29th April 2015
25th Jan 2015
A good end to the session! A bit of a slow start but you built some momentum towards the end and made some progress with your cutbacks.
The key is to ‘hold’ the turn – really crouch down – for as long as possible and aim to hit the whitewater higher up. We can work on that later this week!
29th Nov 2014
There was some improvement with your bottom turns as the session went on today and you were dropping to the bottom of the wave to perform them. Well done. Your training arm is also beginning to work in conjunction with your leading arm as well but we will definitely work a bit more on that in the next session.
Overall a decent session. It can be intimidating getting waves when it’s crowded and we can hunt for quieter peaks in future session but you have as much right to the waves as anyone else out there. We will work on getting more waves next time too!
23rd Nov 2014
It was pretty challenging out there today and while you didn’t get quite as many waves as you would have hoped it has given me plenty to think about.
- Paddling out – when you get a break between waves make the most of it. Your paddling is loads stronger than the last time I saw you but you need to make the most of the gaps between sets and sprint paddle back out-back otherwise you can get caught inside for longer than is necessary.
- When you paddle for waves get your head down. Literally put your chin or forehead on the surfboard to get a little bit more of your weight further forward. Its a small thing but can make a big difference.
- Bring your trailing arm further forward – this should be pointing (roughly) in the same direction as your leading arm. I’ve got a drill we can use to work on this next time.
Overall this was an reasonable reintroduction. The surf was tricky but it’s given us something to work in and highlighted some areas that need addressing. Stronger paddling and improvements to paddling technique will help as will a few other tweaks here and there. Well done for going in there and see you next time.
10th Sept 2013
Check out todays video and read on.
As I said on the beach when you are in a surfing competition situation then you want to get 2 waves quite early and then attempt to build your scores from there.
A 20 minute surf heat should be as follows:
| Start | Middle | End |
|---|---|---|
| You want to get two good waves in this timeAim for 2 waves | Now you ‘build’ on your scores. Only take off on waves that are better than either of your first two. It’s pointless taking worse waves as they won’t improve your overall score.Aim to get 2-4 waves | If you have had some really good scoring waves before this point then try to ‘block’ the other surfers getting any waves. Block by either catching the waves yourself or just getting in the best position and calling others off. |
| 0-5 minutes |
5 – 15 minutes |
15 – 20 minute: |
The waves were pretty poor today but you were tending to stay a little too shallow and missing all the bigger/better waves because of this. A couple minutes on the beach observing where the best waves are breaking will help a lot in future.
28/8/13
The improvement since your trip to Portugal is really obvious. You are getting loads more waves and staying on them for longer. Well done.
We still need to get your arms to stay a bit higher and for you to rotate your torso a little more when you are doing any sort of turn, especially top turns and cutbacks. We also need to work on that ‘z’ shape that you get your body into when you crouch down. It looks like you are bending at the waist rather than the knees in some of the photos especially on your backhand bottom turns which is causing you to be bit unbalanced at times.
I think if we can get your right arm to come a little closer to your chest and point forwards then it will open up your torso makeiturning quickly a bit easier while shifting your weight a little further forward up the board.
Either way it’s the best I’ve seen you surf by a long way. Keep it up.
1/7/13
There’s not a huge amount to say that we haven’t already talked about today. After a slog of a paddle and a rethink on our tactics we got a few pleasant waves at SheepDip.
It was probably the best waves we have had in the four sessions so far and you caught some good ones. You showed better commitment to paddling and catching the waves – some were pretty steep! – but you still need to commit to your turns more. 180° turns are what we are looking for, complete direction changes.
You have good wave selection, you know which ones are right for you and you can put yourself in the right position for them. Now we need to catch more and use the wave to it’s full potential.
To do that takes fitness ( a long term goal), a go-for-it attitude ( this comes with confidence) and a bit of concentration – the sea is overwhelming at times and there is a lot to think about.
We should do our next session at Porthtowan to get you used to some different waves.
21/6/13
Check out today’s video….
It may not have seemed like it this morning but closer inspection has revealed some small improvements. You didn’t get as many waves as I would have liked however the waves you did get you showed far greater commitment than yesterday.
Two things:
First as you get to the top of the wave you need to rotate your shoulders and torso towards the bottom of the wave. At the moment they are not really rotating at all (16 seconds). Without this rotation your surfboard will not change course and you will be off balance.
Secondly: Dan is right – you do need to bring your front foot forward a little. 3-4 inches perhaps so not much but just enough to get the nose of your surfboard a little closer to the wave. This should make the board go a lot faster and make you more stable. Don’t worry about it too much this weekend but we will have a go and tweaking it during the next session.
For the comp just try to get two or three decent waves – don’t worry about perfection, the most important thing is to get at least two scoring waves. You’d be amazed how often this is enough.
Good luck in the comp and see you next week.
20/6/13
Check out today’s video….
The waves this morning were more favorable and you got to show me a little more of what you can do on a wave.
What we need to work on now is to get you to use the wave a little bit better. You have a tendency to just use the bottom third of the wave whereas the best surfers use the whole of the wave.
Remember that the easiest way to generate speed is to climb to the top of the wave and then use gravity to drop back down the face quickly. Let the wave do the work for you.
Today’s waves, and even some of yesterdays, have enormous amount of energy – you’ve just got to learn to use it as best you can.
On your best wave you did a decent bottom turn (which I missed – sorry) and an ok top turn (where I started to video). I have highlighted your stance as you come out of the top turn and prepare to drop down the wave. Overall it’s pretty good and this is the stance that you want to aim to have before and after you do every move.
To improve it slightly you should aim to have your calf and thighs at right angles to each other but you have a good base to work from.
Lastly, try not to be in two minds whatever you do with your surfing. If you commit to paddling for a wave then make the most of it – don’t give up on it.
It’s the same with manoeuvres. You look like you are eyeing up the section ready to do a re-entry or floater then (18 seconds on the video) have second thoughts and try to straighten out. In that position it is, by far, the hardest thing to do.
Next time just go for it – you might be surprised how easy it actually is.
We’ll do a better warm up tomorrow as well! See you in the morning.
19/6/13
I think we made a good start today. You didn’t get as many waves as you would have liked but I find it’s best to start these things focusing on something fairly simple to give you a strong foundation for any further coaching that you have in the future.
This page will always be online so you can come back to it as often or as little as you like and check out the goals we have set. You can also measure your success and improvements against this first session.
Check out the video and read on….
I think the main thing to concentrate on is your stance. It’s not too bad but it just needs to be corrected slightly. At the moment you are bending at the hips rather than the knees. While this does give you a low centre of gravity – essential for making almost every turn – it does ‘block’ your body off.
Imagine you are a like a boxer. Relaxed, feet firmly planted, arms at around waist to chest height, slightly crouched. From this position you can easily compress lower or explosively spring up.
As you can see when this stance is applied to surfing it looks stable, stylish and controlled. She definitely looks like she made this move doesn’t she?
The other thing we briefly talked about was getting speed. The key is to move your arms up and forward in a smooth motion when you want to pick up speed.
And once you’ve got loads of speed then everything else is so much easier. Check out this tip for more detail.
Hope this helps. More tomorrow!
