Future Tense

RINGING THE CHANGES: Sophie Bell on the charge towards a better future. Photo Dove

When I was a kid, we had a contest every weekend, pretty much. On top of that, we had many big pro contests. If you were into competitive surfing and prepared to go hard at your sport, you eventually got a gap, and found yourself surfing against established pros like Craig Sims or Pierre Tostee – established pros at the time.

That has all changed. The kids don’t get enough contest experience, and there are no big local events for them. Gone are the days of non-surf brands climbing into the sport. We used to have events like the Smirnoff Pro Am, the Gotcha Ford, the Gunston, The Spur Surfabout, the Sea Harvest, the Bear international, The Samsung, Bob T Junior Series, The Glodina, Jockey Kahlua Pro, the San Lameer event to name a few. The tour was thriving in the 90’s.

The Future Legends Coaching Series is trying to replace their lack of competitive experience. This is going on to lead to the High Performance Surfing Academy, which will also help to bridge the gap that we have because of the lack of events.

HUNGER GAMES: Chris Knutsen tells it like it is. Photo Flanagan

We are focusing on mental advice more than anything. The kids all have talent, otherwise they wouldn’t be invited, but they need to make some serious mental decisions if they want to up their game. Talent will always come through, but the hard decisions like whether they want to take their surfing to the next level, whether they want to instill more desire, more dedication and more discipline, and whether they want to be more positive. If you mix these sorts of attributes along with their talent, we’re on track for a winning formula.

There was a dramatic improvement from the first event to the second. It wasn’t really in their surfing, as that will take some more time, but they were professional and earnest in their approach to heats and their preparation. They attacked their heats. It was gratifying. As mentioned we’re not a quick fix to the sport of surfing, and we would be stoked to get two surfers out of this crop onto the Pro Tour.

There is not that much being done for our junior surfers. There are some great coaches out there, and they’re doing what they do as a job, which is great. Anything that improves the state of surfing in our country in any way is good. SASL are doing it for surfing, and we know that it’s a very long road ahead.

MAKE OR BREAK: Paul Canning spent 14 years on the world tour. Photo Supplied

Talent plays a part, but desire and dedication is just as or more important. To be honest, myself Greg, Davey and Travis weren’t the most talented surfers in the world, but we were all hungry and dedicated. We put our hearts into it, and all sustained great professional careers.

At SASL we want to instill that much dedication, but unearth the talent, and match the two up for success. Pro surfing is so hard to get to the top; you need everything you can get to help you along the way. Our young surfers also need to understand the value of visualization.

At the opening function for the second leg of the Future legends Coaching Series I told the surfers this little story. I was in Australia after school, starting a pro career. My parents bought me a ticket, but I had no money to go on to Brazil, USA, Europe and Hawaii, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then they announced the Gotcha Ford contest and there was a car for first place. I visualized myself winning that car for so long and so intensely, that when I came home for the event it felt like there was no doubt in mind that I was going to win. I won. It was a Ford Lazer. I sold it for R50k, considering that a ticket to Hawaii back then cost R3k.

It put me on the tour for two full years. Such is the power of visualization.

The SASL website - www.southafricansurfinglegends.com
The SASL Facebook page - on.fb.me/1oGsP5z