Does surfing offer great promise as therapy?
We have spent some time here discussing surfing’s metaphysical benefits and believe our conclusions are mostly agnostic. Right? Like, surfing can make you happy but it can also make you angry. That whatever mystical communion happens on the water is mostly a reflection of the micro-dosed LSD and not coming from surfing itself. Right?
Well, the United States Navy thinks otherwise. Or possibly thinks otherwise. For The Washington Post reported over the weekend:
In song and prose, surfing has long been celebrated as a way to soothe the mind and invigorate the body. But scientific evidence has been limited. Now the Navy has embarked on a $1 million research project to determine whether surfing has therapeutic value, especially for military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or sleep problems. Researchers say surfing offers great promise as therapy. It is a challenging exercise in an outdoor environment; people surf individually or in groups; military surfers who are reluctant to attend traditional group therapy open up about their common experiences when talking to other surfers on the beach.
Hmmmmm. All fine and good, of course, but what if a Navy man paddles out with his post-traumatic stress disorder at, say, crowded Lowers and gets dropped in on, yelled at, burned, yelled at some more? I would imagine surfing would not be helpful here but I suppose that is what the million dollars will pinpoint.
Which lineup on earth do you think is most PTSD inducing?
a) Pipeline
b) Snapper
c) Lowers
d) Mundaka
e) Silver Strand
f) other
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The real question is, how and where does one apply for the contract? I could squeeze a couple years worth of research out that million clams.
Chatted with a couple of Marine Recons surfing O’side Harbor about 2 years ago. They both surfed okay, very nice kids, polite, respectful, happy vibe. Both had done several tours, and given they were special forces for sure had killed a lot of people. I thought that surfing was good for these young vets, nice way to engage in civilian life without being in a bar or whatever. I’m for it! Rest of the line up either seemed to get it too, or else instinctively knew these guys were next level alphas not needing to puff their chests out … they got some space and some aloha out there
mundaka looks really hard on your backhand
you aint stressing if you get a good one at pipe…
Linda Mar. The answer is Linda Mar.
What about Ocean Beach? That stresses me out just knowing it exists.
Ocean Beach is really not that stressful. If it looks big, it’s huge. If it looks fun-sized, it’s bigger than it looks. Really only crowded when it’s tiny.
Linda Mar otoh is pure terror. 200 tech bros at a time learning to surf, paddling for every wave, ditching boards in front of you constantly. My god.
I was thinking stressful as in “wave-resultant drowning.” But “tech bro-resultant drowning” is equally terrifying. Also, I do personally know a tech bro who lives in Pacifica!
I once took Silver Strand surfer Billy Barker to surf a secret spot ( it’s not anymore as it can be seen on the Former vid ) south of Sydney . He was a big blond happy dude and seemed stoked to escape the contest scene at Cronulla and surf with a couple of kids down the coast on a sunny Saturday . I only learnt years later that he was from one of the most heavily localized waves on the planet .
Charlie don’t surf
But Mikey does
silver strand you must contend with sharks (rare), there are hood rats. Then there are snakes, legit ones like the yellow bellied super highly venomous washup and the others that blatantly disregard curl and priority but tis the silver strangg so ain’t no a thang. And if you were to close your eyes on a big day (rare) sometimes the closeouts sound like incoming. Maybe a good thing is the Navy will realize how awesome beaches are and work to preserve them .
But typical navy like when they were researching ear drops to dry them after prolonged water exposure , instead of figuring a mix with rubbing alcohol and vinegar that everyone was using and saving a ton of money, they paid bank to a contractor, who spent millions on a write up, du pont or dow or basf to developing some formula to dry ears without eating the skin or causing intense migraines or hearing loss. So instead of doing this in nice noob friendly breaks, they will turn to Kelly Slater Wave Co or that “Other Wave Pool Company” for their veteran’s needs.
Hate when venomous snakes disregard the curl.
How about a crappy wave and a crabby local? Post and present TSD!
The military has been involved in surfing for a long time. remember it was them who sent Severson to film it and spread it to the world to promote the glorious freedoms provided by capitalism. the true purpose of surf media and contests
f) Wave Ranch with Kelly Slater
In the same breath he takes credit for your therapeutic experience on social media (while trying to sell the vision of his pool as a surfing utopia), he scoffs at your ability (or lack thereof), insults your non-vegan diet, and generally makes you feel conflictingly pumped and shitty.
He’s off the vegan diet and back on the meat!
Fuck… that’s what I get for trying to filter out any and all Kelly news, I miss shit like that. Rest of the comment stands, though! Sub-par commenting performance on my part lately…
Don’t you think he saves his sledging for rivals? I doubt he’d make fun of the surf skills of a ‘non-CT civilian’.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your not the first mensch to have his feathers ruffled by the g.o.a .t . Goodbye John John
Heard JS is bringing out a new Ghostbuster model ?