RHYTHM DRILL


AIM:  

To teach surfers how to segment their heats and maintain concentration for the entire heat duration.


PREPARATION:  

Ask the surfers to go for a light jog on the beach followed by stretching exercises, if it’s the first drill of the day.


DRILL: 

  • Break a twenty minute heat into three segments. 
  • Eight, seven, and a final five minute segment.
  • In the first segment the surfer is asked to catch as many good waves as they can.
  • In the second segment the surfer is asked to only catch two quality waves, in the last segment, the surfer is asked to catch one quality wave. 
  • The coach records what each surfer achieved in each segment of the simulated heat.

NOTES TO THE COACH

This drill helps the surfer break their heats into smaller chunks.

Instead of the full twenty minute time frame, they can plan their heats into smaller segments with plans for each section.

Once they have finished a section, they can forget about it and move onto the next segment and its specific aims.

This drill also trains surfers that different approaches to wave selection are needed at different times in a competitive heat.

At the start, more waves can be caught to build a surfers wave count, in the middle the surfer needs to be more selective, and at the end, the surfer needs to select a quality wave to finish their heat, or protect their lead.

Segmenting heats is a sound strategy to learn for all competitive surfers.

 Mark lesson complete