Are The Skills and Fitness of Surfing Transferable To Snowboarding?

When it comes to popular extreme sports, snowboarding and surfing are right up their at the top of the list. Lots of people actually like taking part in both sports, despite the fact that the geographical locations of both surfing and snowboarding are often very different. But how much of the skills and fitness that are needed for one sport transferable to the other? Let’s compare 3 of the main elements needed for these sports.

Upper Body Condition. Surfing is one of those sports that is absolutely grueling on the upper-body, and if its not in good condition you wont be going anywhere fast. You need endurance in order to repetitively paddle surfboards out to see against breaking waves, and power is need in the ‘pop-up’ phase of getting upright on the board when you have caught a wave. Snowboarding however, does not demand anywhere near as from the upper body, as it is only really used for balance and core-stability support

Timing. This is one very important factor that is shared by both sports. Snowboarding requires very accurate timing of turns and carves, especially when your trying to line up for a jump where a few centimeters out on the take off can sometimes mean you miss your landing my meters. Timing is also very important in surfing, not only when trying to pick up a wave, but also knowing when to turn, flex, or indeed bail out.

Lower Body Strength & Agility. The legs play a very important part in both snowboarding and surfing, but it's snowboarding that requires the most from the lower limbs. Snowboards require great skill and agility to turn and carve, and if your leg muscles are not in good condition you will simply not be able to ride well. Don't for one minute think though that surfing does not require you to have good lower body fitness and flexibility, because it certainly does.