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 big surfboards that inflate their self-esteem? Well now surfing can claim the title of the most confidence enhancing sport of all, after new research from Exeter University in England proves it categorically.
Before we examine the reasons why surfing is so good for your ego, let’s explain just how the research was conducted. 20 sports were tested overall and around 200 people took part who did not take part in regular sport themselves. A psychology test was used to measure confidence and was filled in by the participants both before and after they had completed their 3 month involvement in a certain sport. 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. 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
