As I am sure you have figured out by now after perusing our site and facebook page, we have a FlowRider or indoor surfing machine in our megastore on Clearwater Beach. The big question we always get is, “IS INDOOR SURFING LIKE REAL SURFING?”
Well, the answer is both yes and no.
The skills that you need for Flowboarding (what they call indoor surfing on the FlowRider) and surfing are the same (balance, upper and lower body strength, stamina, great timing and patience) but the mechanics are quite different.
In regular surfing you paddle into the wave. The water comes at you from behind and you use the momentum of Mother Nature to ride the wave to shore. When you indoor surf, the water comes at you from the front and you drop in on the wave from the top. The “wave” in indoor surfing is a 2 inch sheet of rushing water being pushed uphill by a large motor. Instead of crashing into the water, sand or shore, you fall onto a trampoline surface, quite a unique experience if you have never done it before.
Flowboards (what you use to ride the indoor wave) are quite smaller than a regular surfboard. The reason for this is first and foremost practicality (the indoor wave surface is much smaller than the ocean) but also so people can maintain more control over the board and have the ability to do more tricks (similar to those done in skateboarding).
Flowboarding is a mix of the surfing, skateboarding, Skimboarding and snowboarding all packaged into a 20 foot by 12 foot glass box. And while being a pro flowboarder won’t mean that you are ready to take on the US Open of Surfing, it helps people beef up the skills you need for surfing the open water.
To boot, flowriding is an indoor sport so it can be done in any weather and any location (no waves on the Gulf Coast, no problem) and also there is no fear of shark attacks.
So come on in and see what all of the fuss is about! Come ride the indoor wave that is always up in Clearwater Beach.
Surf Style Blog 