Surfing Diving
Thursday, December 10th, 2009Surfing Diving
How Are Surf Shops Keeping Their Heads Above The Waves Of Recession
If there's one big attraction to water sports it has to be the fact that boundaries are pretty limitless in comparison to other sports. You won't find fences or markers to hold you in. There are no whistles blown or referees to contend with and pretty much the rules are only governed by the fact that you don't want to die doing it.
Nature is something that man has long wanted to be the master over but it is a law unto itself. This is part of the reason that surfers put themselves in places that most rational thinking people wouldn't. I mean, who else throws themselves into the sea, at the mercy of the unpredictable currents and the powerful force of the waves, and then think they can hold themselves up on the water on a piece of fibreglass?
But the water is there, the power unpredictable, the currents a driving force and the waves just asking to be conquered so that a surfer can enjoy that few minutes of feeling like he has control over nature. Until, that is, he comes crashing down beneath the waves, but that moment will be committed to memory and will be one to be recounted regularly.
It is exactly that need and that feeling that means that, recession or no recession, surfers will keep up their sport, pushing on for that bigger and better wave, out there with that feeling that nothing else matters and nothing can stop them other than their own limitations that can be pushed and challenged.
Almost as regularly as surfers visit the sea, they will also visit surf shops and it is the lucky surf shop owners that are seeing off the recession quite nicely thank you very much. Due to the surfers not needing to pay things like entrance fees or subscription or membership fees to simply ride the waves, this gives them that little more free cash to spend in the surf shops and continue in their chosen sport.
There is much about a surfer's life that is about the image. The O'Neill wetsuit, the Quicksilver surfboard, the Billabong surfing clothes, are all available from surf shops up and down the coast. This is because surfers have a very distinct look that spills over into everyday life, I mean, no one could fail to spot surfers hair a mile away now, could they?!
There has to something about the sport of surfing that makes these people different to other sports enthusiasts. After all, you don't see a footballer with the incredibly laid back attitude of a surfer or a cricketer that has the careless attitude and broad grin that sits so well on surfers.
Maybe it's the fact that they truly believe they are conquering the elements in a unique way that gives them that chilled out aura. I have to say, having undertaken a variety of water sports myself, it does help you to put things in perspective a little.
From my own experience, scuba diving with sharks and dolphins or white water rafting down the rapids, completely at the mercy of the uncontrollable waters, means you have to have your wits about you. There is no time to be thinking about whether or not you turned off the gas, or did you pay the water rates, or did you upset the woman on the make-up counter in Boots. All these trivial details of life fade into insignificance when you have been at one with nature and come out the other side unscathed. Maybe it's this element that gives surfers the cool air of collected calm.
About the Author
Shaun Parker is a leading sportsperson who finds that surf shops are managing to ride the recession storm. Find out more about surf shops at http://www.transsurf.co.uk
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