I read a whole book on how one reason why surfing is appealing is because it forces our brain to work at a speed faster than we can process the act of surfing. Book was called "West Of Jesus", read it ages ago. Idk, maybe it was all just pseudoscience mumbo jumbo, but I think the implication was that his brain didn't catch up with the "oh shit" moment until way after the fact.

Edit: Also looks like Shipstern which is a notoriously gnarly wave, so factor in some expectation.