overcoming fear of waves

shibumi57 · Joined: 13 Jul 1998 Posts: 68 Location: San Francisco

Wow,

Some days the guys on this web-site can be really helpful. This is one of those days. Listen to what these guys have to say. Start small. One step at a time. If you go too fast you'll overwhelm yourself and revert back to fear and anxiety.

We've all gone through so many progressions in life an don't realize it.

1. Grade school, junior high, high school, college, grad school.

2. Bunny hill, green hill, blue hill, black diamond, double black diamond

3. big board, small sail. smaller board, bigger sail. Planing, in the harness, in the straps, tacking, jibing, jumping and then finally waves.

4. The martial arts also have the white belt through black belt progression.

Don't get in over your head, literally or figuratively. Soon you'll be in the middle of the impact zone and wondering to yourself, "I was nervous about this? This is fun!"

Good luck

amarie · Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 233 Location: Corpus Christi, TX

I've never sailed there so may be different than what I'm used to...but in general, familiarity & understanding helps conquer fear. Practice what to do...one thing is practicing taking a big breath of air before falling in, holding that breath, and being patient as you are tumbled around, trusting that you will float back to the top once the wave has washed over. Practice keeping hold of your gear when falling in so as not to be separated, and practice swimming freestyle stroke with a harness so you can catch up to it if you are separated. Finally, learn and remember safe places and ways to hold your gear if you're down in the break (i.e. not by the footstrap, or somewhere that would allow you to take a fin to the face if you get rolled)...you want to keep two hands on things, and holding the mast tip or the mast edge into the wave is best. Practice waterstarting really quickly. Also sometimes it's a confidence boost (and safer) to have on a helmet. I always wear one in the waves.

Khardin · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 51 Location: Cleveland Ohio

I always wear a helmet anyways.

In the middle of last year I remember thinking "All of these old guys wear helmets...maybe they are on to something" so the next session I wear my old snowboard helmet.

The next session I try to do a jibe and biff it and the sail gets out of my hands and then I hear a loud thwak and am laying in the water going "what was that noise".

The mast hit me hard enough to still ring my bell with the helmet on.