[Photo courtesy of Surfer magazine]
Few moments in surfing are as unpleasant as the gut wrench that comes from sprint-paddling over a menacing set wave only to be confronted with that wave’s meaner, panic-inducing, and much bigger brother behind it, looming up from the depths of a watery hell. Doesn’t matter if you’re Shane Dorian squaring off against a 60-footer at Jaws, or a Workaday Joe having a freak out at your local maxing beachbreak. Fear in the ocean is awful and often debilitating. As it turns out, that fear can also be good for you. Not just putting-hair-on-your-chest good for you, but legitimately physiologically beneficial.