In the land of extortion, you have to watch your back, as word has it ...

By John Philbin & Ben MarcusWhile teaching Kate to be safe in the ocean,Philbin had to be sure she was safe in theocean because an injury could have lead toKate losing the part, or delaying the start ofshooting. “I stressed safety in all of our sessionsand the number one thing I stressedwith Kate – as I do with all my students issimple; protect your head. Surfing is statisticallysafer than cheerleading, certainly saferthan riding a bike, or jumping a horse orsnowboarding or skateboarding, becausewhen you fall, it’s only water - unless you hitsomething hard.We would observe our surf spots at differenttides, and learn how the ocean bottomforms the waves, we studied how the whitewater revealed the shape of the reefs, rocksand channels, and we mapped out lineups.We worked on the basics- over and overand over again, like taking the boards offthe car and putting them back on, waxingthe boards, attaching and detaching leashes,putting in fins and carrying the boards longdistances. The board was a prop and a tool,and familiarity was king. We entered andexited the water over and over and overagain. I usually tell students that this is themost dangerous part of surfing and to treatthis boundary - where the water meets theland - with the utmost respect; as almost areligious observance.”PADDLE FOR YOUR LIFEWhen there was no surf, we paddled.“Through waves, over waves, under waves...I knew duck diving would be important sowe drilled one hundred duck dives into along distance paddle and when waves gracedour sessions we’d practice catching them.Making a commitment to catch a wave- thisis what usually separates respected surfersfrom all the rest and it is a quality that is veryhard to teach. Usually you just hear a surfinstructor screaming PADDLE, PADDLE,PADDLE!!!I was out at Waimea Bay the other day whileKelly Slater was giving his brother and JonJon Florence a lesson on where to sit andhow to catch a good one at “The Bay”. ‘GO!GO! GO!’ were his words of choice, but inorder to GO! you’ve got to PADDLE!, andwe mean paddle hard, harder, paddle as hardand as fast as you can. Paddle as if your lifedepended on it, because someday it might.With moms I change it to: Paddle as if the lifeof your child were at stake.”WHAT ARE YOU DOING?Blue Crush ends with a climactic, two-womanheat at the Pipe Masters. Anne Marie hasdone well enough to make it to the final,where she meets Keala Kenneally and facesher fears in big, gnarly, 10-foot Pipe, but afterwiping out, Anne Marie is sitting on theshoulder, afraid to paddle back into the pitwhen she is confronted by Kennally. “Whatare you doing?” Kennally says, then guidesher opponent back into the peak whereChadwick snags a perfect wave.It’s a nice ending – a true ending – becauseone thing Bosworth learned about thisstrange, new surfing world is the camaraderieshared by everyone paddling around onpieces of plastic.The art of the movie was Kate’s realitywhile doing a session at Point Dume, “LairdHamilton came by doing his stand up paddlething,” Philbin said, “and offered Kate onetip. He suggested she stand up quickly, assoon as she could, as soon as she caught thewave. Who’s gonna argue with Laird? But hehad a point.We are all more coordinated standing on ourfeet than in any other position, so it makessense to get to our feet as soon as possible.Pop up drills, by the way, are the only drillswe can practice on land that really come inhandy in the water. I first use a line in thesand, across which both feet straddle, then anarrow park bench. If you can stand up betweenyour hands and under your body on anarrow bench you can do it on a board.”ALWAYS PROTECT YOURSELFJohn Philbin has taught hundreds of beginnersto surf, but Kate was a little differentbecause there was a $30 million dollar movieresting on her shoulders – which weregetting muscular and strong from all thepaddling.The number one cause ofinjury in surfing is headtrauma caused by yourown board. If you caneliminate this, you maynever get injured surfing.Always protect your headfrom your own board, withyour hands or a helmet. Ifyou lose control of yourboard, assume it’s gonnacome back and hit youin the head. This way, ifit ever does, you’re readyfor it, and can prevent anyserious impact.The other hard object is the ocean bottom.No head-first diving or feet-first jumping; trynot to penetrate to the bottom. It’s best tofall flat or dive shallow, while protecting yourhead.Last but not least: other people and theirboards. Tamayo Perry learned that the hardway at Pipeline and almost lost his scalp, butgetting hit by someone else’s board is a dangerfrom the beginner’s spot at the end ofSunset Boulevard in Los Angeles to the tripleblack diamond Sunset Beach in Hawaii.”THE BIG BREAKPhilbin trained Kate for a solid month, fourto six days a week, and while he wanted tosee his young apprentice do well and getthe part, he also had to be honest with theproducers and director. “Through the fourthweek of training I was responsible for callingthe line producer Rick Delago and directorJohn Stockwell every day to report on Kate’s46 | womenssurfstyle.com | wSSm