🏄‍♀️ Anyone else been surfing for years and still bad? 😭

👋 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! (for next week) That’s why we’re traveling to Ireland to check out some Irish waves.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Anyone surfing for years and still bad? 😭

• Surfing in Ireland (because St. Patrick’s Day) ☘️

• Real ice cream headache in the lineup 🍦

• I only like surfing with a coach—is that weird? 😜

• Also, some surf news 🗞️

^SURFODRAMA

😱 Anyone else been surfing for years and still bad? 😭

You may remember what a terrible disservice Malcolm Gladwell did to all of us when he decided that mastering any skill requires 10,000 hours of practice.

Anyone else surfing for years and still bad? Oh yes. Newsflash: most surfers never get good.

“80% of surfers suck. Including me—and I’ve surfed for 30 years,” said one surfer on Reddit.

🌊 Surfing is incredibly hard to practice consistently
So how come in every other sport you can get good with practice, but in surfing—not so much?

Well, it’s because surfing is extremely hard to practice. You simply don’t get many repetitions. You’re battling crowded lineups, short rides, inconsistent waves during the session, and unpredictable conditions in general.

There’s no denying that crowded breaks limit learning. As one surfer confessed:

“In LA, I was lucky to get three waves over 10 seconds per session.”

Progress requires wave count. And crowds reduce it drastically.

Imagine trying to learn guitar but only playing a few minutes every couple of weeks.

Surfing is a low-repetition sport, which slows improvement dramatically.

✈️ Why surf trips accelerate learning
This is one of the most important structural truths about surfing. It’s also why surf trips dramatically accelerate learning.

Some surfers say they improved more in one surf trip than in years at home.

“I improved in 10 days as much as I did in the prior 20 years.”

It’s the opposite of what you experience at your local break. On a surf trip, you travel somewhere with consistent waves, long rides, and the ability to consciously practice—rather than worrying you’ll be late to work after your dawnie because you’re stuck in traffic.

This is why so many people recommend point break surf trips. The best waves for progression ever.

⏰ Adulthood vs surfing
Another uncomfortable truth: most adults simply don’t surf enough. Normal life kills progression. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone learns with a normal job that requires a commute. Or a family. Or living far from the beach. Or being landlocked.

There’s a good reason why most pro surfers come from Hawaiʻi, Florida, and California—and their job is being pro. We’re talking about surfing two or three times a day, for years. That creates a massive skill gap.

One of our Girls Who Can’t Surf Good members in Australia surfed a few times with Stephanie Gilmore—you know, the eight-time world champion. Stephanie told her:

“Jen, if you’re popping up to your knee, that’s fine. Unless you’re planning to compete on the world tour, you don’t need a perfect pop-up.”

Gotta trust the pro.

😵 Intermediate purgatory
Surfing plateaus are also very common. Many surfers describe being stuck in what they call “intermediate purgatory.” This is where most surfers live forever.

What that means in practice is that you can paddle out, catch waves, and ride down the line. But generating speed, carving turns, or reading sections well—that’s another story.

Nobody wants to hear about three other reasons we never get good: fitness and flexibility, aging, and natural talent.

Surfing requires a strange mix of athletic skills—paddling endurance, an explosive pop-up, balance, and Jason Bourne–level spatial awareness. Many adults simply lack some of these.

And then there’s talent. Something surf culture rarely says out loud: some people just “get it” better than others.

Coaching and video analysis can help. But no amount of coaching can fully compensate for natural talent.

🌞 The comfortable conclusion
With this mighty wind of “you will never get good” blowing against us, we arrive at a rather comfortable conclusion: it doesn’t matter.

Just enjoy it.

Surfing has always had an honesty problem. Media portrays surfers as stylish, fast, and performing acrobatic maneuvers. But the truth looks far less picture-perfect. Most surfers plateau early.

Still, living in intermediate purgatory beats the hell out of never having surfed at all.

^{SURF SPOT SPOTLIGHT}

☘️ Surfing in Ireland (because St. Patrick’s Day)

St. Patrick’s Day is approaching! Let’s talk about surfing in Ireland, and specifically the monster that is Mullaghmore Head. The Irish equivalent of California's Mavericks.

🌊 Meet the Irish beast
Mullaghmore Head is actually known as "The Irish Beast". It’s Ireland’s most famous wave, the equivalent of Mavericks or cold water Jaws (the water temperature is 8–12°C / 46–54°F). It is also one of the most challenging big waves in the world.

The break can be found between Grange and Cliffoney, 400 meters northwest of the village of Mullaghmore in County Sligo. Sligo—that’s in the north of Ireland.

👻 Why it’s so terrifying
Mullaghmore is known as one of the most challenging big waves in the world. It breaks only during huge winter swells and can reach 40–60 ft+ faces.

If the size wasn’t enough, it breaks over a shallow reef right beside a harbor wall, and it’s super thick. What that means is that the wave jacks up almost instantly off a ledge, folds forward, and lands with the kind of force that not wearing a flotation vest is pretty much suicidal.

