Silicon Surf Coaching
18th August, 2009, in Sport
(Source: New Zealand Surfing Magazine www.nzsurfmag.co.nz )
The term ‘coach’ is one most usually associated with hi-performance and up-and-coming athletes across the spectrum of sport.
Surfing is no different. Many top end competitive surfers have coaches; even the young guns have them. Why? To improve their surfing of course. So if a coach can improve your surfing, then why is it a position aligned with the elite, we all want to surf better right? So have you ever thought about getting a bit of help? Most surfers would consider themselves pretty gun at their sport, it’s human nature to think you’re killing it and in no need of help. Drop your guard for a bit, open up and you’ll be quietly surprised. I myself am guilty of thinking all of the above, and never considered coaching to be part of the average surfer’s requirements. However upon talking to a bunch of weekend warrior surfers during an All Blacks game one night, I learned they had been receiving guidance and were rapt at the results. That got me thinking, if the end result means you’re surfing better then why isn’t everyone doing this?
Larry Fisher, former NZ team member, now NZ Junior Team Coach and also Raglan Surfing Academy Coach is the man I found responsible for this new fangled form of coaching so we probed him for some answers…
So tell us about this form of coaching, it’s obviously not you standing on the beach yelling out instructions via a megaphone, how does it work?
This form of coaching is focusing purely on the technical side of surfing. It’s something I really got interested in once I started my job coaching at the Raglan Surfing Academy back in 2002. Basically I can video someone surfing or they can send me some footage of themselves surfing. I can then go over this footage and pinpoint specific technical areas that the surfer is having difficulties with, or where slight adjustments can be made to perfect various surfing moves. I use the Video Analysis Software programme called SiliconCOACH. It has a split screen where I can have the coached surfer on one half of the screen and then say Kelly Slater on the other half of the screen performing the same manoeuvre. I have hundreds of examples of pros with great technique performing all kinds of manoeuvres on different sized waves so it is easy to match up the turns. You can flip the image so a goofy could be matched with someone like Mick Fanning if needed. Adjusting the timing of both surfers simultaneously going through the turn, using arrows and lines to indicate things like where you need to be looking, or what direction you should be moving your arms in, body rotation etc and voicing over the instructions and then burning all the different manoeuvres to DVD. The surfer has a DVD they can view at their leisure to see where wholesale changes or slight adjustments can be made in each surfing manoeuvre. When you get this visual picture of the movement and understand what your body is supposed to do, it really makes it easy. There is the correct way to pull each manoeuvre and also inferior or incorrect methods that hold many surfers back. A lot of surfer’s progression is held back by bad technique that can become ingrained in their surfing. However a lot of these surfers don’t realise this, or can’t accurately pinpoint where they are going wrong. This programme is really effective in rectifying these problems.
Who is it for and who should use it?
Most of my coaching using SiliconCOACH is with the Raglan Surfing Academy students. I also do a bit with other junior surfers around the country. Recently I have been doing a bit for some older surfers looking to get to that next level of performance, as well as a few mates. Basically it is for anyone who wants to improve his or her surfing, which at the end of the day, if we are honest with ourselves, is all of us.
What results can people expect timeframe wise?
It all depends on the keenness and commitment of the surfer. I’ve had surfers who have just been frothing on it. They really believe in it and watch the DVD I have made for them before they go out for a surf and really focus on working on particular turns. These surfers get near instant results. On the other hand I have had a couple of grommets that kind of think they don’t really need coaching but may have been sent to me from either sponsors or parents. They kind of listen and maybe watch the DVD a couple of times but don’t really fully commit to giving it a decent shot. These surfers obviously don’t get the same results. However I haven’t had too many of these types as most surfers are psyched on getting better.
How long has this technology been around?
It’s been around since 1997, although it has evolved a lot since then. Australia’s surf coaching guru Martin Dunn has been using it effectively since it first came out. It’s not just for surfing obviously. All the top coaches in most sporting codes use it. Once you have brought the programme you get all the support and all the updates from the team at Silicon Coach. They are regularly developing it and adding more technology to the programme.
Where was it developed?
The cool thing is that it was founded here in NZ by a bio mechanist named Joe Morrison in 1997. It’s now being used all around the world.
MATT HEWIT. Age: 17. Years surfing: 4. Surfing level: Competent Riper. (Photo CORY)
“I have had a bit of coaching over the last couple of years with Larry Fisher and over in Oz. I found it really useful with understanding and developing my moves. The great thing about Silicon coaching is assessing your technique, you can see where your body is and what you’re doing wrong and then you are showed what you should be doing to get your moves right. I believe the most important thing about Silicone is how it is presented to you, I have had a few and some coaches present it really well and this can really make a difference.”
STEVE ROBERTS. Age: 36. Years surfing: 22. Surfing level: Competent. (Photo CORY)
“After working with Larry Fisher I’ve become more aware of technique and how by making a few minor body adjustments, e.g. arm placement, dropping your back knee, which way to look etc... It has totally revolutionised and improved the way I ride a wave. To be honest I’m horrified that I have been surfing waves poorly my whole life. Here’s one example. I often used to get caught up in the lip when I hit it, my solution was next time to hit is harder, I didn’t realise I was working against the power of the wave, when I should have been harnessing its power to give my turns speed, power and flow. Using Silicon Surfer Larry is able to explain what you are doing throughout a manoeuvre and on the split screen next to me is Andy Irons (or whoever Larry decides best demonstrates that particular manoeuvre) doing the same manoeuvre, at the same speed, when you see it, it’s so simple a ten year old could understand it. Throughout the manoeuvre Larry is comparing you to the professional, good and bad points. He draws arrows on the screen showing you where you should be looking and where to make adjustments to your body positioning, while verbally reinforcing what you are visually seeing. It’s epic because you can see a professional doing it perfectly right next to you.”
“I think the benefits of this sort of coaching for elite performers and comp-hungry groms is pretty well recognised. I also think it could benefit novices once they can trim along a green face of the wave and start thinking about doing turns. In fact it probably pays to correct mistakes as soon as possible before they become too in-grained. But I think the group that can most benefit from this sort of coaching (who are also the ones least likely to think it applies to them) are intermediates like me who really want to improve their surfing but don’t know how.
One of the main benefits of the coaching for me is that it makes every surf more fun regardless of the conditions – even if the surf is small and crappy you know what you want to focus on and can just go out and practise what you are working on. Having said that I think for it to make a real long lasting difference in your performance level, you have to really want to improve your technique and be prepared to keep working at it. Like anything worth doing, it doesn’t come easily. The siliconcoach isn’t a magic wand, but a very useful tool. Try it, you might amaze yourself and may even impress your mates!”