getting in the water. Like kitesurfing, you are often battling against the ocean, but with surfing you need endurance in order to repetitively paddle board out to sea against breaking waves, and power is need in the ‘pop-up’ phase of getting upright on the board when you have caught a wave. Snowboarding however, does not demand anywhere near as from the upper body, as it is only really used for balance and core-stability support
Timing. This is one very important factor that is shared by both sports. Snowboarding requires very accurate timing of turns and carves, especially when your trying to line up for a jump where a few centimeters out on the take off can sometimes mean you miss your landing my meters. Timing is also very important in surfing, not only when trying to pick up a wave with your surfboards, but also knowing when to turn, flex, or indeed bail out
Lower Body Condition. The legs play a very important part in both snowboarding and surfing, but it’s snowboarding that requires the most from the lower limbs. As extreme sports equipment goes, Snowboards require great skill and agility to turn and carve, and if your leg muscles are not in good condition you will simply not be able to ride well. However, don’t think the lower body can be neglected in surfing, your legs and core need to be strong and flexible, even just to stand up.
Finally Surfing and Snowboarding Have Come Together
People who perform extreme sports are not your normal sports participants. They are masters of innovation and if something can be done differently, chances are someone will attempt it. Both surfing and snowboarding, although popular, are a little old now in some people’s eyes and could do with updating. It is no surprise then that one avid extreme sports fan gave in to curiosity and tried riding down the mountain side on his customised surfboard…and succeeded?
The sport of snow surfing is thought to have first been conceived in New Zealand when a visiting Australian surfer decided to see if he could ride his board on the white stuff.The sport was born, and others were quick to give it a go and allow this mad activity to keep on growing. Snow surfers say that the sport demands high levels of fitness and co-ordination above all else. Unlike snowboards, riders do not have any bindings to attach themselves to the board, but instead rely on aggressive carving and the use of the hands to ensure that the board stays under their feet. Stopping has also proved something of a challenge due to the lack of sharp ‘edges’ on a surfboard, but most runs incorporate a run-off area where riders can slow down.
As with all emerging extreme sports, sponsors and industry brands have been paying close attention to see if it is worth their while getting involved.There is speculation that both Ride and Volcom are getting involved in the sport and have been sending their scouts out to snow surfing events recently. Due to the sport’s relative infancy though, it may be some time before we see it publicised in the mainstream media or any specialised equipment appear on the shelves of your local sports store. That said, given the early growth of the sport, you might soon be seeing some snow surfers at a resort new you.
The supposed top 20 American Sports, do you agree?
Now i know you probably won’t disagree with the top 5 of these, but what would you do about the rest?
- American Football – starting in 1869 by the National College league.
- Baseball – A sport that nobody knows how to play, unless you already know how to play it.
- Basketball – Well simply put this is played by well over 300,000,000 people around the world.
- Hockey – Just like America, this sport is never boring or monotonous, always something new.
- Golf – Always considered a posh mans sport, and it is, except Tiger Woods really set it off for everyone.
- Wrestling – A huge sport, many Americans tune in to watch this.
- Tennis – Americans can go to almost any country in the world and win something in this sport.
- Skateboarding – This was really brought to life by America.
- Surfing – The one true sport that America air lifted into greatness.
- Ice Skating – A Bigger sport in America than you may have originally thought.
- Boxing – Doesn’t happen enough, otherwise it would be higher in the list.
- Soccer – Slowly getting more and more money and players pumped into it.
- Archery – America rule this battlefield, they always do well at the Olympics.
- Volleyball – Definitely, who ever thought this up knew exactly what they were doing.
- Cycling – A Strong and athletic sport, but never really took hold of the nation.
- Track and Field – This is the Americans passion at the Olympics, they are by far the best at the Track and Field.
- Horse Racing – This is never going to be a dying sport, as long as we have horses we will be racing them.
- Rock Climbing – A great way to enjoy a holiday, out on the rocks, or indoors.
- Extreme Sports – The sports in this category have always grasped the nation, not always in a good way.
- Auto Racing – This should come high, but doesn’t because of the category, Monster Truck and Rally are very high though.
Which of these shouldn’t be here? What do you think? What a great way to find out – try Las Vegas holidays or New York holidays to really find out