6 Ways a Watersports Experience Can Boost Your Confidence

When setting out on a boat to experience wakeboarding, wakesurfing, or water skiing for the first time, you’ll likely be thinking a couple things.

The first: This is gonna be so cool, why have I never done this before?

The second: Actually, that water looks a little cold. Is it cold? I’m averse to cold water. And that board looks a little wobbly. It might be too wobbly. In fact, maybe we should just try this after lunch. I can’t balance when I’m hungry.

Both of these sentiments will ebb and flow as easily as waves against the boat, but what every watersports enthusiast who has tried our boat rentals will attest to is that, once you’re in the water and cruising on the board, they both converge into one clear emotion: joy.

The watersports experience is unlike any other. It’s fun, but it’s also a challenging sort of fun that can push you both physically and mentally. Once you’ve given it an initial go – and likely landed flat on your face, as is custom! – it’s impossible not to want to try it again. And again. And again. Until you get it right.

That’s what makes the experience so rewarding, too. Especially for people who lack self-confidence. Watersports dangle a reward in front of your face and make you push yourself to achieve that award – while also having the most exhilarating experience of your life.

So how exactly do they do this, and why should you give it a go in the first place?

Conquering Fears and Embracing New Challenges

How often do you get to push yourself out of your comfort zone? Not enough for the act of doing so to feel familiar and comfortable, right?

Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be – but, when opportunity knocks, pushing yourself into that less-than-comfortable zone and trying something you have no idea how to succeed at is an excellent way to reaffirm your own sense of self, and how much you can achieve in a matter of hours. Conquering fear is a great feeling…in the end!

That’s why the buzz you get from watersports is so great – because it comes from building your confidence and perfecting your skills. When you get it right, there’s no feeling quite like it.

Even when you really start to master a watersport, there will always be a major element that you can’t control: the water itself. Every wake is a new experience, and even the most seasoned of waterskiers or wakeboarders will know that you can never fully prepare yourself for the experience the water has waiting for you.

These aren’t the sort of experiences you can ever get used to, and that usually turns out to be most people’s favorite thing about it.

Fun for Fun’s Sake

There’s a lot to be said for letting your hair down, getting so active and busy that you can’t possibly think about whatever’s usually on your mind, and just having fun for the sake of it. Unless you’re planning on a late career in watersports, there’s no obligation for you to get good fast or improve astronomically with each passing minute. Falling in the water is fun, and you’re welcome to do it as much as you need!

How often do you get to do that in ordinary life? In all likelihood, not enough! Let us take you away from it all for a few hours and put you back in touch with the part of yourself that just loves to try (and fail) as much as it takes. Breaking routine is good for us, and this is a great way to do that.

Getting You Closer To The Water

A watersports experience can also be the perfect solution for those who aren’t confident in the water. With every safety precaution being followed and instructors on hand to guide you, gradually you’ll forget where you are and focus purely on getting your balance right.

You might have avoided watersports before because it will put you outside your comfort zone. But, to grow as a person, it’s important to face your fears and make them cave to your command, rather than the other way around. As you gain more confidence on the board, so too will you gain confidence in the water, and when you get it right, the waves will be in your control. No one else's.

As adults, it’s easy enough for us to avoid a lot of the things that make us uncomfortable or uneasy – so easy, in fact, that we forget how rewarding it can be for the mind, body, and soul to actually stand up and face them. So long as you’ve got the basics of swimming and staying afloat down, you don’t need to avoid watersports just because you think you won’t be able to do anything.

Building Physical Strength and Coordination

A watersports experience is also great for showing you just how strong you are. From afar, being pulled along by a boat might seem like an easy task, but it really gets the muscles working hard. Waterskiing, wakesurfing, and wakeboarding are probably the sports that'll need the most upper-body strength and core ability. Even kayaking isn't as easy as people think. Believe us, they're all a full-body workout.

But because of the adrenaline involved, you will find yourself reaching a level you didn’t know you had. Even if you start without much physical strength and coordination, watersports will quickly help you to develop it and feel a lot more secure in your own abilities.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good playlist, either. With some tunes to G-up your confidence, you’ll forget all about the things that are holding you back. We’ve put together a list of some of our top tracks for watersports experiences, but feel free to bring your own – just make sure the vibes are right!

Social Interaction and Community Building

One of the best things you can get as a person lacking self-confidence is a pat on the back. Or a “well done”. Or a “try again”. This is why watersports are so good for building confidence, because you’re never alone. To get out on the board, you need at least a spotter and a driver, and over time, you’ll likely have even more people than that to enjoy the experience with.

There’s a big community of watersport lovers, and they have made it their ethos to support others and help out wherever they can. This isn’t just a good thing when it comes to building watersport skills, but also for building your social interaction skills and feeling confident within a group. It's not just about having fun on the water but having fun with your friends.

We’ve seen groups of old friends, extended families, coworkers and new couples head out onto the water together then make it back to dry land closer than ever before. These are memories that will keep you bonded for a lifetime.

Confidence with Continuous Learning

It's almost impossible to be perfect at anything the first time -- unless you’re ziplining, of course, then all you have to do is hang there and hope. But the good thing about watersports is they make you want to learn. After a few sessions, you’ll look at others and think: I wish I could do a flip like that. I wish my turns were as smooth as that. I wish I could cruise on the water with one ski with a cup of tea in one hand.

Hey, it might take you a long time to get there. But the point is that you're constantly offered new goals and challenges that are impossible to resist, whether that’s perfecting a waterski slalom or simply crossing the wake. This then requires continuous learning to get it right, and continuous learning breeds confidence.

Eventually, the whole experience is something you can take into your everyday life, as it teaches you that – if you put your mind to it – you really can achieve anything. Cheesy, we know! But it’s true.

You might be reading this thinking: Okay, but what if I can’t perfect those skills and feel that confident?

But this won’t be an issue if you have professionals on hand to guide you. Our boat rentals at Volcano Watersports come with experienced instructors who can help you conquer that fear and develop your skills. The beautifully calm waters of Lake Arenal are also perfect for embracing the challenge in the right environment, setting you up for success, not for failure.

With this in mind, it depends on where you try out watersports and who you are doing it with. If you ensure that you’re with the right people and in the right place, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get the hang of it, as the instructors will say all the right things to boost your confidence and keep you smiling.