Abstract
Identifying high-performing and promising athletes is an important task of national surf associations. However, the scientific foundation of performance indicators in surfing has only developed in recent years. This review aimed to (1) find out which performance characteristics discriminate between surfers of different skill levels, and (2) point out gaps in the existing literature and direct future studies by applying the Groningen Sport Talent Model (GSTM) to categorize findings. A systematic review of PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE and PsycInfo databases was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. A total of thirty-one studies were included. Studies were found on anthropometric, physiological, technical, and tactical, but not on psychological characteristics of surfing performance. In total only six studies included female surfers. Findings suggest that a few performance indicators exist in relation to associations between physical capacities and surfing skill. For one, relative arm span seems to be beneficial to surfing performance and discriminates between differently skilled surfers. Additionally, 15 m and 400 m in-water paddle performance, as well as relative upper and lower-body strength also tend to be better in superior surfers. Technical skills, such as the ability to perform aerials and tube rides with a high completion rate, translate directly into an enhanced scoring potential and therefore success in surfing competitions. While a variety of characteristics for high-performance surfing are already indicated, future research needs to focus on developing reliable methods with higher ecological validity to assess these skills. Apart from the in-water paddle tests, most indicators lack a broadly accepted testing method. Especially, the field of psychological skills in surfing should be addressed more in the future.
Highlights
Developing successful athletes is a process that must consider a variety of different variables.[3,4,5] One of the first steps that researchers commonly take, can be seen in identifying important performance characteristics of the respective sport.[6,7] Based on the identified performance indicators practitioners are able to create performance benchmarks and criteria that ideally help them in identifying and developing future elite athletes
After removal of duplicates (n 1⁄4 482), as well as an extensive abstract and title screening a total of 84 studies remained
Five further studies were included from the secondary search, which brought the total number of studies for the full-text review to 89 studies
Summary
Developing successful athletes is a process that must consider a variety of different variables.[3,4,5] One of the first steps that researchers commonly take, can be seen in identifying important performance characteristics of the respective sport.[6,7] Based on the identified performance indicators practitioners are able to create performance benchmarks and criteria that ideally help them in identifying and developing future elite athletes Sports, such as track and field, swimming or cycling usually have clear and objective performance measures which makes it easier to identify talented athletes based on existing performance indicators, compared to more complex domains.[8,9,10] Finding such objective and multidimensional performance characteristics is a current challenge for practitioners and researchers in surfing (i.e., wave riding). Continuous competitive success in surfing, such as the eleven world titles by Kelly Slater, can be explained with the athlete’s skills rather than the environmental influences
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