Hey Zuz, I am confused: Am I too old to try surfing?

Hey Zuz—I’m confused.

I’m 57 going on 65, health-wise. I always wanted to surf but never had a chance to even try. I see all these inspirational stories on Instagram about women learning to surf in their 50s, 60s, even 70s — but my body says otherwise. I don’t live by the beach, but I have some vacation time saved up that I could use for surfing. Is it too late?

Dear reader!

Oh, the magic of Instagram — showing us that anything is possible.

Okay, real talk. No, it’s never too late to try surfing, whatever your age. But where you go from there — and how happy you’ll be with the end result — depends on a ridiculous number of factors that IG reels conveniently tend not to cover.

You mention that your body is telling you surfing may not be available to you. We don’t know your fitness levels or health ins and outs, but it’s possible that your body may be right. And I know this is not what you want to hear. You don’t see many stories on TikTok about “tried to surf, but it just hurts too much.”

There’s no denying surfing is a physically demanding sport — even if the older ladies make it look as easy as low-stakes ballroom dancing at a village hall. There’s no fitness test you can take to establish your suitability. The only way to find out is to give it a try.

Let’s talk about getting to that low-stakes ballroom dancing at a village hall stage. In 2020, there was a massive explosion in people getting into surfing. There were few sports that were “allowed” or feasible during the pandemic due to distancing rules. People suddenly found themselves working from home and having more time on their hands. Some took a chance and moved to tropical locations with an abundance of surf. And some just said, “fuck it, we’re all going to die tomorrow — let’s try surfing.”

One thing they all had in common was that, due to circumstances, they had an opportunity to surf a lot in the early stages of their surfing journey. There’s a direct correlation between progress (or lack thereof) in surfing and how often you get to surf. It’s an uncomfortable truth.

Going on a surf vacay is a lovely idea — and it may be just the ticket. But unless you can commit to surfing regularly once you’re back, your progress will stall, and you’ll be starting from scratch on your next surf vacation. The learning curve in surfing is like no other sport.

I realize this may not be the answer you waned to hear — and there are plenty of stories that speak to the contrary and defy the rules of gravity when learning to pop up at 65.

If you’re serious about surfing: get your fitness level up, and take a lesson somewhere closer to home before committing to a surf holiday.

You’ll know momentarily if you want to dedicate the rest of your life to surfing. And then? Nothing will be able to stop you.

Author: The Wipeout Weekly team