The Bali Report Card

Mossel Bay surf coach Llewellyn Whittaker is not a financial advisor, yet he does know the importance of investing for the future – which is what the groms in his coaching program are doing by looking to get the most out of their surfing with coach Lu’s tips.

With the level of professionalism in pro surfing increasing by the year, straight out surfing talent will only get the aspirant pro so far on tour, but a little bit of polish can turn them into title contenders.

Coach Lu recently took a group consisting of some of the country’s brightest young talents to Bali, to give them a taste of travel as well as getting in some serious surf training.

Here’s coach Lu’s Bali Report Card:

ADIN MASENCAMP

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Adin is a very mature and professional athlete. He is an amazing surfer and has a bright future ahead of him. His technical ability is brilliant and is a real solid little surfer. Adin has a mean floater on him and can make almost any section. He also throws some crazy fins-free turns.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
Adin needs to work on having fun with his surfing – He puts too much pressure on himself. If he can find the balance between having fun and trying to be profession, he will have the full package. Technically we are working on looking down when exiting his top turns and floater. We’re also working on being in the “moment”. Once Adin has learned this, then we will work on variation and innovation.

CHANELLE BOTHA

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Chanelle is currently a National Junior Team member. She’s still very young, so has lots of time to learn and she responds to coaching well. She has one mean bottom turn, which will allow her to improve quickly in other areas of her surfing.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
Chanelle’s biggest thing to work on is her rotation off-the-top both forehand and backhand. On her forehand, more rotation off-the-top and ‘a look’ down the line will get her to “open” her shoulders more – her left arm always comes across her chest when finishing the turn. On her backhand, while she’s gunning down the line she is looking over her left shoulder, which causes lateral surfing. If she works on these and combines it with her mean bottom turn, then she will be ripping.

DONOVAN WICHMANN

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Donovan has come a long way since I first started coaching him. He’s recently found a hunger and desire to surf well, improve and work hard at his surfing. He has a great style and can read a wave well. Donovan has developed a mean bottom turn too.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
Technically his surfing is very good. On his backhand he needs to rotate more off-the-top and off-the-bottom. He generally needs to put more energy into his surfing, like he does in his bottom turn. On his forehand he must improve his second turn, which are often soft and not as strong as his initial turn. Donovan needs to ‘look’ further into the pocket before putting his head down in snap backs.

DYLAN WICHMANN

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Dylan is a big, powerful surfer and has an insane forehand snapping carve on him. He has loads of potential and can charge. Dylan already has some mad barrel skills and like his brother, he too has a great style.

THINGS TO WORK ON;
There are a few things for him to work on. During the trip one main focus was working on his timing and rotation off backhand top turns. We are also working on variation in both forehand and backhand – his basic foundation surfing of linking the dots (top-to-bottom) needs work, so he can maintain his speed throughout the wave. He also needs to work on a vertical forehand top turn instead of always looking for the softer part of the wall for his gouges.

EMMA SMITH

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Emma is very hard-working and determined. She is fantastic to work with. She has a great attitude toward her surfing and her peers. Emma has a great bottom turn and will never give up and is always open to learning and improving no matter what it takes.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
The biggest thing for Emma to work on, which will take her surfing to the next level, is her compression both in the top turn and the bottom turn. Her ‘look’ down into a vertical line after a top turn has improved on this trip. She also needs to penetrate the lip more, getting her front foot above the lip during re-entry’s. Emma is also working on looking  (rotating) more into the pocket on snap backs and cutbacks.

GINA SMITH

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Gina has a really solid backhand on her and surfs with lovely style and flow. She has a lot of ability and learns quickly. Gina will be able to do anything she puts her mind too. She has improved dramatically over the past few months and is surfing very well.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
If Gina can learn to believe in her ability and talent she will blow minds in her surfing. Technically she needs to work on nailing the bottom turn in the right part of the wave. She also needs to look straight down the face of the wave for longer, ahead to her next bottom turn, and not rush down the line. Looking back into the pocket in snap-backs, as well as more rotation off the bottom.

JONO McGILLIVRAY:

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
This is my first experience ever working with Jono. He is very head-strong and determined. He has loads of potential in his surfing. Jone surfs with great energy and has a great style to work with.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
Jono’s surfing is very snappy and erratic, he needs to learn how to join the “top-to-bottom” dots by ‘looking’ where he needs to be turning, which will make his surfing smoother. Backhand he needs to look into the pocket and drive through snap-backs – his forehand is the same. Once closer to the pocket he will have more speed, then he can work on surfing in more vertical lines.

MATTHEW McGILLIVRAY:

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Matt is generally an all-round positive kid and has many positive attributes. He is always smiling and is a real team player. He is surfing incredibly well and is improving all the time. Matt has a full repertoire of maneuvers in his surfing. His strong points are his bottom turn and technical ability. He can also apply any coaching suggestions very quickly.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
We are currently working on variation in his surfing and his manouevres, such as double-grab airs, lean airs, layback snaps, slob air-reverses etc. We are also working on power in his surfing, as this seemed to be the thing that stood out most at the 2012 WJSC. His backhand needs improvement and the focus there at the moment is more rotation off-the-top.

RIGARD SMIT

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Rigard has one mean bottom turn on him! He has a solid repertoire of good basic foundation surfing, both on his forehand and back hand. He has a killer tail-waft and cutback on him. His combo speed turn into reo is also great.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
Variation is his biggest thing right now. Rigard needs to bring some turns that are unpredictable into his surfing to take him to the next level. Looking down out of his top turns will ensure that he lands his bigger turn more consistently.

STEFF BURROWS

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:
Steff looks amazing on his forehand when the waves are barreling; he has a very good style. He has a very strong backhand, and beautiful flow in his surfing. Until recently Steff has really matured very nicely in his surfing.

THINGS TO WORK ON:
His forehand need work, he has one trademark turn, which he can improve by looking down more. He also needs to work on variation on his forehand and more vertical lines both backhand and forehand. Steff is also working on making his surfing more “dynamic”, especially with the “in-between” turns – Looking further into the pocket on snap backs should fix that.

To see out more images and videos from coach Lu’s Bali trip, check out the daily blog here>>