It's not as easy as it seems to surf a HUGE wave. You see people surfing PIPELINE; but would you actually go into the water and surf a 5-meter wave? I personally wont. As a watcher, everything might seem easy and simple, but once you put your wetsuit on, and get your board, that sensation of calmness flips around.
As the week went by, the ocean grew, and the waves where gigantic. It's that moment, where the feeling of "fun" transformed into "fear" but there was nothing I could do, JUST LEARN.
As the week went by, the ocean grew, and the waves where gigantic. It's that moment, where the feeling of "fun" transformed into "fear" but there was nothing I could do, JUST LEARN.
ITS A NEW EXPERIENCE, YOU DISCOVER.
"Practice not necessarily makes perfect, but it definitely gives you the skills to become better at it." | As I had the chance to reduce the size of my board to 9' inches, the first step I had to follow was practicing. The idea of practicing was not my favorite, due to the fact that practicing required one entire lesson in the small waves; I wanted to go the the bigger waves, LA ISLA. As I got into the ocean and the minutes went by, I noticed something really important. Before even starting the class, I was complaining because the waves in the smaller side where actually very small, you could only see waves once every 10 minutes. My instructor was not going to take me to the bigger waves, so I had to show my best attitude in the class and take advantage of it. My teacher noticed that I was not having as much fun as last class, so he gave me a brief explanation about why we where surfing in the smaller waves. "This waves are very small in comparison to the others. But, there are two sides to the story. Today the big waves are huge, and you will not be able to surf that much. Here, the waves are smaller and the distance between the beach and the waves is minimum so you don't take time coming back to where I am. Instead of surfing 3 waves you will surf about 15, and it will all be beneficial for your skills, you will PRACTICE." |
HE WAS RIGHT. Because I had practiced in smaller waves, next class I was able to improve my performance in bigger waves. It was very exciting to notice my development from one class to another, and actually put my learning into practice. I not only stood up in every wave, but I applied my past knowledge every time I surfed.
I'm proud about myself because I surfed my "dreamed wave" . The wave I chose to surf by my own was priceless. Instead of standing up in the board and going straight forward, I did some up and down movements, I went from one side to the other, and most importantly I achieved my goal: getting to the strongest point of the wave. It was an exciting moment and an amazing experience to share.