Surfing has a long and interesting history. While the first written account of surfing was written in only 1779, the Hawaiian sport was present in folklore and stories of native Hawaiians dating back centuries before that. Lieutenant James King was the first man responsible for the first written account of surfing in 1779. He wrote almost two full pages in his diary about the sport and described it in greta detail. Lt. King was an explorer from Europe who watched in awe as he saw natives on the Kealakekua Bay on the Kona coast surf. Anthropologists have tried to take an educated guess at the origin of the sport and how it’s changed since but because of the diversity of Polynesian culture and movement over the centuries, it’s hard for them to make an accurate guess. All they know for sure is that surfing was and still remains an integral part of Polynesian culture. Also, while surfboards have become more sophisticated, over the centuries, the techniques haven’t changed much.
When a person surfs, they exercise their whole body. Surfers are constantly moving to maintain balance and work with the waves to stay upright on their boards. When surfers first begin, they paddle out to the ocean and sit on their boards, waiting for a wave. Both buoyancy and gravity are working together to keep them upright on their boards. Buoyancy ensures that the surfer and surfboard doesn’t sink and gravity pulls the surfer and the surfboard together which keeps them where they want to be. Once a surfer picks out a wave they have to move fast. An ideal wave is big enough to ride and fast enough. Newton’s first law, which states “that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force“ is true for surfing as well. When a surfer sees the wave they’d like to catch they must paddle fast in order to catch it. Newton’s second law states, “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” This applies to surfing. When a rider is accelerating down the wave they use a force that’s greater than the force of friction that’s working against the board. This causes them to accelerate in a different direction
The surf board has a extremely particular center of gravity, which is why it’s so important where the person stands on the board. Where the surfer stands determines how they control the board and which direction they go in. Newton’s third law of motion, which states “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” which also pertains to the physic of surfing. Most surfers like to turn on the wave. When a surfer uses their weight to push down one edge of their surfboard, the edge pushes into the water in turn. Then the water pushes back and that’s how the board turns.
A surfboard itself determines a lot about how the surfers ride will be. For example, the old boards used by ancient Polynesians were very unsophisticated and didn’t turn very well and ancient peoples often had to put one foot in the water to help the board turn. Modern boards have rails that help turn much better and make surfing significantly easier than in the past. There are also different size boards depending on the types of waves the surfer is attempting to ride. Shorts boards (5-7 feet) are for more experienced surfers who are attempting to ride bigger waves. Long boards (8-12 feet) are used for smaller waves. The size and shape of the board are important factors to consider when surfing.
In order to determine the average speed of an object, distance and time have to be measured. The calculation of the average speed of a surfer is a bit complicated since there are a lot of factors involved. The actual distance relies on factors such as the height of the wave, the wavelength, and the shelving of the beach. The surfer also plays a significant role since they “steer” the board and that determines how fast they go and which direction they go in. Once all these factors and the time is calculated, the average speed can be calculated.
Surfing is an interesting and complex sport and physics plays an enormous role in the speed and experience of riding a wave.