Both surfing and snowboarding have continued to grow in participation levels over the last 10 years, to the point were they can be considered two of the most popular extreme sports around. It might be the case that one takes place on snow covered mountains and the other often takes place in warm waters with sandy beaches, but that doesn’t stop people enjoying both sports. But how much of the skills and fitness that are needed for one sport transferable to the other? Let us take a look at three important elements that these sports require.
Upper Body Strength. There is no denying that surfing demands large amounts of upper body strength and endurance. 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. In comparison, snowboarding does not require anywhere near the upper body condition as surfing, as snowboarding is mainly a sport powered by the legs and torso
Timing. If you want to perform either of these sports well, then good timing is a must. 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 Agility & Fitness. 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.