Rapid Trajectories

It’s nice to see grommets these days who are hungry to surf better; kids like Liam Murray-Strout here.   

These kids see coaching as a way to improve rather than as some sort of stigma as so many surfers do (I plan on touching on this sometime in the future but, really, why do surfers have such an issue with accepting advice on how to improve whereas it’s the norm in almost any other activity?), and they train hard to improve both their technique and fitness.  They’re also hungry for it; days were when it seemed that the only British surfers with the support of a sponsor came straight out of Newquay and nowhere else, but now the field’s wide open and there is way less sponsorship money going about.  I’m not talking about free stickers here, but kit like wetsuits, surfboards and travel allowances that will help them to perform at their best, year round.  Less help and more competition for it means that grommets these days can’t rest on their laurels and a cool haircut, they have to act and train like young athletes.  But why you may ask?   Can’t they just be happy to go surfing and enjoy it for what it is?  Well yeah, of course.  I’m chronically un-competitive but if I was able to chuck an air, get the tail of my surfboard higher than my head, and ride out of it then I’d be smiling for days. 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to surf well and working hard for that, because barrels are way better when you get spat out of them - even if nobody’s around to see it happen.

The Check-List

Sometimes we can all get a bit picky when checking the surf.  I used to employ a rule that if I saw a surfer do three turns on a wave then I'd get straight in there, but if not then I'd stand and scrutinise the waves for ages.

How're the sets hitting the sandbank or reef?  How many waves are there in each set and how long between sets?  What're the wind and tide doing?  How many guys are there on the peak and are they getting good waves?

I hate driving away from good waves, but I also hate paddling out and just wearing close-outs on my head every couple of minutes.  In horse racing they check the "going" of the track, whilst cricket commentators always talk about the state of the wicket; in surfing we stand and observe so many interconnected variables before making the decision to commit our time to a particular spot.  But at the end of the day, plenty of non-surfers find a lot of value in staring out to sea - we get to do it all the time and with a purpose.

I seem to have an inordinate number of images of the back of my friends heads with the sea in the background.  A few years ago I collated a whole load of them into a photo essay called "Watching Waves" which was published on Drift…probably about time I updated that set and framed a load of them.

Get 'em Started Young

Just imagine if, from the very moment that you could put one foot in front of the other and call it walking rather than falling over, you had been getting in the sea.  And if your Dad and all of his friends surfed and some of them were pretty well renowned surf coaches?  The odds would be fairly good that you'd grow up feeling comfortable in waves I suppose, to say the least.  


Theo, you'd better let us all get some waves in a few years time...




DISCLAIMER:  If any of you are concerned for young Theo's well being, I'll put your mind at ease.  He was laughing and having the best time when this image was taken, and Mum and Dad were stood just out of shot.  From what I hear, since this occasion he now asks to fly to the sea rather than walk.