“You gotta go BIG” – this is what young surfers are being encouraged to do as they develop their surfing. It’s not surprising as performing risky and progressive manoeuvres is what surfers must achieve for any chance to be successful on the global stage, but the issue for me is – when should they start to “go big”?

It seems that in some circles, surfers are being advised to “go big” as early as possible – irrespective of whether a surfer is physically or psychologically ready to head down that road. Absolute performance is all that is needed, bugger the possible damage done along the way.

Gymnastics [a sport also known for absolute performance] has previously had a reputation of pushing young athletes “early and hard”. The approach became known as “throwing eggs against a wall”. Those athletes that didn’t break due to the high demands of the sport became the champions – but many others became damaged, never ultimately reaching their true potential.

I see this same “eggs against the wall” trend in surfing, where young talent is being encouraged to go hard, but often with inferior technique, poor strength levels, and lacking the confidence to successfully land their moves. As a result, over-emphasising risky moves too early often creates inferior performances rather than advances a performance – simply because many surfers just aren’t ready to perform these advanced moves of surfing.

When I say ready, I mean:

• Surfers have to be technically sound first, as the movement components of the power moves of surfing are exactly the same ones used in the advanced moves.
• Surfers need to be strong and co-ordinated to handle the greater landing forces encountered when landing advanced moves.
• Surfers need to be confident to attack the lip, layback, or launch into the air, as any hesitation in these situations tend to lead to inevitable wipe-outs and possible injuries.

So what I am saying is … if a child is technically sound, physically strong, and displays confidence in heavy sections on waves – then they should be encouraged to “go hard” –  as they are ready. But if they lack any of these traits, time should be spent improving these deficiencies first, before they can be pushed into areas of surfing that could destroy their careers. This approach takes longer, but in the end you create surfers who are confident and ready to take on the world.

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“The Importance of Strengthening your Hips”

 Your hips are your driver! Strong glutes control your pelvis and protect you from compensating in your lower back and knees.

 A lot of surfers have the limitation of not being able to bend or crouch with ease. This is particularly true for taller surfers. This can be caused by lack of use or past injury to the ankles, knees, hips or lower spine. Lack of use or previous injury leads to mobility and strength deficits.

We sit a lot and generally do not move our hips a lot. This leads to stiff hips and compensation through the knees and lower spine. Commonly, strengthening hip extension (glutes, hamstrings) can help improve hip mobility and function, as well as offset lower back strain. Hip rotation is key to improving overall hip mobility.

Below is a short video outlining key hip mobility exercises supplied by Exercise Physiologist, Strength & Conditioning Coach – Michelle Drielsma of Sydneystrengthconditioning.com. A 15 minute hip mobility routine is also now available for subscribers in the membership section of martin dunn.com.au.

Glute Training Tips And Techniques

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1.  Understand that all surfers can become better at surfing. In surfing there is still an undercurrent in thinking that surfers just have to surf more to better their surfing. This is true up to a point, but for most, performance barriers appear than most surfers can’t break through. But with specific training, targeting the faulty components of performance, surfing can be improved and performance barriers broken. This is equally true for the new surfer, grommet, surfing mum, recreational surfer, and competition surfer.

2. Learn that all skills are made up of recognisable components that can be targeted and trained. Understanding this reality allows a surfer to believe that improving a performance is achievable by working on a skill’s components rather than the whole. This “component” approach, makes learning a new skill or fixing a faulty one much more manageable, both physically and mentally.

3. Figure out what part of a skill is faulty. When a surfer has a faulty skill, it is usually one part of the skill rather than the whole that is incorrect. Figure out what component is faulty and focus on that part, and the whole skill can be improved in both performance and consistency terms.

4. Focus on improving the faulty component when surfing. Once the faulty component has been identified, surfers should focus on this part of the skill when surfing. This can start on the beach by performing skate and on-beach simulations, to create a focused mindset as a surfer paddles-out to begin their training session. Then a surfer can maintain their focus after each wave ridden by reminding themselves of the task and what they have to do to achieve it.

5. Continue focusing & training the skill until automatic. Surfers should train the faulty skill until it becomes automatic. This can take time [weeks, months], but for the highly motivated, better surfing performances are achievable through the hard work of training and staying focused on task.

The reality of the training process is that it can be a hard with lots of frustrations, but for those surfers that persist, when success becomes more common, those frustrations turn into joy and a sense of achievement. Working on your surfing can be FUN for those who really want to be the best they can be.

