Surfing on the beach offers a thrilling experience. For a start, you feel great after paddling out of a giant tide. Besides that, it helps you in burning calories while at the same time having fun. On the other hand, surfing on the ocean is a double edged sword. Apart from being an exciting experience, the activity can also be a huge threat to the life of the surfer. There are many cases of surfers who get injured on the beach. Then there are also those who don’t live to tell their story after being drowned by killer tides. Fortunately, there are ways of avoiding all these dangers and stay safe while enjoying your favorite pastime activity. Continue reading below to learn what you should do while surfing to protect your body.
1. Get Some Training First
Most novice surfers are attracted to the sport after watching professional surfers on TV. While surfing looks cool from whichever angle you choose to look at it, it’s not one of those things that you can wake up one day and start doing. The problem with beginning surfers is that they think they are good to go as long as they are able to cling on their surfing boards. Keep in mind that sometimes the impact of the waves is strong enough to crash a board. For the sake of being on the safe side, it’s recommended you first enroll for some surfing lessons that are offered by experienced surfing instructors so you can build good surfing foundations. Such lessons will equip you with skills that you can use to rescue yourself in case the unexpected happens.
2. Wear Protective Gear
This one is a no brainer. There is no way of guaranteeing your safety when you show up at the beach without wearing protective gear. If you are a beginner, it’s recommended you wear a helmet. The gear is designed to protect your head in case you take a nosedive and land at the bottom of the sea or bump into some rocks. And that’s not all. The helmet can protect your head from being banged by a stray surfing board. Since falling off the board is inevitable, you want to be sure that it will not land on your head. It’s also important that you wear earplugs for surfing. These earplugs are designed to protect your ear canals from being exposed to extremely salty water and wind. You should also wear a fitting swim suit for the sake of protecting your skin from coming into direct contact with the cold water.
3. Maintain a Safe Distance
You certainly never thought that surfing close to other people could be dangerous. Surfing too close to others can actually result in fatal injuries. Picture this. If either of the surfers loses control of their board, they might fall and bump against you. The worst is that you might be hit by their board during a fall. That’s why it’s recommended you maintain some distance between yourself and other people that are also surfing. And you should not be too far because they are the ones that can come to your rescue in case you need help.
4. Avoid Clashing with the Board
Like mentioned earlier in the article, falling off the board is part and parcel of surfing. And since, your body is always tied to the board via a leash, you can be sure that it will follow you wherever you go. While this is done to minimize your chances of drowning, the board can still end up injuring you during such falls that come unexpected. By the rule of thumb, you should try your best to jump away from the board. This helps in ensuring that the board’s impact is absorbed by pressure of the water. In fact, you should make sure you dive with your feet first, especially when the water is shallow to avoid getting injured by rocks and other hard surfaces.
5. Avoid Rip waves
Rip waves are basically strong tides that move out of the sea. They are dangerous because they can drown you and or push you into the deep sea. The good thing is that there is a way of countering them while surfing. For a start, you should not panic when you see a rip wave coming. Trying to get back to the shore by surfing against such giant waves is always a recipe for disaster. In fact, they will overwhelm you and toss you around like a toy. The safest way of countering them is by swimming in a horizontal direction. Even if they are wide, you will still be able to avoid being swept away into deep waters. Just make sure you surf ahead of them on your way out.
We are happy to present this collaborative post to offer valuable information to our readers.
