What is it about?
Being physically active in green or blue spaces is shown to have a positive influence on a person's wellbeing. Surfing is one such activity with an estimated 35 million people surfing across more than 100 countries. Surf therapy is increasingly used as a health intervention, but evidence of its mental health benefits remains unclear. Our study assessed mental health outcomes in 15 females taking part in a 6-week surf programme at the Wave Bristol, UK. Data was collected using a novel online tool called the "Virtual Surf Booth".
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Photo by Surfing Croyde Bay on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The study provides support that the "Virtual Surf Booth" can be a usable and useful tool to collect mental health data within surfing activities. Furthermore the data collected using this method found that the surfing programme supported the mental health of participants. This adds to the current evidence which highlights the benefits of activities in blue and green spaces. However this area of research is still new and more work needs to be done to fully understand the potential health benefits of surfing in different population groups.
Perspectives
This research was a pleasure to be a part of and I believe the findings can help aid future data collection with activities such as surfing. The study was a collaborative effort with stakeholders from the Wave, ActiveBeing, AID Box Community, and Open Minds Active. This collaboration was key to the generation of a usable method and useful findings. Finally, I hope this article can help to advocate for more research looking at the potential health benefits of surfing. Inland facilities, such as the Wave, increase the accessibility of surfing meaning it can impact a wider range of population groups.
Dr Joey Murphy
University of Bristol
Seeing the participants smiling and increasing their confidence with each surf session was a truly rewarding experience, and a good illustration of what surfing can bring to mental wellbeing. I was delighted to conduct this research project with the support of The Wave, ActiveBeing, Open Minds Active and AIDBoxCommunity, and looking forward to adding further evidence to this novel field of research.
Ariane Gerami
University of Bristol
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “Virtual Surf Booth”: Assessment of a Novel Tool and Data Collection Process to Measure the Impact of a 6-Week Surf Programme on Mental Wellbeing, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, December 2022, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192416732.
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