An Open Letter to the Coach of Heitor Alves

This is an open letter to the surfing coach of Mr. Heitor Alves:

I am sure Heitor has a coach because just about everyone has one these days. If you know Mr. Alves or his coach, please have him read this post in my blog. Why? Because Heitor needs some advice. He is seriously under achieving. Rio and the Quicksilver Saquarema were there for the taking and in both events he went out way to early. I felt compelled to write because today I became so angry with what I saw during his heat that I turned off the computer mid-heat and I never do this.

Dear surf coach of Heitor Alves,

First off, Heitor needs to realize something. Last year was not a fluke. You see, Heitor should probably be the #1 rated Brazilian surfer on the World Championship Tour. I know he suffered a recent injury and maybe this is playing into “the problem”.

My “Problem”

Coach, I understand Heitor’s problem because I was in his shoes once. I was lost. Was I the hassler? Was I going to surf like Shane Dorian? Was I going to kill every turn? The problem was that I was trying so hard to find an identity based upon some other successful professional  surfer that what I really needed to do was so simple.  I just needed to catch a wave and concentrate on just surfing to what was in front of me. You see, Heitor is in a “surfing” contest. Surfing means to ride a wave. When Heitor is sitting for 3/4 of a heat, that means he is not surfing! Sure Sunny Garcia loved to sit there and catch 2 waves but we also know that Sunny is not advancing much lately. You have to take some chances and build house. If you wipe out, well, just paddle back out for 2 minutes and look for another one! If you reach 5 minutes in a heat and you can’t find a 5 to back up your 9…you are doing something real wrong! Especially when your fellow competitors have ridden 6 waves and your score line is a 9 and a 1.7.

Time Management

Surfing a heat is mainly about time management. Most surfers try to get out and get a quick one right off the bat to start off their heat. Then you try to build upon that score. If you know you don’t have a score by point “X” in the heat then you should know it is time to go to plan B which may mean move to a different section or paddle in more. Plan B does not involve just sitting there waiting for the set of the day to come to you.

Working as a Manufacturer

Today your client lost out once again because he was just sitting there waiting for a great wave. I find this to be unacceptable for one reason only. I know where you are from Heitor. Does this ring a bell? Diario? Icarai? Praia do Futuro? You see, I have spent a lot of time like you have connecting the shifty little windy peaks of Ceara. So I know what kind of waves you grew up surfing. The waves coming in today at Saquarema were miles better than an above average day at Ponte do Metalica for example. So when you noticed Keanu Asing moving in and catching scores, you should have done the same. You could have easily have paddled in and wrangled up a 7 which would have seen you advance.

So Mr. Alves, change this lame-brain strategy now and start winning! Get rid of your coach…or get one! Your big carves are working! Mix it up with your airs and any of the guys above you in the ratings are fair game.

Catch more waves!!!!

A Few Notes About the Billabong Rio Pro

John Florence winning the Billabong Pro Rio. Photo courtesy of the Association of Surfing Professionals.

Well, the Billabong Rio Pro is over and I am going to write a few notes on what I observed in the contest. I am not going to cry about the waves or post lame conspiracy theories about the event or the Association of Surfing Professionals. We will leave that kind of junk to the arm-chair quarterbacks that inhabit the forum on Fantasy Surfer. I will say that I did enjoy watching some of the barrel rides that the guys were getting.

Gabriel Medina

On my Fantasy Surfer team, I did not pick Gabriel Medina. Why? Well, if you play Fantasy Pro Surfing and if you have watched countless heats with the Brazilians, you would know why. It has to do with Medina, Pupo, and a cycle that Medina seems to get stuck in. With that, Medina should begin to peak in a few months. This should line him up with Trestles and a few other spots that favor his surfing.

Julian Wilson

Awhile ago, Jordy Smith and Dane Reynolds came on the scene and they both were touted as the two boy wonders who were going to beat down the established status quo. Jordy really seemed to feed off Dane and his level kept rising. Then his power source began to sputter and shockingly burnt out. Jordy just does not seem to have that “crush the world” drive that he did a few years ago.

Well Jordy, your Dane is back! Well, maybe not Dane himself but his incarnate. Even better for Jordy, he is an incarnate with a drive that Dane never had. Seize this Jordy and return to your old self. A guy that used to be a thorn in Parko’s side…not a person who gets worked by Parko.

