29 October, 2015 29 October, 2015

Downtime with David Van Zyl

Earlier this month we reported how Saffa WSL Qualifying Series campaigner, David Van Zyl, injured himself jumping from New Pier. The KZN ripper will be out of action for three months, so we figured it’s as good a time as any to catch up with him to hear his thoughts about competing on the QS – nicknamed ‘the grind’ by competitors and media alike.

DAve
Davey in hospital, shortly after surgery to repair his injured ankle and knee.

ZIGZAG: Howzit Dave, sorry to hear about your injury bru. What exactly happened and how long will you be out of action?
DAVID: The waves were pretty small and I jumped off New Pier right after a wave had passed, so I couldn’t really see how shallow it was. I fell through what must have been two feet of water, hitting the sand that had been building up against the pier. My left leg took the brunt of the impact and buckled under me. The result was that I snapped two ligaments in my ankle and tore a ligament in my knee. I had surgery a few days after and am on crutches and in a boot for three months.

What are you going to be doing with your downtime?
I’ve been pretty much stuck on the couch but luckily the Europe leg of the WSL has been on, so I’ve just been watching France and Portugal and also watching the South African guys on the QS competing in Brazil.

DAveyMike
No barrels for three months is a scary thought for the frothing Durbanite.

You were meant to travel to Brazil to compete in some QS events shortly after your accident. You’re obviously disappointed?
Ja, it’s disappointing that this injury happened a week before I had planned to go to Brazil, because these were two major events for me and were a big opportunity for me to make it back into the Top 100 to qualify for the Prime events next year.

What is your current QS ranking, and how will missing Brazil affect your ranking?
I was sitting around 130th on the QS, and after missing out these two events I’ll probably drop below 150/160.


Watch David shred in ‘Southern Cross’ – Richard Hambloch’s excellent Zag Shorts entry.

One of your goals is to make the Top 100 so you can compete in the QS10000 events. Will you be back on tour once you’ve healed up and pushing for that goal next year?
I’ll definitely be competing on the QS next year. I’m aiming to be in the QS10000 for the second half of the year. Luckily I won the 2015 WSL Africa Title because this guarantees me a spot into all events up to QS6000 for next year. Hopefully this gives me a better seeding in the events and gives me room to miss one or two events at the start of next year, depending on how long my recovery takes.

When you travel halfway around the world to compete in a QS event and lose in your first heat, how does that effect you? And how do you deal with it?
It starts with booking and paying for a visa, accommodation, entry fees and flights. Then you travel for hours and in most cases days to get to the country. You then mission to rent a car or find a taxi willing to shove your 6-foot 35kg coffin into their car (presuming your boards actually arrive at the airport), before finding your hotel and getting a few surfs in at the break – fighting off crowds and jet lag. So when that 20 minute heat finally arrives and you get knocked out, it’s definitely heartbreaking to say the least. But when you start the QS you’ve got to realise that you lose a lot more than you win, so for me I try brush these losses off the best I can and move on to the next event.

DAvidPipe
Digging in at the 2014 Volcom Pipeline Pro, where Davey impressed.

A lot of surf fans back home realise just how tough it is to compete on the QS and are right behind you guys, but there are others that are disappointed in the results the Saffa QS surfers have been achieving. They point to the idea that they think you guys don’t give it 100%. Perhaps you could give us an idea of just how tough it is, and why the results aren’t that easy to achieve?
There’s definitely a lot of support from home, but there has been quite a bit of negativity towards the guys competing on the QS. Everyone has an opinion on what we should be doing, what we are doing wrong, and why none of us have qualified for the CT. In my opinion, the South Africans have all the natural talent and drive in the world, but I think maybe all the guys’ surfing is suited to better waves and we’d be able to showcase our ability more freely in the CT structure with proper waves. I think maybe that’s why in history the South African wildcards have shined at J-Bay. Like I said before though, there’s a lot going on other than just surfing a heat and often these distractions can be quite overwhelming. The Americans, Brazilians, Australians and French guys all have coaches and managers travelling with them, handling all the nonsense and providing support and guidance – which allows the guys to just focus on their surfing. We South Africans have to deal with all these things on our own and the actual surfing is unfortunately not always our only priority. I think that could be a good goal for the South African Surfing Legends to achieve – to get someone with experience like Greg Emslie or Paul Canning to come with us on the QS and be that support figure. It’s also unbelievably expensive to do the Tour and most of us have some support from sponsors, but that only goes so far and every cent we make from events goes straight back into the QS fund. There are many surfers from South Africa that should be competing on the QS, but the cost of the tour is just too high and in most cases the financial support is non existent. I know all us South Africans give it our all in every heat on the QS because its not an easy road to get to the events, and we fight like anything to make it to the next round. Maybe that could be our downfall – putting too much pressure on ourselves – and I think maybe to surf your best you have to be relaxed and confident.