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Peter Roberts Blog Post

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They can:

• Make their existing manouvres bigger
• Work on performing their manoeuvres in full control
• Look to perform their combinations tighter in the pocket
• Surf “without hesitation” as they surf down the line
• Introduce variety into their surfing performances
• Learn how to perform the progressive manoeuvres of surfing

The advanced manoeuvres of surfing are often just an extension of their minor manoeuvre cousins. That is, many are simply performed higher……., tighter……., or are more committed – usually in full control.

So its important to perfect the minor manoeuvres of surfing first, creating the necessary “base” off which to confidently develop advanced surfing later.

Surfers will get “smashed” when trying to advance their surfing. Expect it! But if they have a solid base, a clear understanding of the manoeuvre or skill their want to perfect, and the motivation to work through the many failures they will encounter – advanced surfing is in reach for most surfers who embark on improving their performances.

Advancing A Surfing performance

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Over the decades I have witnessed thousands of surfers develop their skills, and I came to realise that everyone has a similar, recognisable  journey when learning how to surf. Even the pros, early in their surfing, had to break through what I call “surfing’s threshold”. This threshold is where a surfer can paddle out, catch waves consistently, and perform turns that resemble actual surfing manoeuvres.  If you like, its the baseline off which a surfing performance can be built.

For many surfers, standing in the way of breaking this threshold are 14 fundamental skills. Get them right, and the real joy of surfing opens up, get them wrong, and these inconsistencies will likely haunt a surfer for the life of their surfing journey. The thing is though, learning what these skills are and working on them on a regular basis,  can result in faster surfing development and more fun on a daily basis.

Of the 14, four of these skills need to be performed well before a surfer even pops-up, and are essential for the success of a surfer’s performance on a daily basis. There four are:

• preparing to surf before paddling out,
• positioning in the line-up,
• choosing when to say “yes” to approaching waves,
• and breaking “the ledge” at take-off – to enter a wave with speed and confidence.

The other 10 skills are fundamental skills centred around turning the surfboard once up and riding. Creating speed, bending, leaning, and looking where a surfers wants their surfboard to go, are all necessary to perform recognisable surfing manoeuvres, as all surfing moves are made up of different combinations of these movements as a surfer speeds down the line.

In MartinDunn.com.au’s membership area, my 4 week “Ocean Skills Challenge”  has been designed to help surfers learn these fundamental skills. Over the 4 weeks, surfers are progressively challenged to sample the various skills necessary to break surfing’s threshold. Once broken, surfers can then confidently work on perfecting all surfing’s higher order skills, knowing that they have the fundamentals for success already in place .

For those motivated surfers who want to know more, sign up for my no-obligation 7 day trial. Its absolutely free.

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I have coached Bronte when she was a young surfer and also through video reviews of her performances.  She has shared video footage of her surfing multiple times as she developed and when on the WSL tour, so I could review her surfing remotely to make training recommendations on how she could surf better and score higher in competition.

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MARTIN DUNN THINKS SO AND HE HAS THE TOOLS TO HELP.

Written by Luke Kennedy

MARTIN DUNN AND I ARE SITTING IN FRONT OF HIS LAPTOP SCRUTINISING FOOTAGE OF THE SESSION I’VE JUST HAD. RELYING ON HIS WELL-TRAINED EYE, MARTIN PAUSES THE FOOTAGE WHEN HE IDENTIFIES SOMETHING THAT CAN BE WORKED ON, AND IN A GENTLE TONE THAT DOES NOT DESTROY MY SURFING SELF-ESTEEM, ADVISES ME ON WAYS I MIGHT IMPROVE MY PERFORMANCE.

It’s a marked departure from my typical ‘just do your own thing’ approach but as I look at the flailing arms, the half-turns and the kinks in my act, I realise I’m in need of help.

Over the last 33 years, Dunn has developed a reputation for being one
of the most astute coaches in surfing. Along the way, he has helped a swathe
 of top-flight competitors (most recently Connor O’Leary and Nikki Van Dijk) hone their acts for elite competition. Now Martin has transferred all that knowledge onto his website, martindunn.com.au, and organised the information into a series
 of sequences and training regimes that enable surfers at all levels to log on 
and learn. Part of the program involves submitting footage of your surfing to Martin, who will respond with a detailed critique and set of specific training devices. Today I’m getting the personal touch.

