Photo by Hannah Farache
One year ago, I moved to Portugal and started taking surfing seriously. Growing up in Canada, I never had much exposure to the sport. However, with my love for the ocean and swimming, I decided to take lessons and dive into the surfing experience.
Watching from the beach, I was captivated by experienced surfers catching waves. It seemed simple: a wave comes, they paddle, stand up, and perform cool tricks. I thought I just needed to learn how to stand up and balance, and soon I’d be doing turns and jumps. However, after a few lessons, I realized how steep the learning curve truly is.
Since then, I've had nearly 75 sessions in the water, combining lessons and solo surfing. For each aspect of surfing, I’ll share my initial expectations, the reality I encountered, and the lessons I learned. These insights have been incredibly valuable in both my personal and professional life, and I’m excited to share them with you.
Paddling out
Expectation
When I started surfing, I assumed paddling out was just like swimming. Having swum for most of my life, I believed I could easily get past the waves to the lineup.
Reality
Waves are powerful, especially breaking or broken waves, and they keep coming even if you're tired. If you stop, you lose all your progress and have to start from scratch. You need to muster the strength to make it past the breakpoint to the lineup, where you can catch your breath.
Sometimes, you can spot channels in the ocean that pull water away from the beach and out to sea. Paddling out in these channels can drastically reduce the energy needed to get out back since the ocean is working in your favour.
Lesson
Even when it seems like you aren't making progress, stopping for a break isn’t an option. You have to front-load the work to get where you want to go. Doing 10% for 10 days is not the same as doing 50% for 2 days. They both add up to 100%, but they aren’t equal.
You also have to look out for yourself and not follow the path everyone else is taking. Taking advantage of shortcuts can put you ahead of the crowd. Be aware of your environment and adapt to it, instead of expecting it to adapt to you.
Positioning yourself
Expectation
When I started surfing, I thought waves were everywhere and would break anywhere. It’s the ocean after all! If you wait in the lineup, a wave will come to you.
Reality
Every break is different, but after surfing at over 20 different breaks across four continents, I’ve learned that there are usually only a handful of places to sit to maximize the number of waves. Some point or reef breaks may only break in one place, albeit more consistently.
Positioning yourself in the best spot starts with reading the wave and knowing where the peak is. The sooner you can identify the peak, the more time you have to paddle to it and time it right. However, other surfers are also trying to do the same and may beat you there. The surfer closest to the peak has priority, so even if you paddle to the wave, you still might not be able to catch it. If you end up incorrectly positioning yourself, messing up the timing, or losing the wave to someone else, the cycle repeats, and you have to find the next wave.
Lesson
Opportunities usually don’t fall into your lap; they must be sought out. After discovering an opportunity, you must decide if you want to commit to it fully, leaving everything else behind. There will always be others competing with you for the same opportunity, so you have to put in your all and try to come out on top. Often, the opportunity will come and go, and there’s not much you can do except learn from it. By revisiting your opportunity evaluation, timing, and execution, you can improve yourself to be better positioned for the next one.
Kicking out
Expectation
When I started surfing, I thought all waves were similar and could be surfed. You should try for every wave to maximize quantity over quality.
Reality
Some waves are weak and require a lot of effort just to catch and stay on. Others close out in front of you, leaving you without anything to surf. This leaves you in a tough spot, stuck on the inside and needing to paddle back out. You have to use more energy to get through the waves behind you, meaning you’ll catch fewer waves overall. This is why it’s important to act quickly and kick out if the wave isn’t what you hoped it would be.
Lesson
Not all opportunities are equal, and it’s important to understand when to cut your losses and move on. If you try to chase every opportunity that comes your way, you’ll be too tired to fully take advantage of a good one. The sooner you decide to move on, the better off you’ll be. It’s not easy to say no, but we must remember that our time is limited and not enough to do everything. This is why we must consciously decide where to put our energy so it doesn’t drain other important aspects of our life.
Conclusion
Surfing has taught me invaluable lessons about persistence, positioning, and recognizing the right opportunities. Reflecting on these experiences has provided insights that have improved both my personal and professional life. I hope my journey inspires you to embrace challenges and learn from every wave that comes your way.