{"id":6701,"date":"2011-09-06T07:58:28","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T14:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/?p=6701"},"modified":"2023-07-07T10:27:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T16:27:50","slug":"baby-waves-to-bigger-waves-surfers-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/baby-waves-to-bigger-waves-surfers-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Waves to Bigger Waves: One Surfer’s Journey Through Progression"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The journey to surfing glory starts with a single step.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cGo now, amiga! PADDLE! Duro! Duro! DUROOOOO!\u201d

My heart begins beating faster and my brain starts yelling at me: \u201cI WANT THIS ONE. DO NOT MESS THIS UP. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BAIL\u2026\u201d<\/p>

On the smaller days I can honestly say that I’m a confident, wave-catching machine. But on the big days? Not a chance. I\u2019ll paddle for one and tell myself it\u2019s go-time, but when I see how steep the drop is, I panic and pull back.<\/p>

It’s incredibly frustrating. For me, and for the rest of the lineup.<\/p>

Last week, a bunch of us were surfing a big day at Avellanas. I was frustrated because I kept pulling back at the last second on the biggest ones. David, who does surf tours at WRSC<\/a> (if you haven\u2019t seen the way he surfs, get here immediately) would see me paddling for one, shout at me (\u201cduro, Sarita!\u201d), and then sigh in frustration when I wouldn\u2019t go. Finally, he called me over and told me straight up, \u201cIf you don\u2019t try for the big ones, you won\u2019t get respect from the lineup. You have to at least TRY.\u201d<\/p>

David is so absolutely right. I need to grow a pair and TRULY commit to taking that wave. Otherwise, I\u2019m just wasting my time.<\/p>

But\u2026 c\u2019mon!<\/p>

This can\u2019t be 100% my fault, right? The ocean is a player in this too \u2013 and I\u2019m sorry, but that thing is super Bi-polar.<\/p>

Of course I love the ocean, but some days it has a major attitude problem. And I\u2019m not experienced enough yet to know when it\u2019s in a good mood (this wave is smiling because it wants to love me) or in a bad mood (this wave is smiling because it wants to kill me). Yes, the ocean is my friend, but it\u2019s not my best friend. You never want to punch your BFF in the face, and I definitely have moments when I want nothing more than to give that ocean a knuckle sandwich.<\/p>

Do you know what I mean? I\u2019m talking to all of you intermediate surfers out there.<\/p>

I can\u2019t be the only one who feels this way. Hello?<\/p>

Fine. If you\u2019re all too proud to admit it, I\u2019ll do it:<\/p>

When it\u2019s big out there, it\u2019s really scary!<\/p>

And the ever-changing conditions drastically mess with the success of your sessions. One minute you\u2019re sitting in glass, and then it\u2019s choppy daggers. An hour of baby waves, then an unexpected giant set. A strong current you don\u2019t understand, and have to use all your paddling energy to fight. ALL of this is a lot for an intermediate surfer to take in. Not to mention, general fear.<\/p>

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Glory awaits us all!<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Here\u2019s how different my surf sessions can be:<\/p>

A GOOD DAY-<\/p>

My appreciation for being out there is so strong I get choked up just thinking about it. \u201cWhat an amazing THING this is,\u201d I tell myself. It\u2019s like I\u2019m playing with the ocean and IT\u2019S PLAYING BACK. It\u2019s spending all this time to make these waves for me, and then excitedly bringing them over so we can go for a ride. It\u2019s a fun exchange, like throwing a ball with a puppy. It\u2019s beautiful, it\u2019s peaceful, and it\u2019s boatloads of fun. I end with a walk back up the beach exhausted, thinking about how awesome it would be if I had detachable arms so I could pop on fresh, fully charged ones and go back out. Yep, it\u2019s THAT fun.<\/p>

A BAD DAY-<\/p>

I paddle out with a smile and get welcomed with a bitch slap. A bunch of unapologetic smacks, one after another. I even get pouty in my mind- \u201cWhy are you being so mean to me, I\u2019m a nice girl!” Those waves coming at me are not happy puppies, they are mean angry monsters with sharp teeth and they are very very upset about something. I end with a walk back up the beach, defeated and upset, wishing I had paddled out with a sawed-off shotgun to take out each monster, one by one.<\/p>

It really is a roller coaster of emotions.<\/p>

There are no shortcuts to getting to those monster waves. We just have to keep surfing (poor us, right?). The more time we spend in the bipolar ocean, the more we\u2019ll learn about it. And the more comfortable we\u2019ll be so that we can push ourselves to go for the bigger ones.<\/p>

The other day, I met my friend Liz for a smoothie and we were discussing this very topic. She told me her rule with herself: Surf whichever waves you want, but you have to try to get at least two waves that scare the crap out of you.<\/p>

I THINK THIS IS GENIUS.<\/p>

It totally explains why she surfs so well \u2013 every session is solid and fun – but she\u2019s also pushing herself forward in EVERY session to TRY.<\/p>

2 scary waves a session. No big deal.<\/p>

Even if you\u2019re trying and wiping out, at least you\u2019re out surfing. It sure beats sitting in a cubicle (no offense if you are reading this from a cubicle). Over time, more and more of those bigger wave attempts will end in success.<\/p>

Every day I surf with people who seem fearless in all conditions. I can only hope that in time, I\u2019ll become one of them. Because I really really reallllllly want to know what it\u2019s like to get barreled, you guys!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGo now, amiga! PADDLE! Duro! Duro! DUROOOOO!\u201d My heart begins beating faster and my brain starts yelling at me: \u201cI WANT THIS ONE. DO NOT MESS THIS UP. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BAIL\u2026\u201d On the smaller days I can honestly say that I’m a confident, wave-catching machine. But on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[71,80],"class_list":["post-6701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-lifestyle","tag-surfing-2","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}