What is it about gliding that changes everything? The simple act of sliding across the water’s surface with the aid of gravity has a way of changing everyone it comes in contact with. At the very least it puts a smile on your face and gives you a feeling of exhilaration. But at the extreme people dedicate their entire life to the pursuit of gliding, regular surfing included. In those extreme cases it can even cost some people their wives and kids, because they are unwilling to compromise gliding time, and that’s speaking from experience. Fortunately for me I have a great second wife that understands the allure and supports my addiction to glide, with the understanding that I keep it balanced with family time and a few chores.
Now when I say gliding I’m not referring to only doing stand up downwinders, but rather, regular surfing, all sorts of canoeing, body surfing, kayaking, prone paddle boarding, windsurfing, etc. The one common thread being sliding down a wave or wind swell. There is something so liberating and invigorating about that moment of gliding on the water. Perhaps very similar to flying for the first time where you are generating your own propulsion by using the forces of nature and intellect to orchestrate a compiled symphony of movements that culminates in a simple glide. A lofty description perhaps of a simple action but you have to admit there really must be more going on there than meets the eye. Why else would it make you feel so good on such a fundamental level. Why else would it be so addictive and cause that euphoric feeling every time you get a good glide.
I’ve got a few theories as to why but in the end they really are only theories. Judging by the number of people that are sharing this feeling though, I know I’m right about one thing. It’s fun.
Photo by Darrel Wong
In fact it’s so fun that people will spend thousands of dollars to get it, plane tickets to any where in the world at the drop of a hat . Sometimes millions if you consider buying a house in Maui to be closer to your glide. The equipment certainly isn’t free so it must be worth quite a lot to get that feeling. On my Hawaiian side of the family that glide has been handed down for generations. My Natural father was the 1962 U.S. amateur surfing champ, obviously addicted, his father started the first outrigger canoe club in California and was one of the best body surfers in Hawaii, obviously addicted, and I’m sure it doesn’t stop there. Most of my closest friends all model their lives so that when it’s good they can go. Laird and I have been getting paid to glide in one form or another for the last twenty five years, thereby far exceeding our predetermined shelf life, and very honestly I think the day I stop will be the day I go to that endless glide in the sky.
So what is it? Is the water shooting out from under your board. Is it the unseen force that accelerates for no apparent reason, is it the feeling of weightlessness that you feel for that split second. Waves are by definition energy, so is it the act of immersing yourself in that energy for a moment. Because of all the little factors you must coordinate, is it that it completely draws you to a single point of focus just for a few moments where you are totally in the moment( maybe). Is it that feeling of getting free space or distance, while your gliding. Maybe it’s the feeling of those subtle vibrations of skimming across the surface coming up through the board and into your feet that generate the sensation of speed. As mentioned earlier, maybe it’s that feeling of soaring free like a bird through the boundless waters. Or maybe it’s all of those things with a few reasons that will never be explained, but we sure sense that they exist.
Whatever that attraction is to glide, I know it’s real, and I know it makes me feel good. I know that without it I would be half the person I am today. I know that I love it and that it’s fun to share.
As I say, I’ve got my theories, I’d like to hear yours. I wonder if people have thought this through, and if there are answers–spiritual, physical, philosophical, or just gut.
Aloha,
Dave
I agree – the glides are endlessly enjoyable, in all the variations, or even if it’s the same favorite break many many times. The glide is the holy grail, comparable to the endless pursuit of great ski runs or beautiful women.
Well I have a few ideas, thanks for asking, Dave, haha. I am a mountain guy so you might be wondering what the hell i can contribute to the discussion, but SUP has given me a lot of joy and peace, and for someone who wasn’t lucky enough to have surfing available throughout my life i truly appreciate the opportunity it gives me to experience the many facets of water…lakes, ocean, rivers, etc. I have been ropewalking for many years now, both low to the ground practice and highwalking over voids between cliffs. I find very many similarities between ‘the walk’ (the in the moment experience of balancing and walking on a moving rope with no pole for balance, just body motions to counteract the movement of the line) and ‘the glide’ and i believe the progression of each in an individual’s life are very much the same. To me its about giving up control, accepting the moment as an opportunity and thereby finding your place in the grand scheme of things, as in accepting something that is endlessly larger than yourself and your ego. In highwalking it is the void, sometimes thousands of feet high that constitutes the amazing place in nature that you hope to pay respect to by your efforts. And the line you rig there to cross that gap is the dynamic connection to that place and that moment. In surfing it is the wave, the ocean that offers you something infinitely greater than yourself to surrender to. And the energy present in the water is the dynamic connection to that place and moment. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘to lose yourself and find yourself all at the same time.’ And to me that is it, if you can give up control by accepting nature and become part of something bigger than yourself, then the reward is often that you find very deep meaning that can help to justify your existence and allow you to move beyond existential questions about why you are here or who you are. So the highwalk or the glide is the surrendering of that illusion of control we humans like to pretend we have, and the acceptance of putting ourselves in the dynamic present moment created by the wonder of nature around us. The glide to me is like dropping a 100 pound bag of bricks off of your back, a letting go, a freedom of accepting the uncertainty of the moment with the idea of being a part of it, not just controlling it. just my 2 cents. peace and love, brothers and sisters.
