
Title : Surf Flex: Flexibility, Yoga and Conditioning Exercises for Surfers (Sport Flex Series)
Author : Paul Frediani
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : This book LITERALLY saved my life!
First of all, I'll review the book, then I'll tell you how it saved my life...
As a 31 year old surfer, I knew that I wasn't getting any younger, I also wasn't getting any better at surfing. I needed a lift, one that could help me on days I couldn't get to, or it wasn't worth going in the water. This is it. Paul Frediani has written quite possibly the most important single book for surfers, ever published.
The book is a comprehensive training guide on flexibility, strength, suppleness and balance, written exclusively with surfers in mind. With contributions from top surfers, and watersports experts, it is also full of inspiring titbits.
The book is broken into four main training disciplines, Flex time, the Surf Flex workout, Cardio Conditioning and The Wahine (woman) workout.
The Flex time section is a basic yoga guide and guide to stretching and flexibility exercises. The exercises are accompanied by clear photos, and are a good starting point. (I would heartily recommend "Yoga - Learn Yoga - Beginners Class 1" video, available from amazon as an excellent beginning companion.)
Cardio conditioning is a section of beach, pool and dry land workouts to get your heart pumping and your body working. I heartily agree with Frediani that all surfers need to be good watermen and need to swim at least a mile. This will help you get there.
The Wahine workout, (wahine is Hawaiian for woman) is specifically designed to help women build their upper body strength and to avoid knee injuries specific to women. Highly commendable, and yes, some of the exercises are good for blokes too.
The piece de resistance is the superb Surf Flex section. This is a section designed exclusively to meet the needs of surfer. You will need a Swiss ball to make the most of this section, (imagine a space hopper with no ears.) You can get them from any good sports shop, or Argos, for about £15. Money well spent! You carry out different moves, whilst balanced on the ball, such as sit-ups, knee tucks, and even practice balancing on the ball, sitting, kneeling and then standing. This all works on the core muscles and impoves your neuromuscular system, (your balance in other words.) It is superb.
This will improve your surfing, no question, but it may be more important than that...
Feb 2003 I was surfing with friends in North Devon, and after a good days surfing, we were coming to the end of our second session. It was a pretty big day, easily overhead, and with strong offshores. Tired but happy I decided to get out back for one last blast when I was caught in a rip and dragged into the imact zone. Try as I might I couldn't escape. To make matters worse my leash ripped off and I was left stranded with 6 footers dumping on my head and no board. I am convinced that it is only the fact that I had been following this training regime that I am alive to talk about it. The strength, determination, and cardiovascular power I needed that day came as a result of this book. The doctors actually said that if it were not for the fact that I was extremely fit I WOULD have died. Now that is an endorsement!!

Title : Athletic Skier
Author : Warren Witherall
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Cut your FIS points in half!
The idea of canting at the base of the boot and not the boot itself is pure genious!

Title : Learn to Surf
Author : James MacLaren
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : A must for a beginning surfer, more of a survival guide.
This is a great book to learn in depth about surfing, I have been surfing since I was 6 and I wish that I had a book to teach me all of the things that I learned the hard way. This book is a survival guide, It teaches you about waves, form and how to identify rip tides and other things that can end your day of surfing and your life. If you are considering learning to to surf, you can't afford not to read this book.

Title : Caught Inside: a Surfer's Year on the California Coast
Author : Daniel Duane
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : this is how it feels....
I bought this book based on other reviews and really enjoyed it as the author does manage to convey much of what if feels and what drives you to surf. It's not outstanding literature but it is a good read and probably one to pass to your girlfriend/boyfriend to give them some understanding of why you do what you do, although be prepared for them to dump you afterwards!

Title : Cross-country Skiing for Everyone
Author : Jules Older
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : What a kick!
One of the things I love about cross-country skiing is its diversity. Another thing is the easy-going quality -- you just go and enjoy the hell out of it, whether you're skating or track skiing or telemarking or running around the backcountry yodeling. The thing I DON'T like is how many practitioners take it sooo seriously. Jules Older's book is a kick in the pants. He has the right priorities. Whether he's talking about equipment, clothing, technique, skiing with your old dog, even waxing (which attracts the real fanatics!), you feel he's about to giggle. and it's contagious! There's still plenty of useful information; but the context - including photos - makes it fun. If you'd like to learn about a great sport, hear some great stories, and laugh a lot in the process, I'd choose this over any other book! (And yeah, I used to be one of those fanatics; turns out it's more fun to learn and laugh at the same time.)

