Surfing warm up's

The following text is a report from the British Surfing Association annual surf school meeting held at Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall. The Guest Speaker presentation: By Glen Eldridge MSc Topic: “Current Best Practices & recommendations for correct Warm Up & Cool Down for Surfers/Surf Schools” Why warm up? Conventional wisdom-anecdotal Injury prevention or Performance enhancement Physiological Pyschological Neuromuscular Novice vs Skilled surfer Why warm up? Early research utilised animals More force & greater muscle length before injury occurred Early warm-ups incorporated CV and static components Non-specific What are the benefits? Injury prevention Increased blood flow Muscle & tendon length Clinical Reduction of abnormal ECG Lower blood pressure Is this a good thing? Static Stretching When to use it As part of a daily training routine After physical activity Later rather than earlier in the day The Alternative Dynamic Specific warm-up Dynamic series of movements including bouncing & skipping etc that actively prepares muscle & tendons for activity, in a safe & controlled manner. The Alternative: Dynamic specific warm-up The specific advantages are; Maintenance of body temp Sport specific (neurological stimulation) Enhances coordination (motor unit recruitment) Increases muscle contractility Psychological (focusing on specific elements of activity) The warm-up 5-10 min cardiovascular component Warning: start conservatively until movement has been mastered! Muscles used Lower body-quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, Achilles, hip flexors etc Upper body-shoulder posterior/ anterior deltoid, teres minor) latissimus dorsi, rhomboid, upper trapezious, infraspinatus The warm up Specifics (novices) Lower body: -Ankle pops -High knees -Butt kicks -Carioa -Back peddle -Quad walk -Inch worm -(refer to hand out for full details) The warm-up Specifics (novices) Upper body -Windmill -Inch worm (refer to hand out for details) The warm-up Specifics (novice) Upper body-wind mill Progression half press up The warm –up Specifics (skilled) Upper Body: -windmill -Inch worm -push up Lower body: -Glute walk -Frankenstein march -Low lunge -Over the fence -Scorpion (Refer to hand out for details) In Summary 1. Preparing mind & body for action 2. Increased efficiency (motor unit recruitment) 3. Increased O² transport & release 4. Reduced musculoskeletal injury 5. Accounts for hyper- mobility syndrome 6. Pre-performance rountine 7. Systematic & progressive 8. Specific-related to activity (neuromuscular) Suggested Routines Ankle pops Lightly bounce off both toes while keeping the knees very slightly bent. This is very similar to a skipping motion, except that it is performed while moving forward. The idea is to introduce progressively more range of motion as you move through the prescribed distance. High knees This is basic running from while bringing the knees up higher than normal-ideally beyond the waistline. Aim to keep your feet moving as fast as possible and your ankles, knees, hips and shoulder facing forwards Butt kicks Similar to high knees except you keep you thighs perpendicular to the ground while kicking your heels up towards your backside. Again, move fast and keep ankles, knees, hips and shoulders in alignment. Carioca moving laterally to your left, cross your right foot in front of your left, then step with your left, then cross your right foot behind the left and repeat aim for as much hip rotation as possible and keep those feet moving fast! If preformed correctly, this looks like a new dance move! Step Slide Assume a low athletic position with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, you’re ankles, knees, slightly bent. Pushing off your right leg, slowly step laterally to the left with your left leg, then slide your right leg back to its original position, making sure your feet don’t touch or cross More information on topic:

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Surfing news in Swansea.

Swansea Surfing Team  get 3rd place in largest surf contest in Europe.

The UK Student Nationals were held at Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall last weekend.  It is the largest surfing contest in Europe and teams from all over Great Britain compete for the title of top surfing team. This year Swansea Institute’s Surfing Team managed to be placed 3rd and Welsh female surfer based in Swansea, Jo Dennison, placed an amazing 2nd in the women’s individual event. 

This is the highest team and individual placing for over a decade and it ensures Swansea and the surrounding Gower is back on top as one of the best areas for prospective students to choose as a destination for study and surfing.

Having had the good fortune of a week’s training in South West Portugal, with local surf coaches Simon Jayham and Brett Gillett of Gower Surfing Development, the Institute Surfing Team was far better prepared this year for the difficult  conditions and high level of competition.

Simon Jayham of GSD said, “This is a fantastic result for Jo and the team and I hope that both the Institute and Swansea University train hard this year and battle it out for first place next year.”  Mr Jayham went on to emphasise how important it is to the Swansea economy for our local sporting teams to succeed on the national stage, “From a surfing point of view it helps put us on the map as a surfing destination to rival Cornwall.”   

In addition, Ian Jenkins of Swansea Institute said, ‘we see the importance of our  Surfing Team achieving this high ranking, within such an important national surfing event, as improving the image and attraction of Swansea as an exciting place for prospective UK students to study and surf.'

Perfect weather and consistent head-high surf – with offshore winds until late on Saturday – gave the students plenty of reasons to be cheerful. An estimated 1900 students poured into town for this year’s event, providing a welcome boost to the local tourist economy.

Thanks to additional sponsorship this year from Headworx and Red Stripe, the students enjoyed a professionally-run contest which featured an international judging panel, as well as a lively weekend of music and partying, laid on by the sponsors.

Top local surf photography was on hand to record the weekend, Chris Vaughan of Fluidshotz also a member of the surf team managed to juggle catching waves on film and in person. Chris said, ‘it was really hard to surf and even harder to get good pictures of the team.’   In fact some of the pictures the Swansea student took have been used on the main sponsors website.

RESULTS:

Men’s Open
1st  Matt Le Maitre (Plymouth University)
2nd James Hick (Exeter University)
3rd Christian Boletta (Plymouth University)
4th Jake Scott (Swansea Institute)

Women’s Open
1st Shauna Ward (Ulster University)
2nd Jo Dennison (Swansea Institute)
3rd Tracy Somerville (Bristol University)
4th Esther Lempriere (College of St Mark & St John, Plymouth)

Men’s Team
1st Plymouth University
2nd Exeter University
3rd Swansea Institute
4th Aberdeen University

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