Limited research has investigated the duration adolescent competitive surfers spend free surfing, competing, being coached and spend physically training in terms of strength, balance and conditioning. It has been previously documented that surfers can spend between 3.7 - 5 hours a day practicing in good surf conditions, 3-5 days a week for recreational and international level surfers (1-3). Within juniors (>19 y), weekly surfing hours range between 7.5 (Recreational) and 18.1 (Competitive) hours surfing each week (4). Previous research within other sports has reported the weekly training hours to be approximately 4-6.7 hours for U14-U15 age groups, and 9-10 hours for U17 soccer players (5, 6). Furthermore, rugby union has reported approximately 15 hours of weekly training (7, 8), pre pubertal female gymnasts 14 hours (9), and triathlon approximately 16 hours (10). In terms of land-based training, surfers participate in minimal training sessions with an average of 0-2 sessions per week) (4, 11) with majority of a surfer`s training regime undertaken in the water (1). In comparison, field sports strength training in soccer for both U15 and 17 is approximately 0.90 mins per week (6), and 6 hours in rugby per week (12), and swimmers 2-3 times per week. The assessment of weekly and even monthly surf practice/training hours is vital for understanding the loads that these up and coming surfers endure. Such information will help understand what kind of training these athletes are undertaking, how long they are surfing, what they consider training, and also areas that should be improved upon, in terms of specific training. Greater knowledge of what the juniors surfers are performing in terms of surfing hours, and any land-based training they are partaking in will aid coaches and strength and conditioning practitioners understanding workloads these athletes perform. This understanding can aid in the design and development of specific on-and off-water training programs to aid these athletes and potentially limiting likelihood of injuries from overuse/lacking strength. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish surfers` training hours in terms of strength, balance and conditioning hours, as well as surfing hours, coached hours and competition hours. The monitoring of the athletes will provide insights into the weekly surf hours compared to land-based training these athletes do. METHODS Experimental Approach The current study was a descriptive analysis, whereby eight adolescent surfers were required to report their surfing hours and physical training hours over a six week period. Subjects Eight adolescent male (n=6, 153.7 ± 6.3 cm, 43.4 ± 5.8 kg, 13.5 ± 0.8 yrs.) and female (n=2, 156.2 ± 4.9 cm, 50.9 ± 10.8 kg, 14.5 ± 2.1 yrs.) surfers volunteered to participate in this study. For inclusion in this study the adolescents were required to be; (i) a member of a local high school surf coaching excellence program, (ii) free from any medical contraindication, and (iii) aged between 13 to 16 years. The study and its procedures were approved by ECU ethics committee, and all participants and the parent/guardian were provided with information regarding the study before provided written informed consent. Procedures After each training session over a six week period, the participants were asked to report their surfing and training hours for the week by filling in a questionnaire. Specifically, the participants were asked to provide the amount of hours spent free surfing, being coached, competing, strength training, conditioning and balance work. Athletes were questioned about what they did to make sure sections were filled in correctly in terms of the physical activity (i.e. running, skateboarding = conditioning, periodized strength training = strength, gymnastics = balance). The questionnaire was provided twice a week to ensure more accurate recording of hours spent surfing and training. Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables and reported as mean ± SD. A one-way ANOVA was performed between the surfing variables; free surfing vs coach, coached vs competition, free surfing vs competition, and between the training variables; strength vs conditioning, conditioning vs balance, balance vs strength on the average weekly hours. Data was statistically analysed using statistical analysis package (SPSS, Version 22.0; Chicago, IL), with statistical significance defined as p=0.05. RESULTS A significant difference was identified between weekly free Surfing hours and competition hours (p=0.037), no other significant differences were reported between the surfing variables (Free surfing vs Coached p=0.751; Coached vs Competition p=.523), or between the training variables (Strength vs Conditioning p=.553; Conditioning vs Balance p=.269; Balance vs Strength p=.722).
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