HOW TO BECOME A BETTER SURFER

1.The younger you are the easier it will be to learn how to surf. Its great to be in a Boardriders Club as it will help you surf better than ya mates. I guess you must be in Burleigh otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this

2.Surf all day. Even if the surfs bad it will help you surf better plus it will sharpen your reflexes. Then when the surf is pumping you’ll be ripping stoked.

3.Get to know your surfboard shaper & stay with him for life.

4.Surf without a legrope it’s challenging & fun, this will stop you from falling off. Watch Occy surf – he never wears a legrope! As a grommet learning how to surf in the late 60’s early 70’s legropes had not been invented. I remember dragging my 9’6” Malibu down to the waters edge paddling right out the back I was 8-10yo, then a set wave would come & I’d lose my board & have to swim all the way back to the beach to start all over again. Then I got my hands on a 4’6” Midget Farrelly pop out still no legrope but easier & more fun to handle.

5.Learn how to swim! For when you lose your surfboard 80% of surfers can’t swim. Exercise: Grab the end of the pool, hold your breath, & sit underwater for 20 seconds. Come up, sprint 50 metres. Rest. Do this 10 times. In a month your lungs will be balloons capable of handling 15ft Sunset Beach for those unpleasant moments when your leggie snaps & you look at the beach a couple of hundred metres away & think oh fuck.

6.Learn how to hold ya breath for those massive hold downs. Breath Enhancement Training www.equalize.com.au Andrew Starks the CEO of Surfing Queensland can hold his breath for 4 minutes (lying still in the pool). World record; (lying still in the pool) 8 minutes 47 seconds, Tom Sietas Germany. The longest distance underwater in a pool (with fins) 200 metres, Peter Pedersen Denmark. Constant weight 102 metres, Carlos Costa Cuba. No limit (use of sled & the aid of air bag to shoot back to the surface) 160 metres, Tanya Streeter USA.

7.Work on ya flexibility. There are 2 types hypermobile (Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow) means a high level of flexibility, hypomobile (Dean Morrison, Occy) means a decreased levels of flexibility. These levels of flexibility are genetically determined at birth & do not change throughout life. The determining factor is the “stretchiness” of the collagen fibres in the body. The more stretchy these fibres the more hypermobile you will be, the more stiff these fibres the more hypomobile you will be. Hypermobiles like to stretch, Hypomobiles usually hate it! You can improve your flexibility by stretching, but you can’t turn a hypomobile into a hypermobile & visa-versa. Check out www.yogaforsurfers.com volume 1,2 & 3. (Taylor Knox, Tom Carroll)

8.Get professional coaching by a level 2 or 3 coach. Hope you got rich parents as it will cost between $70-$200 an hour (ring Surfing Queensland’s Phil McNamara 0419029058 or Martin Dunn www.surfcoach.com these two are the best two coaches in Australia. Phil McNamara has coached James “Billy” Watson, Jay “Bottle” Thompson & Dave Rastovich those 3 are the best surfers you’ll ever see surfing Burleigh Heads + Phil McNamara coached Mick Fanning to his first World Title.

9.Learn how to become a better/good Judge (ring Surfing Australia’s Head Judge Mr Glen Elliott 0419176924 he da man for a cost of $150 he’ll teach you how its done) because if your Judging is poor you’re most probably surfing like a kook.

10.Ride a Single Fin Surfboard when you feel your surfing is a bit dead. This will help put your surfing back on track’ the single fin will make you draw your line. Bottom turn, retry, cutback. Then the next time you hop on your thruster you’ll be ripping again.

11.Ride a skateboard to mimic your surfing. It will definitely improve your surfing. As a grommet I rode a skateboard full on from the ages of 10-15, 1971-76. (Chayne Horan) was king. Check out the skateboard movie DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS it was like that,bulk fun. If you get on the internet get your hands on a Surfer Sam skateboard deck (Australia) & put Chicago Trucks (California) on it & you’ll have the best manoeuvrable skateboard in the world! I guess the next best skateboard would be the smooth star?www.smoothstar.com

12.Add some fun to your surfing, ride a MR twin fin when the surf is under 2ft & fat you’ll be surfing like (Jack be nimble Jack be quick Jack done a million turns on a little stick) bulk fun + the great Mark Richards won 4 World Titles on a twin fin. I believe every surfer should own a MR twin fin!

13.When you leave school choose your chosen career path that allows for plenty of afternoon shift so you can surf 365 days a year. I promise you you’ll never be deprived of a surf again stoked .

14.Travel; Surf other Surf breaks around the World don’t deprive yourself of this. The Chinese say 100 miles of travel is more educational than 100 years of school! You may even get your hands on a six foot five female Scandinavian blonde bomb shell that wants to take you home & smash you. I recon it’ll feel like coming out of bucking shoot number 3 on heavens above, nice.

15.Eating healthy! Will help you surf better. Nutrition is the most important thing you can do for your body & your body will reward you for it. Eat plenty of fruit & vegetables, fish & kangaroo steaks, drink 2-4 litres of water a day. I graze like a cow all day! Here are 4 excellent books to read, The Lean Advantage volume 1,2, & 3 + Lean For Life by Clarence Bass www.cbass.com its like this if you put unleaded petrol into a diesel motor the motor ain’t going to run! Same with food. So if you eat shit food you will look & feel like shit & maybe die young simple. Food containing Cholesterol does not build up & clog your arteries over time, it’s instant. (keep your blood thin) My cholesterol is around 4.5 that’s excellent. 8 & above is a walking time bomb (death). My resting heart rate is between 35 & 40 beats per minute so my insides are finely tuned.

16.Training will help you surf better. After the age of 25 your body starts to break down (old age)

The Surfers Workout volume 1 & 2 www.surfstronger.com

Skip rope for timing, 10 minutes of skipping is equivalent to a ½ hour jog (Shane Dorian)

Swim 1-2 kilometres in the pool twice a week (Mark Richards)

Swim in the ocean once a week from Burleigh to North Burleigh (Rob Rowland-Smith)

Jog in the soft sand 8-10 kilometres once a week (Laird Hamilton)

Join a Gym do an aerobics class there’s plenty of sheilas www.fitnessfirst.com (Tom Carroll)

Get your hands on a 16ft Stand Up Paddleboard for those down wind paddles when the surf is blown out & shit www.paddlemaui.com (Gerry Lopez, Dave Kalama, Laird Hamilton, James “Billy” Watson, Buttons, Tom Carroll) are all into it. Yes grommets this is bulk fun + the fitness benefits & core strength that come with it will blow ya mind. You’re just fully surfing the oceans swells walking up & down the SUP like a Malibu surfboard just surfing from rail to rail for 200metres bulk fun.