Mountain Bike Official
How Catching A Wave Can Help Your Self Esteem
We have all seen those surfer types, strutting their stuff on the beach and making everything they do look effortless. I’m sure you’ve asked yourself if it’s something in the water that gives them their confidence or could it be those large surfboards inflating their self-esteem? Well new research from Exeter University in the UK has now proven that surfing is officially the most confidence-building of all sports and there are a couple of theories why.
Before we examine the reasons why surfing is so good for your ego, let’s explain just how the research was conducted. A group of over two hundred people, non of which played sport regularly, where tested in one of 20 sports. An industry-standard written confidence test was filled out by each person that took part, who then participated in one of the sports for a duration of three month, before filling in the test once more after the three months was up. The conclusion from the study was that among all the sports, the participants who had been riding the waves for 3 months showed the highest increases in their confidence test scores.
According to the students who carried out the study, surfing is a sport that promotes confidence in a number of ways. Firstly it takes place outdoors and participants are pitted against the elements. Steve Underfield of the Sports and Exercise Sciences Departments states that gaining control of outdoor surroundings is very empowering and gives people the feeling that they can look after themselves even somewhere traditionally outside of their comfort zone. This is a trait that many other extreme sports have as well. Additionally, due the very physical nature of surfing, participants usually dramatically improve the way they feel and look, which naturally boosts their confidence. Surfers are often made to look even more healthy by the all-over tan that they often pick up from being outside in the sun for much of the day. Another reason that surfing helps people become more self-assured it that it has ethos of laid back, happy-go-lucky confidence at all times, which is something that rubs off on new comers very quickly indeed.
Runner up in the list of most confidence building sports was cycling, so if you’re in need of an ego boost grab your surfboards or mountain bikes, get outside, and start training today
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