Change your surfing tack – keeping things fresh as a daisy

Your trusty shortboard stands tall and proud in the hallway and having scoured forecasts for weeks previous a decent dart board low pressure has popped up, with favourable winds for your next outing. But wait! What’s this? Less than enthusiastic feelings and niggling doubt as to whether you’re going to go. You have a pass, conditions are on and it’s warm (ish) outside. So why the hesitation?

Does this scenario sound familiar? Are you suffering from loss of mojo? It can happen to us all. As someone once said: ‘eating your fave biscuits everyday can mean your fave biscuits lose appeal after a while’. With plenty of uncertain factors in today’s surfing mix – fickle weather, fickle swell, dwindling windows of opportunity due to responsibility and so on – it’s easy to understand how enthusiasm levels drop. Even more so with the onset of winter in mind. Sometimes, as much as it’s all good really, riders need to switch things up and keep their sessions fresh – change the experience if you will.

While ripping and shredding on your shortboard is all well and good it can definitely become repetitive and monotonous – especially if waves have been lacklustre. At this point it’s worth trying something else. Longboards have been in surfers’ quivers for years – even those smaller board riders among us. A way to maximise wave count (without being a surf hog!), milk small swells and generally have more fun than you’d anticipate, they’re a great tool and suit most rider needs. If you’ve been on the ‘toothpick’ all summer then why not swap to a log for a while.

And then there’s SUP. If you want to boost the nose rider points mentioned above by 110% then bust out the paddle. Sure, your mates may jeer but you’ll be the one having the last laugh as they grovel, you having picked up a wave from way outside, coolly surfing it to shore.

There are plenty of other ways to reinvigorate your wave riding shenanigans. Why not get hold of a hand plane, some fins and get involved with a spot of bodysurfing – great for wedging shore break and putting yourself back into touch with surfing’s purity. A bodyboard can also work well here.

Plenty of alternative surf riding craft exist meaning you don’t have to be a one trick pony. Save your shortboard for those classic hollow days while making use of those other sliding tools available. Trust us, you’ll never have been so stoked and ‘surfing’ will take on a whole new meaning!

If you’re considering immersing yourself in a different surf experience then make sure you have the right protection. Don’t forget to check out NCW’s shop for all those essential neoprene goodies –

www.northcoastwetsuits.co.uk/new/category/wetsuits/