Red Bull Project Air 2010 / page 1

Day 4 update:

Jordy gets a little runner in the rain / picture - © Shorty

The Red BUll Project Air has kicked in properly, and the Red Bull team of experts have been hard at work analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the assembled surfers.

Of all the information imparted by the leading experts at Red Bull’s Project Air, one key point that is continually emphasised to each member of the elite surf team regarding their pursuit of ultimate performance is that they must determine what works best for him, or herself, then know how to apply it.

During the “Hell Session” debrief today, Red Bull High Performance Manager, Andy Walshe reiterated this simple fact yet again.
“We’re here to provide you with the tools to become the best you can be, we’re not here to wipe your a$s!” said Walshe.
Not that any of the surfers expected that to happen, of course …
The ‘tools’ include access to experts, testing, and outcomes.

World Champ Fanning is pretty fit. / picture - © Shorty

So where are we at? The professional medical screenings have revealed commonalities between each surfer: a dominant side in the shoulders, which results in inflexibility and restriction, along with ‘Stage 1, early signs of detection’ in their backs; nothing to be alarmed about, but enough to encourage each surfer to set up a ‘system of recovery’. Walshe brought this to life via a simple projection – a haggard donkey standing next to a preened, veiny racehorse.

“Be the racehorse, not the donkey!” goaded Walshe.
Good advice.

And the results of the ‘Champion Mind’ Hell Session revealed and confirmed what many surfers inherently knew … where their strengths and weaknesses lie. The trick, however is doing something about them.

Mick Fanning, current ASP Men’s World Champion topped the heap, benefitting from the familiarity of the testing, yet proving undeniably he is a champion at the top of his game. Sally Fitzgibbons also scored highly, a reflection of her unprecedented amateur career and indication of its continuation as she transcends it.

Jordy, Sofia and Michel, they have uncovered areas that they can begin to benefit from immediately. And poor ol’ Tim Boal, who has been lying around with a tweaked disc in his back, is in recovery mode thanks to the invaluable treatment from Red Bull’s orthopaedic surgeon.

A day of contrasts also allowed for a coastal escape…

As much of NSW languished under continuing rain, Red Bull’s elite surf team found respite via a quick coastal run south to an often overlooked break.

The sun was shining and the waves good enough to allow tired bodies to unwind in familiar surroundings

Day 3 update:

South African presence at the Project Air camp Jordy Smith. / picture - © shorty

Heavy rain and wind may have ruled out any chances of aerial training on Red Bull’s customised skate ramp, but the team Performance Coaches were rubbing their hands in anticipation at today’s specially scheduled “Hell Session”.

Michel Bourez sweating and straining / picture - © shorty
Was it appropriately named? Some surfers will say ‘yes’, having survived a gruelling two hours of mental and physical testing.
A subdued theory session this morning (in a nice air-conditioned seminar room) preceded the ‘real deal’; a session lead by Michael Gervais, a High Performance Psychologist from Pinnacle Performance Inc (California), held in the wind and beating rain of Lennox Head’s northern beach.

The session was structured specifically to push the limits of the surfers by putting them in a “very uncomfortable space” where they would need to challenge their regular coping patterns.

Then when they tire? “We push them even further,” explained Gervais.

Dozens of push ups, sprints, crawls, swims, sit-ups and other annoying tests of endurance were performed, before the surfers were required to break and take complex mental tests, which included problem solving and memory assessments, under duress.

As Gervais explained: “The design hope is to help the team riders explore a second and possibly third gear they’ve always had, but hadn’t really known it. We examine their body language, try and help them understand and recognise their own internal dialogue and how they speak to themselves in pressure moments.”

World Champ Mick Fanning tries out the ramp / picture - © Shorty

Gervais described the surfers as “self-starters” in an individual sport who were regularly required to make decisions with high danger involved. As a result, they were well prepared, knew how to ‘dig deep’ and were committed to the process of growing and challenging themselves.

“There is danger involved in surfing, there is choices to be made around commitment. I can say these surfers have a similar capacity to face intense situations that I have found working with Ultimate Fighters (and the UFC).”

A full debrief session and post-analysis will take place tomorrow, and it will include the results from the many curious puzzles that required solving.

