Pickleball smart.
There has long been rumors, and scientific studies, that surfing is greying. Participation is down amongst the youth, soaring amidst those in their middle to late middle ages. Lineups are clogged with hunchbacked men and women paddling foam-friendly craft, wobbling to their achey knees then gouty feet and… surfing, I guess.
It’s one thing to know this, though, another thing to feel it. And surf fans, yesterday, felt it right in the balky old sciatica as ageless stud Laird Hamilton appeared on the back cover of the AARP paper magazine.
The American Association of Retired Persons.
Hamilton, looking typically Hamiltonian alongside wife, and one-time professional sand volleyball player, Gabby Reece promised to share secrets of staying “fit & healthy in your 50s.” The surf demi-god, the back cover said, was 59. Reece 54.
In the lower left corner, a teaser for “pickleball smart.” How to “warm up wisely, prevent injury, play to win and lift your game.”
It might very well be the tagline for our increasingly wizened World Surf League.
But how does this make you all feel? Are you an age denier? The “only as old as you feel” sort? Or does Laird Hamilton on the fast train to 70 give you long pause? Looking back, did you become the man or woman you set out to become or did life’s various snares and pitfalls get you?
Well, you can at least comfort yourself in knowing that you are not Filipe Toledo.
Some thorns have their rose.
I would let you know those secrets, anyhow, of staying fit & healthy into the 50s but I got caught up in the feature “What kind of cruiser are you?” “Cruiser” as in a “person who goes on cruises.” At the end of the quiz, the piece tells me, I should “consider splurging on a balcony cabin” and “a small ship.”
Who knew?
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This is step one in getting his LSF stock price back up!
Prints Not Dead!!….Yet!…more as the story develops
Pop quiz: How many of us rich, indulgent, hard-partying surfers have even had it?
Egyptians were the first to recognize gout as a disease in 2640 BC.
Hippocrates recognized its debilitating nature by the fifth century BC,
calling it the “unwalkable disease.” He often used aphorisms, which
still ring true to this day, to describe it.
He referred to gout as the “arthritis of the rich” or the king’s
disease because he believed only the affluent fell prey to the
condition. (History Defined)
Sasha is a man looking back thinking he became the women he wanted to be
52 this year and in the best shape since my late 20’s.
surfing better than i did at 25.
how to achieve this amazing feat?
get an office job at 26 and also start partying really hard so you have no time left to surf and can’t be fucked exercising until you are in really terrible shape physically and mentally in your 40’s.
then move to a wave rich area and wait for the urge to get back in the water to hit (3 years for me).
“….hunchbacked men and women paddling foam-friendly craft, wobbling to their achey knees then gouty feet…..”
Excellent self description Chad.
Just curious, has this always been the level of your wit? Like, even in your prime?
I never had a prime. And I’m snarky not witty, very different.
It’s no less ridiculous than your description of 50+ years old surfers. Many of them are in far better physical shape than yourself and could easily outsurf you.
He is quickly becoming really “good” (if you want to call it that) at dishing it out, and fucking terrible at taking it.
To Chas’ credit, he does have a fairly thick skin considering the abuse he gets in the comment section. His sub-tabloid tier exaggerations are cringeworthy, however.
Very true, I try to test that skin thickness often and it usually passes the test. If you put yourself out there as much as Chad and Ashton do, you gotta be ready and prepped for the rebound. Chad is much better at it than Gargleballs (not that that says much but its something).
Laird and Gabby’s secrets to staying fit in your 50’s , short version: have millions to spend on every health whim you can muster. Commodify all of it for the plebians.
I have no doubt my mom is saving her copy for me.
She wasn’t ignoring you, I just have a NO cell phone rule….
Why? You’re old enough to get your own subscription, no? 😉
I’m more of a Tom Cruiser myself, but I can’t say I’ve seen any of the Mission Impossible movies beyond the first one
Com Truiser
You’re probably more of a Cabin on a Superyacht-type of cruiser. The loafers tip the scale.
deck shoes
Meanwhile Rip Curl are making international news – https://youtu.be/4CSqt_b5AS…
what a non-sequitar for Megan! anchor woman v water woman…99.9 percent of men would do her.
AARP equals 20% off at Denny’s… “Take every meal”
Dennys, the spot for post party drunken food. Too bad the only one here closed .
Burbank? Big Boy’s?
Really? This is useful information. There’s a Denny’s here in Kona the gf and I eat at before we board a red-eye flight to the mainland.