Smorgasboarder_23_winter_2014
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CLOSEOUT: COACHING<br />
Cruising in style. Photo: Shayne Nienaber<br />
www.shaynenienaberphotography.com<br />
#4: LESS IS MORE<br />
This past weekend I went down to my 7 year old<br />
son’s Boardrider’s club round. It’s great to see the<br />
level of stoke in the mums and dads, as well as<br />
the grommies, who are hauled out the back and<br />
shoved onto little waves that peel across the<br />
banks. After judging a few heats and watching<br />
- all the while waiting for my sons heat to come<br />
up - something dawned on me.<br />
Most of the kids had little idea of what was<br />
happening except to hang on for dear life, much<br />
to the amusement of the applauding crowd.<br />
It’s all in the name of fun, and a great intro for<br />
the kids to a wonderful sport and lifestyle. So<br />
here’s the interesting part. All the kids were<br />
doing their best wobbling and<br />
wiggling around as best as they<br />
could and falling off most of the<br />
time. But every now and again<br />
there would be a kid who stood<br />
up and had perfect poise, like Gerry Lopez at<br />
Pipeline, with knees slightly bent, hands up,<br />
and relaxed while shooting down the line.<br />
The great thing was that he was not making<br />
any mistakes, and the wave was pushing him<br />
to the beach. So simple. There it was staring<br />
me in the face - less is more.<br />
Think about all the greats in surfing like Tom<br />
Curren at Off The Wall, Andy at Cloudbreak,<br />
Kelly at J-Bay, Mick at Bells, Parko at Kirra…<br />
And the list goes on. None of them look ‘ugly’<br />
between their turns. We may look at it as style,<br />
but I reckon it’s more than that. Instead of<br />
fl apping like everyone else, its eliminating the<br />
bad habits and the result is drawing cleaner<br />
lines and going faster than anyone else!<br />
So, stop fl apping... Relax and enjoy.<br />
WIN A VOUCHER!<br />
Send in a pressing issue<br />
regarding your surfing.<br />
Best question wins a<br />
free coaching session<br />
on the Gold Coast.<br />
Email competitions@<br />
smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
WINNER...<br />
“Hi! I can’t surf very well<br />
at all! My main problem<br />
is that I can not paddle<br />
myself onto a wave!”<br />
Emily Coetzee<br />
Emily, this column says it<br />
all - relax and enjoy... Just<br />
stop trying too hard!<br />
Clayton Nienaber runs Clayton’s Corrective Coaching<br />
helping surfers of all levels improve. Having coached the<br />
likes of Jordy Smith, he kinda knows his stuff. Drop him a line for personal coaching to be a better surfer, from<br />
$50 for group sessions, $90 for one-on-one and $150 for a full coaching clinic.<br />
WWW.CLAYTONSURF.COM.AU | 0420 267 766<br />
AUTUMN/WINTER <strong>2014</strong> | SMORGASBOARDER 109
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