We know that nowadays there are many sports being practiced more and more, so today we brought you a sport that is individual, very radical and it is practiced in the sea.
Therefore, we can start by saying that in Surfing, the challenge is to stay standing on a board for as long as possible, sliding under the waves and performing many radical maneuvers, with different levels of difficulty.
It is still not known exactly when surfing first appeared, but with the few reports we have, some historians defend the idea that it appeared in the Polynesian Islands when the natives went out to fish, and so to return to dry land more quickly, they glided through the waves with their boats.
So, over time, this activity ended up becoming a habit among these civilizations. Other theories defend West Africa as the birthplace of surfing.
Soon after, the kings of the Hawaiian Islands began to practice this sport with boards made from wood taken from local trees.
And it was also in Hawaii that surfing became a culture for many people. But, with the arrival of Europeans to the islands in 1778, surfing, as well as all the cultural traits of the natives, were oppressed.
At the beginning of the 20th century, surfing gradually resurfaced due to the interest of foreigners in learning the sport. In 1908, the club “The Hawaiian Outrigger Surf and Canoe Club” was founded.
We can say that this sport became very well known through the promotion of an Olympic swimming champion from Hawaii, so this sport became known thanks to Duke Kahanamoku.
It all happened approximately in the year 1920, when the first championships began to appear in the United States, in California.
The first surfboard was made using fiberglass, and was manufactured in 1949 by Bob Simons.
Surfing became a professional sport in 1960. Today, the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) is the organization that organizes the world surfing circuit.
We can say that nowadays, some surfers defy nature by looking for the biggest waves to surf.
Known as the tow-in modality, to reach these waves, people are pulled with a jet ski to these giant waves, which can exceed 20 meters in height.
The surf lines are:
- Classical – gives more importance to style over strength.
- Modern – gives more importance to strength and radicalism than style
The most radical surfing maneuvers are:
- Tube – the surfer is surrounded by the wave, “inside” it.
- Aerial – the surfer uses the wave as a ramp, taking flight and “landing” again under the water.
Other maneuvers are: 360°, cut-back, rip, dig, slam and floater.
Surfing can be practiced by children from 5 years old, as long as they know how to swim.
So if you are interested in the sport and want to practice it or even get your child to do it, take the opportunity to start as soon as possible, because the more you practice, the more you will improve, potentially becoming the best surfer in the world.