-Chris
i guess all that jabber of mine could have been summed up in one sentence. ‘with the glide we are letting it happen, not making it happen, and that is more true to our place in the universe than the fallacy of control we can trick ourselves into.’ –Chris Tota
Wow Chris, I think I will put my blog in the comments section and put your comment in the blog section. Thanks for putting so much thought into your comment and I would guess your practical application of the issue is even greater than your explanation, which was very accurate. Aloha, Dave
thank you Dave. not many SUPers here on my mountain so i dont get much give and take with anybody about it. i get a lot from your blog here. i often find blogs to be spray pits, but yours is quite well geared toward helping or encouraging thought or discussion. well done, my friend. keep it up, there are some of us who go paddle alone thinking about the ideas you bring up here.
What a great post Dave.
For me – being a snowboarder for the past 31 years I get a similar sensation sliding down a snow covered hill.
The “frozen wave” if you will. I can be stressed to the absolute limit of my mind and 10 feet of sliding down the hill takes it all away.
Maybe it is the Gravity aspect – it is something that no matter how hard we humans try, we can not truly overcome for more than brief moments at a time.
SUP (as did sailboarding years ago) gives me that same feeling. As much as I enjoy the workout aspect of paddling it is the mental release that drives me forward.
I am so fortunate to have found two sports that allow me to live the life I want – in the location I desire.
Another great post, Dave.
Here’s my view.
What makes us different from the millions of other forms of life on this planet is the ability of thinking. That makes us different, not necessarily better.
Most of us also thinks that that does make us better, but considering what we are doing to the planet and ourselves I think that actually makes us quite a lot worse than animals.
When we glide, as you call it, we get finally close again to doing something without thinking much. We act/react instinctively, like animals. We stop our stupid brains for that fraction of a second of a drop on a windswell bump or a smash to the lip or a jump on a windsurfer…. whatever it is, we don’t think when we do that.
And for that fraction of a second our feeling are not contamined by the noise of our thoughts.
That’s why I think we like to glide so much.
Ask a dog, a bird, a fish, an insect about that… they won’t know what you’re talking about for two reasons:
1) their brain is not “smart” enough to understand our question
2) they experience pure, incontaminated by thoughts feelings during their whole life. It’s only us, sad thinking spieces, that have to do things like sliding on water to go back to the natural feelings we were once able to feel.
And it’s actually only some of us (lucky bunch!) that at least are able to do that when sliding on water (or when doing something similar with the same thought-stopping effect)!
Most of us THINK they’re happy only if they have the latest iphone…
Another great post, Dave.
Here’s my view.
What makes us different from the millions of other forms of life on this planet is the ability of thinking. That makes us different, not necessarily better.
Most of us also thinks that that does make us better, but considering what we are doing to the planet and ourselves I think that actually makes us quite a lot worse than animals.
When we glide, as you call it, we get finally close again to doing something without thinking much. We act/react instinctively, like animals. We stop our stupid brains for that fraction of a second of a drop on a windswell bump or a smash to the lip or a jump on a windsurfer…. whatever it is, we don’t think when we do that.
And for that fraction of a second our feeling are not contamined by the noise of our thoughts.
That’s why I think we like to glide so much.
Ask a dog, a bird, a fish, an insect about that… they won’t know what you’re talking about for two reasons:
1) their brain is not “smart” enough to understand our question
2) they experience pure, incontaminated by thoughts feelings during their whole life. It’s only us, sad thinking spieces, that have to do things like sliding on water to go back to the natural feelings we were once able to feel.
And it’s actually only some of us (lucky bunch!) that at least are able to do that! Most of us THINK they’re happy only if they have the latest iphone…
Hi Dave,
to me, it’s about Letting Go + Being Fully Present + Mastery = Freedom
Freedom from worries, anxiety, suffering… which are all (I’ve came to believe) the unwanted consequences of putting Man into the Modern World.
And you’re right, saying there’s more to it than meets the eye…we could talk about it for ages, try to prove it scientifically, but we would still be far from the Truth of this simple act. It’s a truth that doesn’t exist in the logical world, the thinking universe…it’s a heart thing, or something else entirely, what do I know
I think the state we’re in when we bodysurf, surf, windsurf…is the ideal human state, pure from the pollution of the ego and the lies we’ve told ourselves about what’s real.
Anyway, if you really want to go further understanding this phenomenon, there’s a man, a scientist, who has dedicated his life to it: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (say his name 3 times fast). He came up with the concept of FLOW and explains how rock climbers, chess players, musicians… are all after the same Ideal State of living called Flow, and how we can do the same in our lives.
Thanks a lot for your post Dave,
Damien
P.S: I remember the first time I saw you in an interview (I think it was in All aboard the Crazy train) and I remember thinking: woow, this guy seems really intense and present… years later, I’m starting to connect the dots: it seems obvious in retrospect. But yet, again, what do I know?