As the popularity of surfing continues to grow, so has the injury incidence. Yet, typically, practitioners know little about the demands and injury risks surfers face when riding the power of mother nature. Candice MacMillan explores the demands of surfing and outlines ideas around injury prevention.
Polynesians first practiced surfing over 800 years ago. This means that surfing is arguably the oldest extreme sport. Since the 1990s, the sport’s popularity has soared, with an estimated 37 million surfers globally(1). Commercialization of the sports lifestyle and its’ inclusion in the 2020 summer Olympics results in continued growth at recreational and professional levels(1,2).
Different formats of the sport exist, including:
The types of waves ridden vary in size, shape, bottom composition, and water temperature. "Big wave" surfers successfully paddle into waves as high as seven meters. Whereas tow-in surfers tackle waves as high as 15-25 meters with the assistance of jet skis(3).
With the evolution of surfboard technology, surfers enter more dangerous waters to pursue more powerful waves and practice and perform more complex acrobatic maneuvers(1,4). Together with the sport’s growing popularity, more risky maneuvres have led to an increase in injury incidence amongst surfers. Therefore, it is increasingly pertinent for clinicians to understand surfing injuries to best advise on how to prevent and manage them.
Physical demands of surfing
Surfing is an intermittent activity consisting of endurance and sprint paddling, pop-up, and surfing maneuvers (see figure 1)(5).
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