Comment by underdeserver
2 days ago
For someone with no connection to surfing at all, could you elaborate? Why is surfing special, or different from other sports, in needing to control your breathing?
2 days ago
For someone with no connection to surfing at all, could you elaborate? Why is surfing special, or different from other sports, in needing to control your breathing?
Because panicking when you're being rag-dolled by even smallish waves can kill you, let alone waves of consequence. I don't have the words to describe what it feels like to be pushed to the bottom of the ocean by a wave, then just as you feel like you're running out of air be pushed back down by the next wave, and the next wave. You have no idea which direction is up and which is down, or how long it's been since you stopped breathing. 30 seconds will feel like death if you're not properly trained. Your very large very stiff board will be tumbling with you and could knock you unconscious or split your head open at any time.
My girlfriend got to be a decent surfer (~5 years practice and a former competitive swimmer) but never invested in learning the ocean. In 2018 she went out in a break she didn't know, in conditions above her league. Nothing too big (maybe 5 feet) but strong and relentless. Conclusion: She got sucked into the washing machine during a set and nearly drowned. Had to have the water beaten out of her lungs to restart breathing. Now she has panic attacks just getting into a flat ocean for a swim.
The sea is no joke. I encourage everyone to try surfing, it's a great hobby. But less than 10% of it is riding waves.
"the sea is no joke" trvth I was blessed with "over" sized lungs, and like swimming underwater, and hiking in mountains, so have enjoyed bieng able to do those things with minimal effort. When living in a city, I swam in an olympic size pool, and can go two lengths? (back and forth once+) undewater , but have no idea of how this actualy compares to an average. Got into doing the ?wim hoffman? breathing and like that, but have never noticed any altered conciousness, but that might be because my lungs are so large that I will need to realy realy push it? dont know, but after a car accident I was xrayed, and they were very surprised that the xrays, had to be redone, in two parts, as my lungs dont fit on a standard xray. I sing, and can hold a low note for a long time, and am kind of loud and boomy, unless I am carefull, which is a down side, as it is alarming for people in enclosed spaces. So breath work from the perspective of fine controll and exploring actual true limits, is something that is suddenly, looking like a good idea, for me. consiousness and all that
You should try freediving. 2 length in a 50m pool without weights and fins is way above average. But please take a course first, free diving can be very safe but only if done with a properly trained buddy.
Or just join the foiling community and go 40% wave riding. 80+% if pure down winding. Entree is a little more expensive but you save on not having to travel exotic locations (or not at all).
The one time I see surfing mentioned on HN and of course HN squeezes out the most nerdy take on surfing possible
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Everyone else in the water will hate you though. Everyone. Even the sea janitors are above you in social standing.
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Not the most convincing advertisement
Surfers try to scare away would-be-surfers. Less waves for thee, more waves for me. I don't even have a girlfriend.
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He's using an anecdote. So, yeah, not a study.
The only point being made is panicked breathing before disaster, versus a little training and a few controlled breaths before disaster. And that he also experienced maybe some of the same mind altering effects of breathing.
Since we all breath, I think in this type of thread we'll find lots of anecdotes around this subject.
Just a different type of fun. I find avalanche training to have a similar effect for backcountry.
For some it's sobering, for others it's terrifying.
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I find it highly motivating
You can somewhat simulate it yourself.
Lie down, do a push up, then jump up to your feet, upright, arms raised (Burpee). Repeat in rapid succession twelve times, then immediately shut your mouth and close your nose with your hand. Hold it. Close your eyes and imagine you are under water and don‘t know how long it will take till you can resurface.
You will feel an immediate urge to breath, a very unpleasant feeling in your throat, nose, ears, etc, and an immediate feeling of panic. That feeling is AFAIK caused by heightened CO2 levels [1].
Imagine trying to fight your way to the surface, in a panic, but the turbulence of the wave is too strong and keeps you down. Instead you have to accept the feeling of panic without acting on it, converse your energy while being rag dolled and pounded, trying not to dislocate your joints, keep or regain your sense of orientation, and wait for the moment that the turbulence subsides to the point it is possible to surface again.
You have little control over when that moment finally comes. And while seconds start to feel like eternities you might start telling yourself to never go surfing again. As time drags on, your resolve increases, to the point you might act on it once, and if, you finally resurface.
[1] I have no expertise but this is what I was told and this source seems to somewhat confirm https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3138667/#:~:text=In...
> Lie down, do a push up, then jump up to your feet, upright, arms raised (Burpee). Repeat in rapid succession twelve times, then immediately shut your mouth and close your nose with your hand. Hold it. Close your eyes and imagine you are under water and don‘t know how long it will take till you can resurface.
you forget, ‘put a blindfold on and tie your leg to a doberman’s leash then fall down 3-6 flights of stairs’
pretty similar forces and sensory at play, or at least a similar thrashing to big Teahupo’o over a sharp reef.
A safe way to get a similar disorienting experience is hold your breath under water while in a tight ball and have someone spin you on every direction and reverse it until you can't stand it and then wait another ten seconds.
I recall being swallowed by a wave and while under for only a short period i thought it was annoying not knowing when I'd return to the surface.
You can get hit by multiple waves in succession while surfing, preventing you from breathing for up to a minute. If you're at 180bpm and not breathing for a minute, you won't be coming back up
If I need to hold my breath underwater for a longer period of time I'll hyperventilate on the surface just a little before diving. In my experience your lungs don't "burn" as quickly and so you can dive a little longer.
It’s dangerous, since hyperventilating removes co2 from your blood, and raised co2 level is primary trigger for the urge to breathe reflex. It may feel better to hyperventilate and dive longer but you’re risking suddenly blacking out. I’m a free diver and this is one of the first things you are trained not to do, as well as never to dive alone, for safety reasons.
Ah the wisdom has changed. This was more often taught when I was younger, which yes, was quite a while ago. The warnings given then were don't go for depth with this method, exhale occasionally while underwater, and manage your breath again immediately on the surface.
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So just curious. You do want to have the CO2 levels, so you get the trigger to breath? But to free dive don't you want to stay down longer? So is the method more about dealing with the urges? Mental ways to understand the urge to breath, but be able to block it?
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