But until then, there is a few ice baths on the agenda, dinner and lots of Zzzzzz’s to catch up on.

Oh, and the jet-skis came out briefly, but we’re too tired to talk about that right now … Guess that means the UFC fighters are safe from any new competition for the time being!

Day 2 Update:

World Champion Mick Fanning with his Mark Richards Pipeline replica / picture - © shorty

On the second day of Red Bull’s Project Air, the top surfers in attendance took a trip back in time to try out a very special replica surfboard.

Sally Fitzgibbons, early morning Lennox, paying respects to surfing’s past on an ol’ single fin. / picture - © shorty
Red Bull’s “Project Air” is about the refinement and progression of the most exciting move in surfing – the aerial, but today each member of the elite team received a very special gift: a custom made replica of Mark Richards’ 1978 “Pipe Weapon”.

Personally hand-signed by the former four-time world champ and legend “MR”, the single-fin replicas are a symbolic, tactile reference to the origins of competitive surfing.

As Red Bull’s High Performance Director, Andy Walshe, detailed in his opening presentation, any top performer with ambitions of becoming a master, must have an understanding of the past.
“We are not here to re-invent the wheel, but tradition and history are important elements. From there you have a base to build an innovative performance,” said Walshe.

Pioneering surfers Baddy Treleor and Chris Brock sat as special guests alongside modern superstars Jordy Smith and Julian Wilson as the whole Red Bull gang took a brief trip down memory lane – watching an exciting compile of performance surfing through the ages, that culminated with Baddy and Brock’s epic Lennox Head sessions from Morning of the Earth, the famous seminal 70’s surf film.

On the 7’0” single fins this morning, the surfers ripped. Well, for the most part! Jordy powered through some big moves, using his 89kg bulk to his advantage, and claimed a nice tube. But for lighter surfers like Sally Fitzgibbons (59kg) the going was a little tougher.

“It paddled like a dream, I glided past everyone, then first wave I face planted! My fin skipped out of the water, I didn’t realise I needed my foot right over the fin. But then I kinda got the hang of it, I did a couple of cutties, trimmed, got dropped in on … my new name is “Marina Richards!” said Sally.

Mick Fanning, serious alley-oop hang time. / picture - © shorty

Our reigning Men’s ASP World Champion, Mick Fanning, blazed, before trading in the replica and jumping on his shortboard.
“The board had really nice lines, but the one think you lack with single fins is you don’t have is the speed. But overall, I was really surprised, it was better than what I thought!” said Mick.

Late in the day, the surfers had their first taste of the purpose built skate ramp and the bungy trampoline, both specified to allow ‘more air time’.

Per Lumdstum, Red Bull’s High Performance Manager, then took the team through an intense core strengthening routine, which allows weaknesses to be identified, then evaluated and improved upon, with the big aim of improving overall conditioning, long term.

Day 1 Update:

The Ramp / picture - © Shorty

We know Red Bull gives you wings, now the world’s best surfers are being taught to fly!

Lennox Head, the semi-sleepy hamlet in Northern NSW, Australia is base camp for Red Bull’s elite surf team as they prepare to undergo a world-first for surfing; a two-week long aerial intensive dubbed “Project Air”.

Borrowing training concepts first proto-typed by snowboarder Shaun White during “Project X”, the best of the best, including two-time and reigning Men’s World Champion Mick Fanning, Women’s World Champion Sofia Mulanovich, Junior World Champions Julian Wilson and Sally Fitzgibbons, along with international stars Jordy Smith and Michel Bourez will be expanding, honing and refining their aerial repertoires with the assistance of professional coaches, pro skateboarders and the use of gymnastic facilities.

The boys, amping, frothing etc... / picture - © shorty

The star of the show is not any one of the surfers, but a custom-built skateboard bowl tailored specifically to surf style moves with right and left “breaking” ramps that are exposed to a large foam-pit.

Through repetition and guidance, the surfers will be able to attempt and maybe even perfect, aerials that would require months, or even years of training in the open water, in a controlled environment and free from the fears of injury.

“I’m psyched, the future of surfing is definitely going to be more about fully, functional aerials and functional air combinations,” said Jordy, who in June of last year set the world alight with his outrageous Rodeo-clown captured on location in the Mentawai Islands.

“I can’t wait to give this a go!”