The Origins of Surfing and Polo

History

The exact origins of surfing are unknown; however, it is thought to have been conceived somewhere in the string of Polynesian Islands in the pacific. This due to the fact that surfing was first recorded in 1768 by Joseph Banks, the HMS Endeavour’s official botanist, during their stay in Tahiti – (James Cook’s first voyage). Surfing was described by early visitors to the islands (especially Hawaii) as not just a hobby, or even a sport, but a way of life with the chiefs typically being the best surfers.

“The people were fascinated with the concept of taming the ocean and discovering the mysteries buried beneath the powerful waves.” (Schilling)

However, surfing was almost wiped out in the Pacific after the sport was banned by 19th century missionaries who had particular interest in Hawaii at the time. They pushed the locals to ditch the activities they did in their free time in favour of working more.

Luckily, in the early 20th century, as Hawaii became an increasingly popular tourist spot, the sport was rebirthed, spreading overseas to California and Australia. Two men who assisted hugely in this revival were: Jack London and George Freeth. Jack London; a famous writer at the time who, after visiting Waikiki, wrote several stories for popular magazines which helped to raise awareness for the sport and popularise the country as a holiday destination. George Freeth was a skilled Hawaiian-Irish surfer, was hired in 1907 to help promote a new railway to Redondo beach in California. His surfing demonstration kickstarted the obsession with the sport in the US and he was then dubbed the ‘first man to surf in California’.

Since then surfing continued to grow more and more popular, until in 1983 the Association of Surfing Professionals was started (now called the World Surf League), an international surfing association that holds surfing competitions and events for a wide range of surfing styles.

Rules

When not in competition the surfing rules are more like a set of guidelines which not only encourage safety but courteous and respectful behaviour towards other surfers, swimmers and ocean users.

The most important rule, and probably the first thing most young surfers learn, is not to drop into a wave that someone else has already caught or is catching (unless at a safe distance). This is to ensure that the first surfer is not forced to ditch the wave in order to avoid colliding with the second surfer. Another crucial rule is that the surfer closest to the waves peak gets priority and has first rights to the wave. This is another rule put in place to avoid collisions and means that the person in the best position to catch a wave is the one that has rights to it.

Next most important rule is to communicate, if for example, your riding in on a wave and a swimmer comes into your line, the best thing to do is yell out which way you plan on going so the swimmer knows to head in the other direction.

Finally, do your best to keep your board under control. Making sure your leg rope is attached not only ensures that you don’t lose your board but it can help you to keep it from turning into a flying projectile when you wipe out.

Training

Professional level surfers often spend most of their time training for a competition by just surfing. However, on top of this most choose to do things like yoga, swimming, and running.

Yoga improves flexibility and posture, and can reduce the chances of pulled muscles, whilst allowing a wider range of motion. Surfing requires the surfer to move their body in ways that shift their centre of gravity, helping them remain balanced and manoeuvre the board. To do this involves the twisting of the torso, and the movement of arms in a circular path around the body, being flexible in these ways will help surfers to be able to perform tricks and remain on their board. Both paddling to the line-up and paddling to catch a wave can be strenuous, especially to a novice who hasn’t built up muscle in their arms. Some surfers will try to increase the strength of their shoulders and arms so that they are more able to both catch waves and get to the line up without fatiguing. Things like swimming, Pilates and lifting weights are often done here to both increase muscle strength and stamina.

Components

Of course, muscle strength and endurance will improve with almost all aspects of surfing. Paddling requires the strength to pull the board and its rider through the water, and endurance to ensure the arms don’t fatigue before the first wave is caught. Once up on the board, manoeuvring and maintaining balance require almost all the muscles in the body and so muscle strength and endurance improves here too. Flexibility, especially in the spine, will improve over time. Manoeuvring the board, particularly when doing tricks requires the twisting of the torso and so spinal flexibility will improve. (Drughi, 2019)

Because surfing is a high intensity sport cardiorespiratory health will also improve, most surfers are incredibly passionate and spend a lot of time doing it, meaning it is rarely a hobby and more like a lifestyle. The time spent outside multiple days a week in the summer and hours spent paddling out and riding back in will of course improve the bodies ability to absorb oxygen into the blood, take it to the muscles and then use it to create energy. Most surfers appear incredibly fit, with overall lean and muscular bodies. Which is to be expected.

Injuries

When things go wrong, the most common thing to happen is to get, what my family calls ‘being tumbled’. This means to fall off while riding a wave, land in the worst part of the wave, get sucked into the vortex in the middle of the broken wave which repeatedly spins you around under the water. The closest thing I could compare it to would be getting stuck in a washing machine, you don’t know which way is up and no matter how much you thrash around there’s no getting out until the wave peters out. Being tumbled usually results in water up the nose, and the terror of being unable to breathe while it happened… but is usually mostly harmless. However, having a board strapped to your leg can be a danger, as colliding with said board while in the swirling vortex of death could result in anything from a bruise to a concussion, and getting in the way of the fins could mean a serious gash.

Of course, we have to also include the uncommon and unlikely, but nonetheless worst types of injuries. When surfing we share the ocean with not only other people but other animals, and sometimes an interaction with these other animals can be painful. The first thing that comes to anyone’s mine is probably shark bites, which on average there were 66 unprovoked shark attacks in 2018, with surfers being the most popular (this is because from below a surfer on a board looks like a large seal). Of course, its not only sharks’ surfers have to look out for, there are jellyfish, and a whole list of other less friendly sea critters too. (Naylor, 2018) (Grabianowski, 2005) Finally, because surfing is a water sport, there is a chance of drowning, however you are less likely to drown as a surfer than a swimmer as you are strapped to a large flotation device at all times, but of course it is still possible.

