seriously mate, I appreciate your perspective is different to mine.....but this is what high performance trainers up the Goldy are saying, Fanning's coaches etc etc.
people who do this stuff for a living.
I can get 10m faster now than at any time because I keep up a weekly number of chin up reps. That gets me more set waves.
Anecdote.
2010 I was in Tahiti for the comp. Used to watch Bobby Martinez running every arvo past where I was staying, which was about 2 miles from teahupoo itself, so assuming he was running 4-5miles a day.
Rd2 heat 5. Bobby is surfing 3-4ft Chopes against Marco Polo . Should have had him on toast.
Less than 5 to go. Bobby needs a wave. Is waiting for one.
A set comes but Bobby is a little bit too far inside, drops in too late, gets pitched and annihilated.
Why the fcuk was he doing road work>? How could that possibly help him at a reef break where the key skill is a 3-5m sprint paddle to either get in position or take the drop?
Anecdote 2.
Surfing Snapper Rocks last year in warmup to Quik pro. Insane crowd, super tricky backwash drop behind the rock. If you've surfed it you'll know what I'm talking about. Probably the hardest place in the world to get a set wave, other than Pipe.
I did not get one.
But I watched Fanning get every one he wanted. He'd sit a metre or three deeper and out than anyone. When that wave came he wanted he would "break" and spring into a sprint paddle which meant both his intention and execution was clear.
His coach recommended chin ups to increase force production. Fast twitch to get those sets.
watching that in action compared to joe's who jog for 10 miles or swim laps.
it ain't in the same ball park as far as effectiveness goes.
But if swimming or jogging works for you then fine.
I'm saying this is what has been tried and tested at the top level.
and easy for joes who don't get paid to surf to emulate.
But if you want to train for triathlon or marathon running, do something different.
It ain't woo, the methods, at least empirically, are pretty well established now.
