Team GIBBON
Oct 6, 2020
Surfing and Slacklining
Balance training is a big topic for many sports such as surfing, skiing, skateboarding etc. In this article, Dennis from the Landratten blog discusses the connection between slacklining and surfing.
Slacklining has become more and more of a trend sport in recent years and is now a common sight in parks and green spaces in the summer. Slacklines are also often seen at popular surf spots. Why is this so, and how can you easily get started in this sport? You can find out here.
What is slacklining?
The short answer to the question "What is slacklining?" is known to most people: balancing on a tensioned band. However, considering that the literal German translation of the two words "Slack Line" is "slack rope", the term is perhaps somewhat misleading. After slacklining has developed into a trend sport over the years, it is no longer enough to simply describe it as "balancing". The range of activities spans from challenging jumps to daring tightrope acts, movement therapy to simple fitness training.
Transfer of Slacklining to Surfing
In sports science, the term transfer refers to how a certain training method affects the skills in a specific sport. The greater the transfer, the better the sport X can be trained by method Y. For example, there are sports such as river surfing or surfskate, which have a relatively large transfer to surfing. Movement sequences, motor skills, and body perception are similar in many ways.
With slacklining, the movements are of course fundamentally different, so no direct transfer is to be expected. However, there is definitely an indirect improvement through training of general skills that are beneficial for surfing.
There are some scientific studies on the topic of transfer of slacklining to other sports and general fitness. For example, positive effects on "single-leg gliding" in cross-country skiing and an improvement in maximum strength have been found. There is also good evidence of its effectiveness in the therapeutic field.
A small overview of current studies can be found here, for example:
Of course, one problem with scientific research is that a slackline can be used in many different ways. So if a study finds an (or no) effect, the Aussagekraft is limited to the way the slackline was used in the particular study. I think that anyone who enjoys movement will enjoy slacklining. Therefore, I think it is more advisable to just try slacklining yourself instead of reading through hundreds of studies. I hope this translation is helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Slacklining Without Trees and Indoors
The use of a classic slackline requires that there are two adequate attachment points - usually trees - between which the slackline is tensioned. Thank goodness there are still so many trees that there are all sorts of "spots" for slacklining. Nevertheless, there are situations where there is no suitable existing possibility for tensioning. This is often the case when the home garden is to be the Slacklining Arena. For such a thing, there are basically 2 "off-the-shelf" solutions. On the one hand, slackline frames with ground anchors and on the other hand, slackboards/slackracks.
