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Both surfing and snowboarding have continued to grow in participation levels over the last 10 years, to the point were they can be considered two of the most popular extreme sports around. Despite the fact these two sports couldn’t be further away from each other in terms of climate needed and location, a lot of people still enjoy taking part in both sports. But does being good at one sport necessarily mean that you will be good at the other? Let us take a look at three important elements that these sports require.

Upper Body Fitness. Surfing is one of those sports that is absolutely grueling on the upper-body, and if its not in good condition you wont be going anywhere fast. You need endurance in order to repetitively paddle surfboards out to see against breaking waves, and power is need in the ‘pop-up’ phase of getting upright on the board when you have caught a wave. In comparison, snowboarding does not require anywhere near the upper body condition as surfing, as snowboarding is mainly a sport powered by the legs and torso

Timing. Both snowboarding and surfing require honed timing skills. In snowboarding it is vital to time your turns perfectly and even more important when doing jumps as lining up for the correct entry to the kicker can mean the difference between a clean landing and a face full of snow. Likewise, catching a wave right requires great timing and knowing when to carve the board to pick up speed is a skill that can take years to learn.

Lower Body Strength & Agility. The legs play a very important part in both snowboarding and surfing, but it’s snowboarding that requires the most from the lower limbs. Snowboards require great skill and agility to turn and carve, and if your leg muscles are not in good condition you will simply not be able to ride well. However, don’t think the lower body can be neglected in surfing, your legs and core need to be strong and flexible, even just to stand up.

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