How to Take Advantage of a Flat Day
Every surfer knows the feeling- the swell just ended, you had the time of your life catching tubes all day for the past few days, and you are beyond stoked. Your arm feels like jello and the rest of your body is fatigued to where all you can really do is sleep and eat after surf. As the saying goes- surf, eat, sleep, repeat. As the swell dries up, you look into the forecast for the next few days and all you can think about is how many more tubes and waves you can there are on the horizon. As with most situations in life, the perfect swell never lasts. Perfect waves come and go.
Cycles occur as with anything. First comes the shoulder period, where waves are generally playful. Then, comes the swell- waves light up, barrels go off with overhead and double overhead sets coming through. Finally, after the swell, comes the dry spell. The dry spell can last for a few days, and sometimes up to over a week. A flat day is neither good nor bad, if you spend your time well enough in preparation for the next swell. In fact, flat spells can be a good thing because just like wave cycles, the body goes through cycles that mimic patterns of waves. The cycle of the body looks like this - warm up, full exertion, rest and recovery, repeat.
Surfing is a multi-faceted sport, utilizing muscle groups all throughout the body. A flat day can be best utilized by resting and allowing the body to recover or by surfing on land. Nothing beats a true surfing experience on land, as it enables your body to utilize and activate muscle groups that mimic surfing, while still providing aid in that recovery phase. A true surfing experience on land is unparalleled in surf preparation, not to mention, it is really fun!
The Hamboards Family
The Biscuit ~ Highly flexible, highly maneuverable, shifty, and resembles the feeling of skimboarding. This board is perfect for practicing quick turns and developing the coordination for rapid changes in direction - a highly technical skill especially when applied in the water.
The Classic ~ When it comes to getting that surfing experience on land, the classic is the quintessential board for the airy, free feeling of longboarding. The board rides smooth with a kind of effortless sensation. You can ride the nose and maneuver just like you’re on water. You can grab the rail and change direction with ease, gliding on land like a hot knife on butter.
The Pescadito ~ For the serious surfer who wants to train and get that short board feeling on land, the Pescadito is the way to go. Just like on water, you can pump to gain speed, and create massive turns that emulate John Florence-like hacks (airs not included). Create turns on tight corners, grab the rail for immediate change in direction, or practice those pumps down the line to create room for different maneuvers.
Stand Up Paddle ~ For the stand up paddlers a.k.a suppers, Hamboards offers a patented, in-house designed land paddle, with a flexible rubber tip. This allows you to surf in form, and use the paddle for balance, while creating tight turns and carves. The flexible tip creates the seamless sensation of paddling while being on land.
There’s really no excuse for not getting that surf routine on a flat day anymore. On any given day, you can take your Hamboard out and literally go surfing on land. Double the surfing means double the results, means double the fun. What makes Hamboards special is the variety of options for different surfers. Whether you want to go carefree and easy, or high performance, you can do them both, with no swell required. Relatively speaking, surfing on land is a lot less work-intensive than that in the water, for obvious reasons, which means, better and more engaged practice for techniques, turns, and hacks. It’s been said that in the sport of surfing, only 5% of the the time is spent on actually surfing, since most of the time is spent on paddling and positioning. That being said, those lazy days can quickly turn into engaged practice sessions with less effort, but with equally important results. Whenever you pump on the board, you can almost imagine going fast down the line, and as you reach an open face, create some room to attack the lip. All it takes is a little bit of imagination to actually surf on land. The next time you find yourself restless on a flat day, just remember that the best surfer is the one catching the most waves and having the most fun, even on land. A flat day is no excuse. Surfing never ends!