Polo

History

The game of polo originated in central Asia, first played in Persia (todays Iran) sometime between the 6th century BC and the 1st century AD. The game was originally used as a training exercise for cavalry units as it required riders to master manoeuvring their horses while at the same time focussing on the ball and wielding a club. Over time it became Persia’s national sport, including both female and male players. From here it spread to Arabia, then Tibet, China, Japan and then India in the 13th century by Muslim conquerors.

India was where it was picked up by Europe, as European tea planters first played in Assam. In 1858 the European polo club was formed in Silchar. The game spread to England and became incredibly popular, and by 1875 matches held at Richmond park and Hurlingham attracted 10,000 onlookers. The game was particularly popular with the military (as they were the ones who learnt it in India and brought it over), universities, royalty and nobility due to it being so expensive to play (need to have multiple horses, and all the tack (gear) to go with)

Polo was introduced to the US in 1876 by James Gordon Bennet, who watched a game in the UK. Polo was quick to take off in the states, with the formation of the Polo Association in 1890, and then the first international competition between the US and UK in 1886 (the UK won). (Latham, 2019) In the 1920s and 30s polo became popular in Argentina, and in 1928 the first Copa Da Las Americas.

Rules

Polo is a fairly simple game, similar to most other ball games. Two teams each try to score by hitting the ball into the other team’s goal. A polo goal consists of two poles spaced 8 yards apart, in-between which is where the ball must go for a successful goal to be made.

A team is made up of four players, each with a different responsibility.

• Position one is an attacking offensive player, responsible for scoring while defending.
• Position two is an offensive player, backing up position one during attacks.
• Position three us usually given to the best player in the team. They are responsible for attacking, stealing the ball off the other team and hitting it to positions one and two for a score.
• Position four is tasked with defending the team’s goal.

Equipment

• A minimum of two polo ponies; horses bred specifically to play polo. They are fairly small, agile, intelligent and tough. (Chester)
• Tack: the gear required for the horse such as a polo saddle, reins etc
• Ball and mallet
• Riders clothing: jeans or jodhpurs and riding boots.
• Riders safety equipment; helmet, back protector

A game of polo is played in four segments called chukkas, which last for seven minutes. Because of the high intensity nature of the game it is required that horses are swapped between chukkas so they don’t tire out. Typically, richer people choose to have one horse for each chukka, but it is possible to play with two, interchanging throughout the game.

Rules

• The game, and each chukka starts when the umpire throws the ball onto the field.
• If a point is scored, the teams swap sides of the field.
• To get the ball from the other team, players will ride along side and try to direct the other riders horse away from the ball or even take them out of play.
• Riders are allowed to bump other horses and hook another players mallet when attempting a hit the ball.
• Games are overseen by two mounted umpires which ride up and down the field with the players.
• Free hits are awarded after fouls.
• A mallet can only be hooked if attempting to hit the ball and the mallet cannot ride above the opponents shoulder, improper mallet use is the most common reason for a foul.
• The winner of the game is the one with the most points as with most games.

Training

Polo has a number of aspects which require training and practice.

• Both the horse and rider must be fit and have a good understanding of what the other requires of them.
• The rider must be a skilled horse rider, be able to think quickly and know what to ask the horse and when
• The horse must be trained to remain calm when in close proximity to other horses, most ‘non-polo’ horses would probably freak out as polo sometimes requires horses to bump one another.
• The rider must be trained in using the polo club to hit the ball, this can require some flexibility due to the height they must reach from.

Polo players often choose to hold friendly practice matches with their teams or other riders, which are usually slower paced than competitive matches, as practice for themselves and to keep their horses active.

Some choose one-on-one training with polo trainers, these trainers could work with the player, helping them perfect their technique, or, could work with the horse, schooling it for polo games.

On days when neither the horse or rider is to be trained, most riders choose to simply exercise their horses to keep them fit. Things like lunging, long treks, or just going for a hoon around a paddock are common choices. Serious players will also focus on their own fitness, usually incorporating some sort of cardio into their routines as to ensure they don’t fatigue during a game.

Components

Playing polo improves cardiorespiratory fitness over time for both the horse and rider; some people don’t see horse-riding as a sport as they thing all the rider does is sit there while the horse does the exercise. However, as a horse rider myself, I can assure you that it takes skill and a great deal of fairness, the horse and rider must be in sync, and move as one. Active riding, such as that in a polo game, is a high intensity, cardio type exercise, improving your cardiorespiratory health. Flexibility also improves with the bending and twisting needed to hit the ball. With the ball being far away on the ground it is sometimes necessary to practically hang off the side of the horse to reach it. Muscle strength is probably most likely to improve in the legs and back; good riders control the horse with their legs and their position in the saddle, while the arms do little more than maintain contact with the horse’s mouth.

Muscle endurance will definitely improve in the legs too as they are required to support the rider all the time while riding, usually a rider’s legs will be the first to fatigue during long games. Body composition; assuming the rider maintains a balanced diet riding will keep them in good shape, however some riders can be on the large side, especially casual players. However serious players are generally fit.

Injuries

Concussions, and broken bones are common with all horse related sports, due to the height which players fall when they fall off. In fact, broken bones are so common that there is the saying; ‘you aren’t a real rider until you’ve broken a bone.’ Minor injuries would include bruising (from falling or being stepped on), strains and sprains. Major injuries such as paralysis and death are uncommon, but of course possible.

Marine Biology Project

It is generally a requirement of marine biologists to obtain a scuba diving certificate, enabling them to carry out work in the field; like taking samples and assessing the environment.

Beach clean ups are popular volunteering projects, and I think that to combine a beach clean up with diving to create an ocean floor clean up along beaches and coasts would be very popular for marine biologists.