BallitoAVG
Grinding for points on the Qualifying Series.

Tell us one lesson you’ve learned on tour this year?
That’s the thing I’ve learned this year, that you have to try simplify things. Just go out in the heat and surf as hard as I can on the best waves and try focus on those two things only.

From a spectator’s perspective your surfing is precise, powerful and suited to good waves. We’ve also watched you surfing all conditions back here in Durban, and your small wave game is definitely not lacking. Do you think there’s still room for improvement in that aspect, though?
90% Of the time the waves on the QS are pretty bad and sometimes it’s questionable if they are even surfable! The waves are really good at home but they get really bad too and I feel pretty confident in bad surf. I just really love surfing, so I surf two to three times a day no matter what it’s like, and most of the time I’m just having fun trying to do a big hack or get barrelled or something. But I think to be successful in contest surfing, you’ve got to have a structure around your freesurfs and approach each wave and each surf the same way you would a heat. So that’s where I think I could improve.

Dave_Mandy
Gouging back home in KZN. Dave’s surfing is precise, powerful and a joy to watch.

Shot for your time, Dave. Heal well and we’re amped to see you competing again.
Thanks, hope to see you guys in the water soon.

6 Comments

  1. gary
    30 October, 2015 at 10:10 am · Reply

    good one..firstly theres a sign that says no jumping off pier..for a reason…
    thank your lucky stars you didnt cripple yourself and your familys possible future extranomical medical bills…
    just because everyone does it anyways,..is no excuse…you are breaking the law,you are sponsored with an obligation to obey the law.
    I wonder if your sponsor would still also look the other way if you bring undesired attention to yourself by breaking other laws…

    Secondly,you try surf 3 times a day,regardless of conditions…well good for you..strange,
    whenever its howling onshore and supa kak in durban theres never anyone in the water,even those horrendous days the Umthombo kids give it a miss…but you pros shouldnt…
    my point?anyone can surf a glassy wave,try mix it up a bit when its kak,
    youve got 2km of beach from ushaka to the piers,be creative,laziness doesnt win you heats,persistence does.

    • Andrew Harris
      30 October, 2015 at 1:25 pm · Reply

      *astronomical.
      Great character traits to kick someone when they are down Gary. I have also never known anyone to live and breathe surfing and put in as much water time as DVZ.

    • Dougal
      1 November, 2015 at 7:45 am · Reply

      Off you pop Gary and have a think about how daft your comments are…

      Defo want to see Davey jumping off the pier for surf (perhaps at high tide rather) and ripping as good as you do. Always a pleasure to watch you surf, coupled with the fact your a kiff O. All the best for a speedy and full recovery.

    • gary
      1 November, 2015 at 11:00 am · Reply

      get real…I had a dig at the stupid accident he had…to save a measly 40m paddle in deep water with a rip assisting you…instead putting his families income in jeopardy as he couldnt of claimed compensation from the council if he paralyzed himself, as he broke the bylaw.

      If he had fallen into an open manhole on the way to the water and broken his leg and missed the comps for 24mths or so,at least he couldve sued for loss of future earnings.

      The second dig was at all the pros who choose to do other forms of training,studying or sipping lattes at Gateway when the east is chooning howzit fully.

      now, you ous wouldnt know who surfs on those days would you?
      as i bet my last dollar, youse dont live on the beachfront to see whos out there ..i mean ..its Durban,who hits the beach on a weekday if the bluebottles are whistling your name on the shore?gary

      • GaryisaDick
        5 November, 2015 at 12:57 pm · Reply

        go eat a dick Gary.. kook

      • Daager112
        2 December, 2015 at 12:29 pm · Reply

        Everyone makes mistakes. So did he. So why tune him?

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