GROMS RETURN HOME AFTER MONTH ON NORTH SHORE
After a great month on the North Shore of Hawaii the 5 National Champion junior surfers returned back to their chilly home waters of England, Wales and Ireland.
The trip was a huge success with a constant supply of North West swells and some fantastic early season conditions with minimal crowds resulting in sky high stoke levels.
The initiative was the brainchild of Surf Solutions coach Joel Gray and yet again he was assisted by Martin Connolly from Discovery Surf School. Completing the team was top European lens man Roger Sharp (www.surfphoto.co.uk).
Tassy Swallow (St Ives) and Beth Mason (Wales) were the only 2 girls on the trip and they were joined by Josh Piper and George Picking (Newquay) and Aaron Reid (Ireland).
The 5 surfers underwent an intensive month of surfing, training, coaching and experiences and left the North Shore with a head full of memories alongside the development in their own surfing.
George Picking summarises. “Hawaii has got to be the best place I’ve ever been. It’s amazing. The island itself is really nice and the people are cool too but the waves are epic. Being there for a month was definitely a good idea because we got to catch lots of different swells, like big Sunset, to sick Off-the-Wall and then practice at Larni’s and Rockys too, which I loved. Watching the pros was definitely a bonus. To see how they surf for real and to be in the water with the top guys and competing for waves definitely brings you up a level I think. Hawaii definitely pushes you. I feel its definitely improved my surfing and its one of the best trips of my life. Loved it!”
The main focus of this and all other Surf Solutions Projects is technical coaching. This was achieved mainly through video analysis from land and board cams, various group and individual goal setting, drills and feedback. They also spent time working on psychological issues with clip boards full of questionnaires for analysis pre, during and post surf.
Aside from the specific coaching an overall aim is giving the young surfers a good, solid introduction to Hawaii. “Hawaii is the ultimate proving ground and it is the traditional end of year contest finale. What we are trying to do is get the groms as comfortable as possible both in the water and on land. To achieve this we have a fantastic beach side accommodation, great SUV car, and links with the best surfboard shapers in Tokoro and Bushman. We try to get them involved with the community and get in a routine. We did Yoga at the Turtle Bay resort, had bikes to ride along the bike path, physical training, tourist trips. We’d spend time with the XCEL guys and take in their contest and the Haleiwa start of the Triple Crown. The overall idea is to get them as comfortable as possible so that they can concentrate on the waves and the surfing and of course put them in a better position for the future. One day I hope some of these kids will be coming back and competing in the Triple Crown events on their own. This provides the perfect start for them.” Joel Gray
Each day the surfers get voted for a surfer of the day award and at the end of the trip these are tallied up and a ‘King of the Rock’ is crowned. This year the accolade went to Aaron Reid from Sligo, Ireland. (See photo) “The Hawaii Project was an amazing trip. I had a lot of fun and the waves are really good for training on, which I suppose is why it gets the name ” the proving grounds”. The other guys really pushed me to surf better and it was so good surfing with all the pros too. The coaching was top notch and some of the fitness work was extreme hard going but definitely worth it. I’m happy to go home and work on my techniques on my home turf. I really feel I benefited from the trip. It was sick.” (Aaron Reid)
Surf Solutions Hawaii Project will return again in 2009 and interested junior surfers are urged to get in touch. For more information on that and other Projects take a look at the website.
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