Title : The All-mountain Skier: The Way to Expert Skiing
Author : Mark Elling
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : The best ski book. For anyone except total beginners.
Some people will never be able to get any benefit from reading a book on a sport. Not everyone can take the knowledge of _how_ something should be done and the advice on how it should look/feel, and be thinking about it when they are trying to perform the action later. For them, all such books are wasted efforts.
Luckily for me I get real benefits from these sorts of books if they are done well. Especially in sports that are technical and often counter-intuitive, which skiing certain is.
This book is superb example of a sports manual and it does all that one could hope for in a book.
For me the most useful aspects of the book are:
- the author explaining to you in detail what is happening when you ski, how it works, what your body does and what the skis do
- how it should _feel_ to do something right. This allows you to have a goal to work towards and goes some way to addressing the disadvantages of not having an instructor.
- the drills
The overall structure of the book is also a strong point. The author breaks down 'skiing' into stance, steering, edging, body movement etc and goes into great detail on each. This helps you to target areas more specifically and find where lies the weakness that seems to be holding you back.
There is also a great section on choosing your equipment, and perhaps more importantly, having it set up correctly.
Later on in the book the chapters move away from this 'toolbox' approach and onto how a skier should use their tools ski in a certain manner and to deal with different terrain and conditions (steeps, crud, trees, bumps).
This sections of the book feels like getting the best advice your instructor/friends ever gave you. Certainly you then have to get out there and do it in order to learn, but at least you know what you should be doing, how it should feel, what your problems may be etc.
I have already gone on long enough, but in closing I would remind anyone reading how much even 1 hour of tuition costs. Even if you don't get as much out of this book as I did it is a bargain, and the _only_ book I would recommend.
I would defy anyone to read it and not feel that they have learned something which they can use to improve their skiing.

Title : Ski Flex: 10 Minutes to Better Skiing (Sports Flex)
Author : Paul Frediani
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Sound stretching and strengthening advice for skiers
This is a very brief but useful book that targets ski specific stretches, warm-ups and warm downs for ski seasn, as well as off-season strengthening / fitness exercises.
It you want to get the most out of your time in the mountains, I highly reccommend it.

Title : That Oceanic Feeling: A Surfer's View of the World
Author : Fiona Capp
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Antidote to the British Winter....
If you're looking for motivation to dig out, wax up and paddle out your surf board after a long cold winter, this is it.
Beautifully written, this thoughful and though provoking book captures the pleasures of surfing, and covers just enough of the history and culture of the sport to whet your appetitie without trying to turn you into a social historian.
The Austrialian author is obviously bent out of shape by Austalia's domestic immigration policy, but even her political hand-wringing is thought provoking, even though it loses a lot of its relevance for UK readers.
I've just read my copy in two days and would happily recommend it to any surfer (or anyone with a love of the sea) looking for a good read....

Title : The Stormrider Guide: Europe - Complete Colour Atlas and Guide to All the Surfing Locations in Europe
Author : Oliver Fitzjones
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Stunning photos, with excellent facts and details
This really is a must for anyone interested in surfing. The detail is incredible and very useful, and the pictures are amazing. This book shows why Europe and the British Isles have some of the best surfing spots on the planet.

Title : Learn to Surf
Author : James MacLaren
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Before entering the water, read it, often
Sit down and read it on a fine day overlooking the sea and the surf and you'll go back in the water understanding so much more - It really is that good, even for such a small volume. After reading three other books on how to learn, this is the one that is making sense of all the others. That, and Wingnut's Art of Longboarding DVD if you can find it.
The section on reading the water surface to identify rip currents I haven't seen described anywhere else... plenty of books explain the dangers of rips, but not how to find spot them on the water surface
By all means buy some other step-by-step photo books, but get this one too

Title : The World Stormrider Guide: Vol 2 (Stormrider Guides)
Author : Antony Colas
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Surfed Out
Buy this book if you have any sense of adventure and enjoy surfing! I couldn't decide if it was worth buying after the original Stormrider guide, but this new adition contains loads of different spots! I never even thought that some of these places had such sick waves. I've started to plan next years trips already, great help, loads of info, buy it!!

Title : Pipe Dreams: A Surfer's Journey
Author : Kelly Slater
Rating : 3 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Interesting but average...
This should have been a fascinating read, after all, Kelly Slater has dominated the surfing scene like no one else before and is still considered by many as one of the most powerful surfers around today. However, what we actually get is none of the passion of Kelly's surfing and weak writing lets down what could have been a fascinating story. It all too often has the feel of a school project and even the climax of a world championship fought out in the finals of the Pipemasters contest in Hawaii fails to conjure up the tension it should.
All surfers should find this an interesting enough read, but Kelly should have employed the services of a biographer to tell his story. Not in the same league as Tony Hawk's autobiography.

Title : The World Stormrider Guide: Vol 2 (Stormrider Guides)
Author : Antony Colas
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Very good text but very average photography
The text is great and general info is spot on but to be honest i was disappointed with the book in general because of the pictures. There wasnt much variation in the size and positioning of the pictures(maybe im just used to the superb photography is CARVE magazine) which gave the book a monotonous tone and didnt give you much wow factor.
The text is still a great guide and has given me some great plans just isnt presented as well as it could me, but definately still worth your hard earned cash! :)