Learning to surf in your mid 30s: a great new hobby or a guaranteed way to put your back out?

Growing up in Devon (and very close to the Cornish border), surf culture was a big part of my home community. I always wanted to be one of those serene surfers you see cruising along the face of a wave. I can’t tell you the number of hours I spent as a kid watching the surfers at the beach, yet I never learned myself. 

Living on the doorstep of famous surfing beaches and surf schools begs the question - why did I never learn? If truth be told, I was a painfully shy child and teenager. I had a great group of friends who loved being outdoors as much as I did, but none of them were interested in surfing as much as I was. I was so shy that the idea of joining a course, or taking lessons by myself, was daunting and something I could never push myself to do. 

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When I moved back to Devon after years living away, I took the plunge (quite literally) and signed up for a weekend surf course in Newquay with Gather & Glide – an incredible surf school for women, owned and run by two inspiring female surfers. I’m now a much more confident 35-year-old and learning a new skill and meeting new people fills me with excitement rather than worry. So, one weekend, I packed my wetsuit and headed down to Cornwall. I spent the weekend with the coaches and the other women on the course, most of whom had never surfed before either. We spent the first day learning the basic skills, trying to nail our ‘pop ups’ and surfed until sunset.

Once the day was over, we all went for pizza around a campfire and laughed about the best wipeouts of the day. The following day, with incredibly sore muscles, we surfed all day again and by that point I felt like I was slowly getting the hang of it - it felt great to finally be catching waves after so many years of wanting to. When I got home, I instantly bought my own board and I knew I was hooked. 

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Last summer, I followed the surf forecast around Devon and Cornwall and caught more and more waves each time, I even started teaching a friend. We’d load up her camper van and go cruising the waves for the day. I say ‘cruising’ the waves… it was mainly a lot of laughing as we both fell off or a huge wave crashed into our faces and completely wiped us out. I also spent time by myself in Cornwall in my converted (in the loosest possible sense) Fiat 500 ‘camper’. Yes, you read that correctly. I’d load my 8ft board on top of my tiny car, go surfing for the day, sleep in my car somewhere with a beautiful view (the joy of having such a small car is that you can fit anywhere) and then go surfing again the next day. It was the dream summer life. 

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Has it been the start of a great new hobby, or a guaranteed way to put my back out? So far, my back and knees are holding up well. I’ve met incredible people through lessons and by being out on the water, and I’ve had some incredible experiences through the surfing communities I’m now part of.

I’m going to take more lessons this summer so I can start successfully heading ‘out back’. I’m still a beginner but taking the plunge into this new hobby has been incredible. It’s a brilliant way to calm the mind as I need to fully concentrate on everything I’m doing in the water so all other thoughts are pushed out of my head. It’s the epitome of being present in nature as you need to be in sync with its rhythms.

Before heading into the water, you have to stand on the beach and watch the waves - you have to notice the rhythm of where they’re breaking, how they’re breaking and where any potential rip currents are. No wave breaks the same as the last. On a good day, the waves may have a rhythm to their breaks but they definitely don’t have a routine - you can’t just go charging into the sea hoping for the best. You’ve got to try to read the water as best you can. Once you’re out, you need to feel how the sea pushes and pulls your board. You need to try and be in tune with where the water is going to take you and how quickly it’s going to take you there.

The skill of surfing is to try and move as one with the water, and that definitely takes a lot of practice! You quickly learn to notice the ocean’s intricacies. It’s a perspective and connection with nature that you don’t get from many other sports. Once you’re in tune with the water and cruising with the wave, you can feel your connection to it and there really is no better feeling. 

I’m completely hooked and I know this new hobby is going to bring me joy and connection to the water for as long as my back and knees hold out. There will also continue to be some spectacular wipeouts in there too. 

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