As we sip our coffees and review the footage, Martin is adamant that he never identifies a defect in someone’s surfing unless he has a solution. “It’s too easy to just say what someone is doing wrong,”
he emphasises. He’s also conscious of reinforcing the things people are doing right. Apparently, my lifted arms as I 
enter a backside turn are a good thing, 
but Martin encourages me to lose the
 ugly pump as a default speed generator. Instead he suggests the more effective and aesthetically pleasing ‘throw and go’ where both arms get thrown up to generate down the line speed.

Martin’s training vocab features several
 of these catchy little buzz phrases that are designed to give you the right cue when you are on the wave. For example ‘squat 
till you spot’ is a cutback mantra and is designed to remind you to stay low until you spy the section of the wave you want to come back around and hit. ‘Where you look is where you go’ is a tagline that reminds you that the body and board will follow your line of sight. It’s simple language that helps to decode the complex biomechanics of surfing.

The website program, which is essentially Martin’s life’s work, is however, far more sophisticated than a few power mantras. For major manoeuvres like the bottom turn, there is a sequence of drills that can be used on land, on a skateboard and then in the water. After detailing some of the sequences, which actually look quite fun, Martin pulls up corresponding clips on the laptop, that demonstrate the ideal bottom turn and why it’s such a crucial skill. Julian Wilson’s spring-loaded swoop off the bottom is the gold standard in this case.

Cutbacks and carves are one thing, but perhaps what many of you really want to know is can Dunn give you wings; teach you to soar beyond the lip and then land like a feather on snow? “There will be a program for airs on the website,” he states confidently. However, he is quick 
to point out that to consistently complete sophisticated manoeuvres like aerials you require a solid basis in fundamentals. “You will have to be able to generate horizontal speed, do a vertical re-entry, do a fin-bust, and then an aerial.”

What about the suggestion by some
that technical training is the enemy 
of individualism and personal style in surfing? “I’m not trying to create clones,” stresses Martin, before explaining that 
he looks at fundamental biomechanical movements not stylistic nuances, like how a surfer places their hands. He argues that his coaching approach allows surfers to preserve the idiosyncrasies that make their approach unique, while helping to improve aspects where there are obvious flaws or need for refinement.

I ask Martin about some of the basic
 errors most everyday surfers make and
 he immediately zones in on two areas. “Seventy per cent of surfers struggle
 with effective speed generation and re-centring after a manoeuvre.” He explains the latter in part by showing a couple
 of clips. In both instances the surfers successfully ride out of big finishing moves by ensuring the chest is centred over the front knee as they exit the move. Dunn also points out that there is whole faculty of training that falls under the category of ‘good decision making’. I marvel at his analysis skills as he identifies seven critical decisions that need to be made just in the act of catching a wave. I see the merit in such compartmentalised thinking when I realise I may be getting about three of the steps wrong.

Much of Martin’s dialogue is really about making you more aware of what is actually going on when you negotiate a lineup, catch a wave and ride it. It’s not so much about right or wrong but learning to think critically about what you do in the water. “The unexamined life is not worth living,” said Socrates, and the dictum can certainly be applied to surfing. It’s worth noting that Dunn’s techniques are not all about winning contests (although he can help with that from boardriders level to the WCT) but rather they are designed to amplify the fun you have in the water.

Does he give advice on boards? “Only if it’s really clear and obviously holding someone back,” indicates Martin. “I learnt years ago that I can’t be an expert on everything.”

What about the argument that being a better surfer is simply about putting more time in the water? Dunn agrees that motivation is important, but debunks the heavy surf load theory by suggesting that if you simply put more time in the water without consciously thinking about what you are doing then you will hit performance plateaus. He indicates that often he advises members of his elite squad (particularly if they are preserving energy for an upcoming heat) to go out and catch just half a dozen waves, but to be totally aware and focused on their intentions.

By the time our meeting wraps up I’ve become much more open to the idea that my surfing can actually be improved by applying some of Martin’s techniques. As we shake hands, Martin assures me that
 he will send me my clip with a detailed breakdown of ways to improve. “Just a few minor changes can have someone surfing a lot better and enjoying their surfing more,” Martin reiterates, before we go our separate ways.

Minutes later I’m spying a left bank and contemplating a quick surf to test out
some of the pointers Martin has given 
me. I load the brain up with a couple of 
the catch phrases Martin suggested and paddle out. Initially the adjustments feel a little awkward and I fall in the attempt 
to introduce them. Then, on one wave it
 all clicks. Just a slight tilt of the head and suddenly instead of drawing the same lazy lines I’m tapping into a different sensation and it honestly feels great. I’m not afraid to say I’ll be studying the detailed report card closely when Martin sends it via email. Why miss out on something that might make my surfing experience a whole lot better.

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