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Adventure and Extreme Sports Injuries pp 143–172Cite as

Surfing Injuries

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Abstract

Surfing is perhaps the oldest “extreme sport” in existence, and though its precise origins are unknown, most authorities agree that the sport originated in Polynesia over 800 years ago. The first written accounts of surfing appear in the journals of English explorer Captain James Cook, who witnessed Tahitians bodysurfing and riding waves in outrigger canoes in 1777 and a year later saw surfers riding waves while standing atop long wooden surfboards in Hawaii. Before the arrival of Westerners to Polynesia, surfing was an important cultural and recreational activity, particularly in the Hawaiian Islands where the chiefs maintained exclusive rights to the best surf breaks while commoners surfed elsewhere. By the early nineteenth century, the sport fell into a rapid decline under the influence of Western missionaries who discouraged surfing as a frivolous pastime [1].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University,Injury Prevention Center, Rhode Island Hospital, 593 Eddy St., Claverick 2, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Andrew T. Nathanson M.D., FACEP

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  1. Andrew T. Nathanson M.D., FACEP
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Correspondence to Andrew T. Nathanson M.D., FACEP .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Colorado, Aurora, 80045, USA

    Omer Mei-Dan

  2. , Department of Orthopedics, The Princess Royal Hospital, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Michael R Carmont

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Nathanson, A.T. (2013). Surfing Injuries. In: Mei-Dan, O., Carmont, M. (eds) Adventure and Extreme Sports Injuries. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4363-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4363-5_7

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4363-5

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