Surf coaching

[casa_mugrienta]

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.

I think this is accurate.

Getting your boards dialed and figuring out what you like and don't like is a big part of the equation.

And anyone who has ever been on a good waves surf trip knows who quickly you improved (followed by the drop-off again once you return home).

Realistically here in CA you can go many sessions without getting a decent wave, and by that I mean a wave that allows for at least 3 real turns.

 

[freeride76]

We had a good summer here and I felt like I had a real purple patch riding tons of headhigh B-grade Point surf.

Ordinary enough to be uncrowded but good enough to go fast and do proper turns and catch heaps of waves.

And it was everyday.

Pyz2 with quad set-up.

 

[sdsrfr]

conditions, equipment, fitness all come into play before you are actually surfing.

best thing that i ever did for my own surfing was live walking distance to a break, order 3-4 customs per year to dial in my equipment, and pushed myself to surf even the most marginal days to get the area dialed for “good” day conditions and maximize my surf fitness.

worst thing I did was buy a house, get married and have children.

a coach will record you and make a couple low hanging optimizations. I have a hard time believing any of us are so good we cannot critique our own surfing after watching the footage.

 

[freeride76]

The other thing that is pertinent is that coaching- at least in the short term- can make things worse.

You are going to have to try new things, think about surfing while you are doing it and blow precious waves trying to dial in new techniques.

Waves and surf sessions just ain't that plentiful for most people.

It also kinda sucks the fun out of it, in some respects, to be trying to treat it like a golf swing.

Waves look good, you just wanna catch a few and have fun- not obsess over your own techniques.

 

[oeste858]

…It also kinda sucks the fun out of it, in some respects, to be trying to treat it like a golf swing.

Waves look good, you just wanna catch a few and have fun- not obsess over your own techniques.

THIS.
An adult surfer analyzing their waves on video and trying so hard to improve is just not cool…

 

[Aruka]

I'll be 40 this year. Maybe I'm deluding myself but I think I've improved throughout my 30's. I'm as fit and healthy as I've ever been but I don't recover from injuries as quickly as I used to.

Surfing good waves with surfers who are better than me has been probably as helpful as anything else. Dialing in boards, sorting out your sleep, diet and exercise routine are all important for making the most of your fading youth.

I would be too embarrassed to have someone coach me at this age.

 

[keenfish]

I'll be 40 this year. Maybe I'm deluding myself but I think I've improved throughout my 30's. I'm as fit and healthy as I've ever been but I don't recover from injuries as quickly as I used to.

Surfing good waves with surfers who are better than me has been probably as helpful as anything else. Dialing in boards, sorting out your sleep, diet and exercise routine are all important for making the most of your fading youth.

I would be too embarrassed to have someone coach me at this age.

Gosh damm, you're just a young whipper snapper!

 

[Havoc]

ya the kid and the house squashed all of my surfing dreams

 

[slipped_disc]

I think for the cost of a coach, there are better and more enjoyable ways to spend money: adding a single fin (and bigger boards) to your quiver, custom boards, trips with friends, investing in health, etc. But maybe the most important thing would be getting footage of yourself.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

ya the kid and the house squashed all of my surfing dreams

Adoption is an option.

 

[slipped_disc]

Wavepools seem like an obvious place to figure somethings out too. Look at the air game of every young pro now.

 

[Hdip]

It comes down to breaking down video. If you don't get video of yourself, the coaching won't help that much. You have to be able to see what you are doing. This is why pro's are good. They film 90% of the waves they catch and they watch them over and over.

A coach that you trust will definitely help you achieve your goals. You just have to figure out what those goals are. Then you have to get a lot of video.

 

[freeride76]

Video>feedback>change technique>video>feedback>review technique changes>video>feedback> solidify technique changes etc etc.
And thats assuming the technique changes were beneficial for you.
They might have made you worse.

There's a very good reason CT pros don't usually get better at technique- it's fcuking hard work.

Most slowly get worse over a CT career.

 

[Havoc]

Adoption is an option.

sorry, not adopting u casa. nice try tho!

 

[Truth]

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.

surfing good waves is the key and watch video of yourself to see what needs to be corrected

 

[kool-aid]

Some interesting perspectives here.

First, I have definitely improved through my 30s (currently 38) and have no plans on slowing down that improvement. Ideally want to accelerate it. Covid induced WFH has had a very significant impact on that.

Second, I would definitely be up for a surf coach-guided trip and I think it could be a really positive experience. Having someone coach you on style, timing, tube riding, positioning, etc. how can that possibly hurt if they're good?

The problem is finding a good coach. A couple of years ago HTs had a coaching trip with Shane Beschen. I wanted to go but it was over my GFs bday at the time and she gave me the hard no. Haven't been able to find anything of equal or better quality since.

 

[GromsDad]

I used to take my boys to San Clemente once or twice a year and it was amazing the leaps in ability they would make in just a week of surfing those cobblestone reefs with the California super-groms, pros and local rippers of the time. The cobblestone reef waves lend themselves to quick learning as does being exposed to exceptional surfing. No amount of coaching will match that.

 

[surfadelphia]

my surfing improves every late summer into late fall every year...then goes to sh!t once the 5/4 goes on. The best I was ever surfing was about 6 years ago, was on a 5'8" mandala super stubbie, 6.5" bonzer fin with sidebites. the board drove off the rail/front foot and fit my complete lack of back foot power perfectly. Had hip surgery, board got beat to sh!t and I moved very far inland for a year...surfing never fully recovered.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

There's a very good reason CT pros don't usually get better at technique- it's fcuking hard work.

They're also starting from a very high, fundamentally sound level, while lots of average gringos in average gringo dogshit are making basic fuckups.

It's much easier to learn multiplication tables than it is to learn trigonometric identities.

 

[sdsrfr]

I'll be 40 this year.
…
I would be too embarrassed to have someone coach me at this age.

at 40, you’ve entered a protected class for age discrimination.

no need to be embarrassed.