How TAOS Remote Coaching Cycles Changed My Surfing
A TAOS Member Story
It’s nearly nine thousand miles from where I live in NYC to Mount Manganui, New Zealand. It’s quite literally on the other side of the world. New Zealand is an incredible place. I’ve spent time there on a surf trip in the past and I’d jump at the chance to return, particularly to work with Matt Scorringe in person. But luckily due to new technology and TAOS Remote Coaching Cycles, I can benefit from Matt’s coaching multiple time zones away.
I’ve surfed for many years now, but if I’m honest with myself my surfing was basic at best. Like a lot of intermediates, my lines were mid face, my technique limited, and whilst I thought I knew what I needed to do (and had watched countless YouTube videos), my progress was slow.
As in many parts of the world, high quality surf coaching is not available in NYC. So, after becoming a TAOS Academy Member I was lucky enough to be one of the first to experience a TAOS Remote Coaching Cycle. The results went beyond any of my expectations.
“If you commit to practicing it on land to learn the movements and focus in the water, then Matt’s coaching is like a paint by numbers to better surfing.”
Breaking a barrier in surfing, like in most sports, takes building from the foundations. It’s a process. There are no shortcuts, as much as you want them, and you’re not going to be executing technically sound backhand reos unless you have a solid bottom turn and approach. During the assessment phase, I laid out my goals: I’m a 40-year-old dad who started surfing regularly in his 20s, so there’s a limit to how far I could shoot for. I want to be a technically sound surfer on my forehand and backhand on cutbacks, snaps, and reos. It doesn’t sound like much, but frankly it can feel like an unachievable goal because surfing is possibly one of the hardest sports to improve at.
You know you’re working with a high quality coach when directions are crystal clear and your progress is ongoing. Matt gave me an easy to understand assessment of my ability and my key areas to work on. The level of detail he went into was mind-blowing, but the specifics of what to work on was simple and actionable. Speed was key, particularly on my backhand, where I just wasn’t developing. You can’t turn without speed, so we worked hard on that during the first cycle.
During the cycle, I’d work on land to practice the movements and then set time aside in the water to work specifically on that one element. The progress was immediately evident. Toward the end of each cycle, I’d collect some footage for Matt’s review and he’d give me clear direction as to the next aspect to work on. The progression analysis, where he reassessed the technique I was adding in each time was where I really felt the gains were made. It’s during this phase that you can either course correct, or more likely realize you need to push the movement further.
Backhand bottom turn training
If you commit to practicing it on land to learn the movements and focus in the water, then Matt’s coaching is like a paint by numbers to better surfing.
One of the aspects of surfing I have always wanted to achieve, but felt was totally out of reach, was being able to go vertical on my backhand. There are a so many things that you need to approach in the right way with the right technique to initiate a vertical backhand reo and so many things you need to execute to complete the maneuver. As someone who had spent a lot of my time in the middle of the wave, it wasn’t really on my radar. But through Matt’s coaching during the Cycle it started to feel possible and then all of a sudden towards the end it started to become real.
I was blown away by the progress I had made over the Remote Coaching Cycle. Whilst I’ve still got a long, long way to go in perfecting my turns, when I look back at my footage from the start of the cycle it feels like I’m watching a different surfer. The most incredible part for me was that this progress was being led by a coach who was nine thousand miles away.
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Neal Mann
TAOS Member