Joel Parkinson

I have to say bravo to Joel! I was impressed by his alley-oop that he did in the semi finals. I was even more impressed with the overall speed and projection he was getting. Not the desperate to make my board go into the next section that Adriano had. Joel flew down the line and did huge gaffs in the pocket and rode the barrel like a master. Joel just needs one thing and the finals let him down. Joel can crush small waves with a good solid wall but in shorter waves where he can’t get himself set up, he is out of gas.

John Florence

John Florence showed why he is going to be a fixture in the upper end of the ratings for years to come. He pulled into barrel after barrel at will and in the shorter sections he unleashed his deadly no-handed rotations. This is the area that Parkinson and Fanning are screwed.

Fiji

Fiji is going to change things up and provide a much different playing field compared to Rio. A few guys that could capitalize in these conditions are the Hobgoods and Kai Otten. If Fred Patacchia can get in, he would be my top pick out of these guys. He has surfed with a renewed hunger and he has been getting knocked out of heats by a small margin. Sadly, I can imagine that Jadson Andre will not pull out even though he has a nagging injury. It will be disappointing to see him half-heartedly ride some Fiji bombs instead of being able to give it 100%.

John Holeman Surf School

John Holeman’s double grab air in 1985! A true aireal pioneer!

Sometimes, I thank the lord that WordPress was made because it has given guys like myself an outlet to speak about the things that they enjoy. For me, it is surfing and the other aspects that are involved such as contests and coaching. I have done my fair share of coaching and I have helped a few younger surfers improve their level of surfing which to me was great to watch. However, even I need to sometimes turn to someone to work on my weak areas and there are many surf coaches out there who are recognized on a global scale. Martin Dunn from Australia immediately comes to mind as well as guys such as Sean Mattison who resides in California. For Florida, the guy who immediately springs to my mind is John Holeman who runs the John Holeman Surf School.

History of the Surf World

First I want to give you all some perspective on John. To set the record straight, John is not the first guy to do airs. On every WCT webcast that comes on for Quicksilver, it is mentioned over and over about Martin Potter and his air game. This is all true of course and Mr. Potter deserves a lot of credit. However, John Holeman’s contribution is more in line with what we see going on today. This is because in the 80′s, Martin Potter and later guys like Matt Archibald and Christian Fletcher, were all doing straight airs. By the time Christian Fletcher did his inspiring backside rotation in Mexico, what the world did not know was that he was a few years late to the party. Years before, many international pro surfers witnessed John unleashing an arsenal of airs in pro contests around the east coast of the United States. So by the time the 1990′s rolled in, John already had done front side and backside rotations and a list of grab variations which included his main one which was the double rail grab air.

What makes this sad is that many international pros watched John and it is documented on film, yet the California-based media center ladled the praise on Archy and Fletcher and turned a blind eye to John.

Coaching

In The Side Wedge, I have covered a few coaching tips such as:

http://thesidewedge.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/doing-a-solid-cutback/ and http://thesidewedge.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/surf-training-learning-to-count-to-1/

This lays out the ground rules to help someone improve their surfing and is a great basis to give you an idea on what to do. If you are really serious, a great tool is to pick up a surf coach. In Florida, John Holeman’s Surf School is your best bet to get yourself to a level in which you can start to win surfing contests.

On John’s site, you can see one tool that John has that puts him above others. John has the software to video tape your session and compare your turns to guys such as Mick Fanning or Kelly Slater. Once you can see how you approach a turn and then break it down to how Mick or Kelly does the same turn, then you can work on altering your surfing to make your turns fundamentally stronger.

Here is the link to John’s school:

http://www.johnholemanair360.com/

Stirring the Pot!

This is one of the joys of being in my position!

Matt Biolas of LOST headed up a campaign to honor Simon Anderson’s contribution to surfboard design in which he wanted to collect something like a dollar from every thruster sold and then he wanted to give this pool of money to Simon Anderson.

I think this is a great idea!

Wouldn’t it be just as cool if every pro surfer on the WCT paid a dollar after their heat for every grab air or rotator and donated the money to John at the end of the season? Same concept…a homage to a guy who made basically nothing for inventing something that everyone else is getting a fat paycheck for!

The Surfing Edge in Business

I’m dropping in…so the market must be dropping too!

I do a lot of surfing in the water and I have an interest in business so I surf a lot on the web as well. I enjoy reading other people’s blogs and I have noticed a trend that is interesting to me. Many are using the fact that they are a surfer to prove to their readers that surfing helps them in all facets of their life. It is giving them the surfing edge in business!

