Hope. Icons. Knowledge
Hope - Dreams, self-belief and a mastery mindset.
“Don't be such a pussy you weak caarnt, of course you can surf out there, you just need to have a crack, how do you think he learnt?” Barry (Bazza) explained to me as we watched a local get barreled at a shallow reef slab. I had just mumbled negatively how lucky the surfer was to be so talented as to surf such a wave. “Its bullshit” Baz continued. “This is why you weak kiwi farks aren't on the pro tour, no balls or self belief, you have a human body just like him, you can learn to surf out there”
At the time Barry was just on another drunken aussie car park rant, but what he said was true, and it changed my perspective. I ended up surfing said wave everyday and have had some of the best rides of my life out there.
A goal or a mentor is pointless if you lack self-belief, if you don’t truly believe you can improve. - if you have zero self-belief you probably wouldn’t even be reading this, if you had ample… ditto.
The foundational belief must be; I am human just like any other surfer, so if I gain the skills, knowledge and experience necessary be a great surfer.
Setting realistic goals and having relatable icons is key here. Relatable qualities that are relevant for average surfers to aspire to. (Examples in the next section)
They surf an appropriate surfboard for the conditions - as opposed to most pro surfers who stick with shortboards all of the time
There is plenty of footage of them surfing average waves - the types of waves most of us surf
Note: Never compare yourself to your luminaries & mentors, you must compare yourself to the surfer you were yesterday or last month, improve a little bit each time you go surfing. That is the mastery mindset. Luminaries are there to inspire you, mentors, coaches and teachers to guide you.
2. Icons - surfers they look up to.
When I was surf coaching in California I had a client - successful businessman, very wealthy and a respected leader in his field. Terrible surfer though, and he had been surfing everyday for 3 years. Of course he loved surfing, but was understandably becoming frustrated with his lack of progress. I asked him who his favourite surfer was, “I dont have one, I don't even watch surfing, I just go surfing because I love surfing so much” he replied. I asked him who he looked up to in the business world, “Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, John - my favourite lecturer at business school, but most of all, my business mentor Paul. Paul is not only a successful businessman he is within my industry and helps me with general and specific advice ” he said.
How successful would your business be without the inspiration and education from these people I asked. “I’d still be in start-up mode” he replied. His laissez-faire attitude to surfing had him stuck in start-up mode, whilst he respects and admires pro surfers on tour, he was uninterested in the way the pro surfers like Kelly Slater surfed because they are unrelatable and he doesn’t surf those kinds of boards or waves. So I introduced him to a few alternatives - he chose Devon Howard and Torren Martyn and he doubled down on surf coaching sessions and time with his personal trainer. He now enjoys surfing more than ever, and within 6 months became 5X the surfer he was and confidently booked a trip to Fiji.
For him Devon and Torren both exemplify the type of surfing he wished he could do, and because of the types of boards and waves they ride they are very relatable. “I want to do a top turn like that!” he said as we watched Torren surf his twin fin on a medium onshore wave.
Great, now we have something to aim for, direction, a goal to focus on. And an instagram page to turn to when you need some inspiration or an example of good technique.
You see, for the pros surfing is a sport, but for most of us surfing is an artform, like music. If you are learning to play the keyboard and love pop music then you can appreciate Beethoven, but he is not an ideal icon. So choose your surfing icons wisely.
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” - Mark Van Doren
We need education and inspiration in any endeavour we pursue, surfing is no different. Find some mentors and teachers to guide and excite you, we all need direction, without focus we are distracted.
3. Knowledge - they know about all aspects of surfing.
In 2002 I tore my ACL (blew my knee) and didn't surf for 12 months, yet I continued my obsession with surfing - I watched surf films for hours everyday, studied meteorology and surf forecasting, read the surfing magazines, read books on athletic development, learnt about nutrition, I even went on road trips with my surfing friends and took photos of them and filmed. It motivated me to stay healthy and to do my rehab exercises.
I remember my first surf back, and much to my surprise I was so much better at surfing. How? Many hours of watching surfing videos - during which you are imagining yourself as the surfer (visualisation), and gaining wave reading experience. All the time spent filming friends helped with knowledge of the breaks I surf.
Mentors and coaches are essential, however there is only so much you can learn from one individual, surfing is a very complex and varied sport/art/lifestyle that true mastery requires you to broaden your perspectives and education.
Great surfers understand surfboards, weather, tides, wetsuits and other equipment, surf etiquette and culture, surfing history.
All great surfers went through a stage of their lives obsessing about everything surfing. Accept and feed the urge to be obsessed with surfing, consume the media, read the history, try/buy different boards, find the brand of wetsuit that fits you best, get some coaching and learn correct technique, watch waves breaking, get your body strong and healthy, learn basic sports psychology, surf every spare moment you get, watch old surf movies, do all the online surf courses, listen to surf podcasts, YouTube ‘learn to surf’ and get all the different opinions, book a surf trip in the tropics, go to a wave pool, meditate, start skateboarding… fully immerse yourself for one year.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” - William Butler Yeats
The two most important things are surfing technique and correct equipment. This article is about perspectives so I won't go into detail here, but the following perspectives are paramount.
Surfing is just like any other sport or artform i.e. music, tennis. In order to improve you must spend some time practising, and some time playing.
Choosing the right board for the conditions and the style of surfing you want to do. As opposed to surfing the same board all of the time.
As you educate yourself with surfing knowledge, immerse yourself in surfing, surf everyday, surf all conditions. Knowledge + experience = wisdom.
Have faith that you can improve as a surfer, define what that means and choose an icon, learn the knowledge and skills to get there and surf heaps.
To learn more; book an online coaching session. https://surfmastery.com/life-coaching