Cognitive timescales in highly skilled physical actions learned through practice: A 20-year participant observation analysis of recreational surfing

Abstract

This analysis aims to identify the specialist cognitive skills used in recreational surfing, and the time scales at which they operate. It employs participant observation from 2000 h surfing over 20 years, including 5000 waves ridden and 500,000 waves observed. It shows that cognitive components of surfing skills operate at timescales from days down to sub-seconds. Cognitive skills are learned through repeated observation and practice, at all timescales. Longer timescales allow for reconsideration of individual action decisions; shorter timescales do not. Practice improves the ability to anticipate outcomes, even at very short timescales. At sub-second timescales, skilled practitioners achieve self-perceived subjective time dilation, which permits awareness of attention, actions, and decisions even during high-speed, physically skilled and practiced manoeuvres. That is, features of brain operation generally associated with “slow” cognition, persist even at short timescales generally associated with “fast” autonomic physical motor control. Qualitative analysis of the psychology of surfing and similar adventurous outdoor nature sports can thus make a significant contribution to broader understanding of human brain function and evolution.

Management implications Surfing itself in not a heavily managed activity. Most surfing sites are open access and it is up to the individual surfers to judge the respective safety and possible risks. It is only in organized surf schools and guided surf tours where expert instructors assess the skills and show the surfer how to manage their education and safety. From a training perspective, this study sets out the range of different types of knowledge and skills that a successful surfer must acquire.