Cobra said..
over thinking it can kill a sport.
myself I've played plenty of sports achieved some good results and had a few failures.
ive never thought surfing would of been a overthinking type of sport more a leisure activity
but it's big business and a huge sport with a big following especially in this country.
the biggest mistake people in sport can make is over thinking it to the point
of paralysis by analysis, doubt creeps in and it starts a downward spiral of confusion.
it can stem from a lot of things doubting ability equipment preparation past events
in my experience it's always seen as positioning of the body or body actions that
control the motion.
my question is has anyone ever over thought there surfing? Or sport.
have you over thought a situation that has restricted your surfing or ability to advance

the biggest problem for me is crowds..I suspect others may be in the same boat...sometimes wonder if its worth it ..the psychological thought of crowds puts me in a negative spin ..effects my surfing no doubt ...relocating 4 hours south would fix it ...

I remember a mate of mine that would overthink positions, his body movement was all upper half
rotation when I mentioned it to him he dismissed it and continued practicing these rotations
neglecting all bottom half movement which now had halted completely.
the nickname helicopter began and the cruel called him spazz arms.

i once got hung on wave positioning and how I needed to be in the spot or slot
and dismissed it as just surfing until it started to affect my surfing
not in the way of advancing but more of frustration and appreciation.

I like to think about my surfing. But without paralyzing myself. Itsca learned thingie
Although negative crap from a mate doesnt help sometimes.

thePup said..
Overthinking it mmmmm well WTF happened to just getting up & going for a surf .... pay deep attention to brother Lance & his very simple credo .... "if it's on I'm out there" .... easy as taking your undies off hey

Pup that sounds unreal but sadly many of us need to work

thePup said..

Macaha said..

thePup said..
Overthinking it mmmmm well WTF happened to just getting up & going for a surf .... pay deep attention to brother Lance & his very simple credo .... "if it's on I'm out there" .... easy as taking your undies off hey

Pup that sounds unreal but sadly many of us need to work

So you haven't got time to get up at 5am fang in for an hour or two then go to work

Pup. Without being negative. Mac could surf everyday.
But he's only dedicated to the art of surfboards. Not surfing
Thats hes choice

Macaha said..

laceys lane said..

thePup said..

Macaha said..

thePup said..
Overthinking it mmmmm well WTF happened to just getting up & going for a surf .... pay deep attention to brother Lance & his very simple credo .... "if it's on I'm out there" .... easy as taking your undies off hey

Pup that sounds unreal but sadly many of us need to work

So you haven't got time to get up at 5am fang in for an hour or two then go to work

Pup. Without being negative. Mac could surf everyday.
But he's only dedicated to the art of surfboards. Not surfing
Thats hes choice

Pup your right for the first time ever, nah all jokes aside,I could surf most day its 5 mins away, but I can't be bothered

Re-invent yourself cock .... 1. Ditch LM .... 2. Commence dawn surfing

I used to go in a few local comps and pointscores with the club. I'd get nervous, flustered and spazzing out but no worries out free surfing. Some guys are just good at it.

Move over Dr Phil...

Dr cobra is in the house

Over thinking things is what humans do naturally. With surfing you just got to realise you peaked by your thirties and enjoy it for fun.

thePup said..

SP said..
Over thinking things is what humans do naturally. With surfing you just got to realise you peaked by your thirties and enjoy it for fun.

Give this man Bill Clinton's dirty big Cigar

Oh. I'm as guilty as the next bloke. Here an example, overthinking noseriding. in my twenties I read somewhere that when cross stepping backwards your big toe on the foot moving back should brush the inside of your heal. Who knows why but I tried to do it for years. I'm lucky to go backwards these days.

Other stuff gets in the way and priorites change so why ruin the activity you get enjoyment from by overthinking what you do badly or can't do as good anymore. It's that age old problem of focusing on the positive instead of the negative.

Now get up, try to cross step backwards and brush your big toe on your heal. it still feels right.

Macaha said..

thePup said..

Macaha said..

laceys lane said..

thePup said..

Macaha said..

thePup said..
Overthinking it mmmmm well WTF happened to just getting up & going for a surf .... pay deep attention to brother Lance & his very simple credo .... "if it's on I'm out there" .... easy as taking your undies off hey

Pup that sounds unreal but sadly many of us need to work

So you haven't got time to get up at 5am fang in for an hour or two then go to work

Pup. Without being negative. Mac could surf everyday.
But he's only dedicated to the art of surfboards. Not surfing
Thats hes choice

Pup your right for the first time ever, nah all jokes aside,I could surf most day its 5 mins away, but I can't be bothered

Re-invent yourself cock .... 1. Ditch LM .... 2. Commence dawn surfing

Pup as a young lad I was in before dawn and surfed all day into the night unless I was on the fosters
Going backhand at d-bah on my 5.11 listening to the Dead Kennedy's blasting out of the open cars speakers
blow some speakers back in those days.

your confused mac. that was me, not you

I think it's a natural tendency of any sport to over think it, especially when it is one that utilises variable equipment. I know when it comes to surfing when I started; I would try to find every excuse possible about why I didn't have a good session (rail thickness, rocker, fins, board length, volume etc). Really it was just that I was ( still am) crap.

I no longer kid myself about my motivation for new boards. I still buy them at an alarming rate. Not to 'improve' my surfing but just because I like nice well-made boards.

Come to think of it, a new Goddard should be heading my way soon...

SP said..
Over thinking things is what humans do naturally. With surfing you just got to realise you peaked by your thirties and enjoy it for fun.

I reckon I peaked at about forty.

i like to think that if I worked hard and got fit that I could still surf like that, but injuries took their toll so maybe not.

I still have lots lots to learn about long boarding so there is heaps of improvement there possible there hopefully.

I sometimes only take one board down to the beach so as to avoid over thinking board selection and line up strategy.

I don't surf as big a wave as I did in my late twenties (12-15), but I reckon my surfing in 8-10 has improved heaps over the last few years when I got some boards actually designed for that, rather than thinking a 7'2" was an appropriate gun. I can still get analysis paralysis when it's big where I don't go anywhere near the peak which is firing because I don't want a big one to get me despite not seeing a single big one wander through - you know, worried about the 10-12 footer on a six foot day with the odd eight foot one or two wave set. Maybe that's just cowardice.

I sometimes overthink where to surf too. This then impacts on my enjoyment of the surf I am having if it's not pumping because I fantasise that the spot(s) would have been better. Almost always they aren't. I know all this but still do the head miles.

my best surfs occur when I am just in the moment appreciating the opportunity to do something I love. And if I remember the waves at my local beach that I grew up on which were frequently 2 foot with a 25 knot inshore. Whenever I think of that I always appreciate what I am surfing as it has to be better than that.

crowds? I live by Tom Hoye's wisdom for that: "Don't get in the race, find your own place, paddle down the face."

I forget the paddle diwn the face bit simetimes when it's solid.

I don't overthink anything to do with surfing it's rarely the board it's just me either having a good,great or an absolute shocker of a surf of which I've had many if only I could surf as well as I mind surf