It can actually be paddled, and that’s one of the reasons why it became famous, but these days tow-in is still common on the biggest days.

No wonder it is surfed solely by the best of the best—the very elite of big wave surfers.

🇮🇪 Ireland’s big wave awakening
Mullaghmore hasn’t been on the surf map for that long. It was only in the mid-2000s when Ireland, quoting the Encyclopedia of Surfing, “gained a measure of big wave notoriety, as videos of huge, grey waves ridden at spots like Aileen's and Mullaghmore began pouring out of surf media outlets.”

Aileen’s, which is near the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, is a subject for another episode—it gets as big as Mullaghmore.

It’s not surprising that Ireland is home to not one but two gigantic waves. We’ve got 1,700 miles of coastline with surf on the north, west, and south coasts, most of it generated from North Atlantic storms.

From August to May, the country's best surf is found on the north shore, particularly along the 26-mile "Causeway Coast". But it’s not just about the north. Stormrider Guide Europe describes the west counties, including Donegal, as "a surfer's paradise."

So when are we going to visit?

^{WORD OF THE WEEK}

🍦 Real ice cream headache in the lineup

If you’ve never surfed in cold water, the only time you’ve experienced a brain freeze was probably when eating ice cream (see: ice cream headache) or a blended icy drink, even very cold iced water. It’s this sudden, thankfully brief, yet excruciating pain that you experience behind the eyes, nose, and forehead.

Science isn’t entirely sure what causes this pain, but researchers suspect it’s a combination of direct stimulation of temperature-sensitive nerves plus the cold’s effects on blood vessels running along the roof of the mouth, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute.

When brain freeze is caused by consuming cold stuff, it’s just an annoying quirk that lasts a few seconds. But when it happens while you’re surfing, oh man that sucks.

You duck dive into winter ocean water and suddenly your forehead feels like it’s splitting open. Your eyes water. You might even feel dizzy. This is not good.

It’s not only duck diving in cold water that can trigger it. Wind chill hitting a wet head or repeated duck dives in winter surf can bring it on too. As if cold-water surfing isn’t hard enough already.

🧠 When brain freeze hits in the water
The good news is that brain freeze usually lasts less than five minutes. I don’t know how this is good news when during that time you can experience dizziness or momentary disorientation—which is not ideal when there’s a set bearing down on you.

My heart goes out to all you migraine sufferers. Brain freeze is more common in people who suffer from migraines, because their blood vessels tend to be more reactive to sudden temperature changes.

They also tell us that cold water exposure is good for you. All this cold exposure can trigger a surge of nerve impulses to the brain, which some researchers believe contributes to the mood-boosting effect many surfers report after cold-water sessions.

It’s a trade-off, I guess.

💊 How surfers mitigate brain freeze
There’s no guaranteed way to eliminate brain freeze, but surfers have figured out ways to reduce the shock.

You can try “colding” your face and hair gradually before paddling out. Splash some cold water on your face or rub your forehead and hair with wet hands. But seriously, who’s going to remember to do this?

Wearing a hood is the most effective solution. A neoprene hood prevents cold water from directly hitting the scalp and forehead—the main trigger zones. Many surfers prefer wetsuits with built-in hoods, which reduce flushing during duck dives. You can also try a neoprene headband.

Then there’s the tongue trick, which is popular for ice cream headaches. Press your tongue firmly against the roof of your mouth. This helps warm the palate and can shorten the headache. Some surfers even try this move when duck diving.

Brain freeze is a normal physiological response to cold exposure. For surfers, it’s just part of the cold-water experience. We grin and bear it.

The best mitigation strategies are simple: wear a hood and warm up gradually.

Anyway, that ice cream headache will probably only last under five minutes.

^{HEY ZUZ, I’M CONFUSED}

😜 I only like surfing with a coach—is that weird?

Let’s talk about a tiny little secret some of us hide: we don’t like surfing alone, and some of us don’t like surfing without a coach.

It happens.

But just because it’s not how most of us imagine surfing doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

👉 Read the full story

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ Surfer drifts off Bali. Munich surfers fight back. No Eddie this year. Dakar girls surf.

🌊 Surfer drifts at sea for 20 hours in Bali
A 64-year-old Russian tourist was rescued after drifting overnight on his surfboard near Nusa Dua when strong currents carried him away from shore, before a fisherman spotted him nearly 20 hours later.

🏙️ Munich surfers fight to bring back their river wave
Local surfers in Munich are trying to recreate the famous Eisbach standing wave after dredging removed the sandbar and the city banned the ramp that had produced one of Europe’s most unusual surf spots for decades.

🌊 The Eddie won’t run this year
The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational will not take place this season after Waimea Bay failed to produce the required 40-foot waves during the contest’s 90-day waiting period.

🏄‍♀️ Surf school in Senegal keeps girls in education
A surf academy in Dakar run with the Black Girls Surf initiative is combining surfing, fitness training and classroom lessons to help girls stay in school and open new opportunities through the sport.

👉 Read the full news roundup

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⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
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