Surf coaching

[manel85]

I have been coached at other sports (Tennis, Football - Soccer for you yanks) and I have to say that my experience has been positive, meaning I have improved in these sports. I have been surfing for 22 years or so and at 37 I am taking a trip and hiring a coach for the first time.
I never really thought about it but recently I have been asking why is it that in order to improve our surf (as most of us would like I assume) surfers don't usually go that route? Is it maybe 'frowned upon' in our culture? Lack of organized infrastructure/programs?

 

[HatterasGlass]

 

[rowjimmytour]

I have been coached at other sports (Tennis, Football - Soccer for you yanks) and I have to say that my experience has been positive, meaning I have improved in these sports. I have been surfing for 22 years or so and at 37 I am taking a trip and hiring a coach for the first time.
I never really thought about it but recently I have been asking why is it that in order to improve our surf (as most of us would like I assume) surfers don't usually go that route? Is it maybe 'frowned upon' in our culture? Lack of organized infrastructure/programs?

Waste of $$$ best stay in shape and surf as often as possible and you well improve fast. If you don't like your style or feels all wrong have someone video your sessions or "both" work on style on actual sk8 board carving drive ways or even better bowls at local sk8 park.

 

[Random Guy]

Post up videos of you surfing and I’m guessing you’ll get plenty of coaching

 

[Havoc]

at 37 you will not improve by much if at all. most people don't improve much past 16 years old. ur either going to get good fast while young or be like the rest of us stuck at intermediate level and devolving from there as u age.

 

[rowjimmytour]

at 37 you will not improve by much if at all. most people don't improve much past 16 years old. ur either going to get good fast while young or be like the rest of us stuck at intermediate level and devolving from there as u age.

Not always true I think the boards I started getting dialed in "custom" new material eps/epoxy, short stubby, etc and then front zip suits brought a stock to my surf in my 40z that felt great and a least in my head I did some of my finest surfing. Then I hit my 50z and been up hill since and not much stock

 

[Autoprax]

at 37 you will not improve by much if at all. most people don't improve much past 16 years old. ur either going to get good fast while young or be like the rest of us stuck at intermediate level and devolving from there as u age.

Before my spine exploded and my leg was paralyzed, I was surfing every day in my mid 40s and I really improved a lot.

My friends who were better surfers hated it.

 

[Bob Dobbalina]

at 37 you will not improve by much if at all. most people don't improve much past 16 years old. ur either going to get good fast while young or be like the rest of us stuck at intermediate level and devolving from there as u age.

Havoc's not necessarily wrong.
While I wouldn't say that 16 is everyone's peak, I think there may be a lot that is already established around then that will shape the years to come. Fundamentals develop quickly and the mastery of them show up either positively or negatively when they are reinforced for years to come. But certainly, some of that can be overcome by monitoring one's technique, reviewing, and applying as of ten as possible. But yeah, it'll probably be incremental.

Like anything, reps will get you somewhere , but multiple reps with bad technique only get you so far.

Now. Why is surf coaching kooky?
Have you ever heard someone talk about surfing? It gets silly fast. There were a lot of bad "coaches" for a while. They'd concentrate on general fitness, pointing out aspects of the lineup, heat strategy, and patting on the back/arguing with judges. Granted, coaches are getting better, but you'll often see that kids are taught competitive strategy more than they are taught technique. Part of that is because very few people, even life long surfers, are very good at articulating aspects of technique.

All that being said, do your thing and embrace your kookiness.

 

[Bob Dobbalina]

I can coach you right now.


Paddle faster.
Take off deeper.
Get up faster.
Bend your knees.
Stay crouched and coiled for longer.



We'll watch the video and tell you how you did it wrong.
That'll be $200 dollars.

 

[mundus]

Hands over feet, bend at knees, not waist.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

I can coach you right now.


Paddle faster.
Take off deeper.
Get up faster.
Bend your knees.
Stay crouched and coiled for longer.



We'll watch the video and tell you how you did it wrong.
That'll be $200 dollars.

Almost every average shortboarder I see (me included) does not bend their knees enough.

 

[Bob Dobbalina]

Almost every average shortboarder I see (me included) does not bend their knees enough.

same.

bend at knees, not waist.

Yes and no. And I've certainly repeated that refrain to beginners to attempt to get the idea of bending their knees to stick.

But it's not binary. The more you bend your knees into a loaded, coiled, crouched at the knee, the more mobility you gain in your upper body to correspondingly coil and uncoil, rather than compensating for your locked knees. Your favorite surfer is undoubtedly bending at the waist.

 

[oeste858]

same.




Yes and no. And I've certainly repeated that refrain to beginners to attempt to get the idea of bending their knees to stick.

But it's not binary. The more you bend your knees into a loaded, coiled, crouched at the knee, the more mobility you gain in your upper body to correspondingly coil and uncoil, rather than compensating for your locked knees. Your favorite surfer is undoubtedly bending at the waist.

you should offer Yuri your expertise. But HE definitely needs to bend at the knees more than he bends at the waist. LOL It kills his style and body mechanics

 

[freeride76]

Surfing better waves is the only bona fide pathway to improve as you get older.

I'm Slater vintage and I feel my good wave surfing with dialled in boards is still improving.

shitty beachbreaks it's deteriorating and I can have complete kook sessions in that type of surf.

 

[freeride76]

I've come to the conclusion that in shitty surf it's a better ROI to just muck around on a foamy (soft board) to keep conditioning and the blade sharp rather than have a crappy surf on SB and get all negatively stoked.

 

[surfadelphia]

Hands over feet, bend at knees, not waist.

I choose not to bend anything ever

 

[rowjimmytour]

same.




Yes and no. And I've certainly repeated that refrain to beginners to attempt to get the idea of bending their knees to stick.

But it's not binary. The more you bend your knees into a loaded, coiled, crouched at the knee, the more mobility you gain in your upper body to correspondingly coil and uncoil, rather than compensating for your locked knees. Your favorite surfer is undoubtedly bending at the waist.

Sk8'in carving fs and bs bowls with some vert helps this but cement is hard and even padded up it hurts

 

[Joshua2415]

Deadlifts & squats ftw!

 

[mundus]

I choose not to bend anything ever

Thats why I bought a Midlength!

 

[casa_mugrienta]

at 37 you will not improve by much if at all. most people don't improve much past 16 years old. ur either going to get good fast while young or be like the rest of us stuck at intermediate level and devolving from there as u age.

I'm going to disagree here.

I think most surfers never make it out of the beginner-intermediate stage. That means they never advance beyond going down the line with some degree of control, and if they are adults they will never be coached out of this stage.

The rest of us - the lifelong guys - mostly fall into the intermediate-advanced stage. This means we can do cutbacks, top turns, snaps, crappy airs, and some basic tuberiding and are in control of our surfing 95% of the time. There are some basic, common errors that can be addressed with intermediate levels surfers to quickly make them much better surfers and they would see significant results but not much after that.

I would guess most expert level guys (this would be your local complete ripper and the B/C/D/F grade pros) are not gonna see much improvement nor are pro level guys.