Virtually every sport: Football, Cricket, Rugby, Basketball, Tennis, you name it follows a highly coached formula.
The athlete trains alongside a coach, and the coach helps to improve technique, mindset, strategy, etc.
This is the tried and tested norm, and it works.
But for some reason, surfing is different.
It feels kinda weird, like it’s something we shouldn’t do.
It’s almost as if it’s an insult to the culture.
But is that just an outdated way of thinking, does it hold us back from reaching our potential in the surf?
Or is it valid, and should we just surf for the love of it instead?
Let’s take a deeper look.
WHY SURF COACHING IS NOT COMMONPLACE?
Surfing’s roots are born from a counterculture of anti establishment, and giving the finger to authority and the ‘normal’ way of life.
This is what makes it cool.
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It’s not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle, a lifestyle that encompasses so much more than just riding waves.
A lifestyle of freedom, sun, sea, travel, beach fires & beers, a lifestyle with no destination, but a journey instead.
And it’s this culture that up until recently has steered surfing away from the norms of other sports, but this is slowly changing.
SURFING IS CHANGING
In recent years though, for good or bad, this is changing.
It kinda all started with Mick Fanning coming back from injury in 2004.
After a major hamstring tear, he set out on a crazy training regime, which led to him claim the world title the very next year in spectacular fashion.
This was the catalyst that changed the way surfers prepared from that moment forward.
Gone were the days of surfers using just surfing itself as a means of training, and in came a new wave of surfers taking things much more seriously. Rigorous training regimes and personal coaches became commonplace.
This is when surf coaching became a real thing.
THE RISE OF THE SURF COACH
In came a number of elite coaches, coaching the worlds best:
Now, the world's best have their own personal coaches.
As a team they could dissect technique, address areas of weakness and fine tune their strengths.
This acceptance of external coaching has led to the rise in everyday surfers getting help too.
SURF VIDEO ANALYSIS [REMOTE]
Whereas in the past surfers were expected to learn everything on their own (kind of mental when you think about it), to just kind of figure it all out, now they can get expert feedback.
This is saving many people countless hours of butting their heads against the wall.
IS IT STILL WEIRD TO GET COACHED?
There’s still a certain stigma in surfing with getting coached, especially in older dudes.
For whatever reason men seem to think they can do everything on their own and are reluctant to reach out for help. I get it, I'm one of them.
Women on the other hand seem to be way more receptive, and are flocking in their hoards to surfing programs, online coaching, e-learning, the lot.
The same goes for kids too, with after school squads and elite academy’s servicing the growing number of kids entering the sport.
So I guess the answer to “is it still weird to get coached” is nah, not really - and it’s heading way more to “nah, not at all”.
IS COACHING WORTH IT?
First up, there's absolutely nothing wrong with just surfing for the love of it, but for me personally that's not enough.
Surfing just for surfing's sake - without trying to get better - takes away much of the fun if you ask me. In fact the reason surfing is so addictive is because it's so damn hard.
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And yes, you can learn everything on your own to a degree (you've got to live and surf where there are plenty of people much, much better than you to learn from), but there's certainly merit in getting additional help.
Whether coaching is worth it however depends massively on the person giving you advice, if they know what they're talking about then yup, surf coaching is definitely worth it.
If they're full of shit however, they're feedback is worthless.
THE BEST TYPES OF SURF COACHING
If you're looking at different ways to get coached, here are a few of the best examples:
SELF LEARNING
If you're going down the self learning route here are some valid places to start:
- Online Courses
- YouTube
- Blog Content
- Surf Videos
SURF VIDEO ANALYSIS
This one is great as you get one on one feedback with a professional coach.
Your coach can dissect your surfing frame by frame, uncover any blindspots, and give you a crystal clear pathway of progression to follow.
If you ask me, this is a great way to go.
SURF SCHOOLS
Surf Schools can be a good place to go for private surf lessons, but, the quality of the coaching can be a bit of a mixed bag.
The threshold for surf coaches is very, very, very low - so it's really difficult to every know what you're getting.
Sure, you might get a guru that's worth their weight in gold, but you might also get a stinker too, so tread with caution.
CONCLUSION
In short, the sentiment to surf coaching is changing, little by little.
So, if you're stuck in a rut, don't just rot away like the rest of them, get some help.
Nobody wants to be crap forever.
Yew!
Rowan.
ROWAN CLIFFORD
Rowan is the technical nerd behind the scenes. A lover of everything entrepreneurial, and living a minimal, simple life.