This goes against my post(The Great Surfing Disconnect – The Characteristics of a Surfer) from a few weeks back which is about the stereotype of surfers.  http://thesidewedge.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/the-great-surfing-disconnect-the-characteristics-of-a-surfer/

So for some, our almost clairvoyant ability to understand the fluctuations of the sea has become a way to help others read the fluctuations of a business cycle or bring harmony to personal relationships.

As I read these blogs, I began to receive alpha brain wave signals that only a surfer could read. The message that I deciphered was that I must help my fellow surfers out and give them more ways that surfing has helped me in business and in life.

1. Hold on! I am seeing a picture…

I am harnessing the psychic ability of the surfer!

Ok! Surfers are persistent!

Surfing is an unforgiving sport. Many times we get caught on the inside and we just keep going when anyone else would just give up. We have something deep inside of us that allows us to push on when times are not sunny.

2. We relate well with other cultures.

We travel far more than most and we surfers can whip anyone in geography. When I meet a new person, after asking them about their life, I can normally find a common place we have been. This has helped me a million times when I was handling guest service issues.

“Where do you live at?”

“I am from New Jersey“

“Great! I love Belmar and Point Pleasant! I go there to surf.”

“My friend has a house there. We go in the summer.”

Blammo! Instant link.

This works with just about everyone. The earth has a lot of water.

3. We work great under pressure!

The computer just shut off mid-report and the fire alarm is going off as well. You have 3 hours before the big meeting. Well, this is normally where I am the star. When you are getting stung by jellyfish and an 8 foot shark just popped up 20 feet away, it kind of makes losing a report a small deal.

However, with all of these surfer business masters in their pool, the surf industry seems to not make wise business decisions. I will only give one small example and not go into bone-headed business dealings.

1. They sometimes are guilty of confusing being a great surfer with being a great person/job fit.

This is one of my personal favorites. They take their old team rider, Barney “Kookcrusher” McGinnis, and reward him for years of service by making him their product rep. Why not? Barney is friendly and is constantly talking with girls at the industry parties.

So Barney visits the local shops both beachside and inland and hawks the companies wares. Then he goes home to his local break and does his daily routine of cursing at 10-year-old kids, dropping in on non-locals, and making vids of himself pouring beer on his buddies at the local wet t-shirt contest.

Maybe the business is at fault because they did not add “Not being a turd bag” into the job description.

Will surfing give you the edge in business? Who knows. But if you want me to give you business advice and you want to pay me…I am all in!

Better yet, just subscribe to my blog! It’s free and I will not drop in on you at any beach.

Rio Billabong Pro vs. Location! Location! Location!

Surf contests always have one major issue. That is space and parking. So sometimes, as we may know, a contest is held at the location where they can set up the scaffolding and they also need parking for the masses. A lot of these spots are decent but down the road in some cove there is a slabby break that would really get the excitement factor up.

Brazil has always had its pundits and the Billabong Rio Pro is one of those events. In fact, any event in Brazil makes the arm-chair surfers on Fantasy Surfer and Fantasy Pro Surfing cringe. Well, any place besides Fernando de Noronha.

For this gringo, I frequently visit Brazil and surf at a lot of spots. I do like Arpoador but it is a funky wave. The outside is a warbled mess but it cleans up into a backwashy mid-break that reminds me of a reversed Makaha. Basically, fun for someone like me but not what I want to watch Taj Burrow or Kelly duking it out in.

When I stayed in Rio, I had to take a long, long walk through the madness of Copacabana down to the famous Arpoador. On the way there and on the way back, I would have to pass various beach breaks and one of them was Posto 5. Nine times out of ten, Steve would abandon the mission and catch some dredgers for 45 minutes and then continue the journey to surf Arpoador. This would always happen on the return trip as well.

Here are some pics of Posto 5:

A happy grinder at Posto 5

Barrel for one!

Some doofus

Posto 5 is mainly a bodyboarding spot but with a tad bit of size, it breaks in a uniform way and is very surfable. Most of the times that I surfed out there, I was not the only surfer. Even worse is the fact that in pictures #1 & #2, you can see a long point sticking out. Well, Arpoador is on the backside of that point.

I would rather see the guys getting some draining barrels and since it is kind of like Peniche in Portugal, it would be fun to watch Owen Wright breaking boards left and right. However, this won’t be the case. There is no place for the masses to park at Posto 5, so it will never be considered. Instead, we will enjoy watching the guys hop around in the backwashy walls of Arpoador or riding the beach break at Barra da Tijuca.

The Great Surfing Disconnect – The Characteristics of a Surfer

This gallery contains 9 photos.

I was watching the Bells contest the other day and I watched the surfers warming up and preparing for their heats.  After the contest ended, I begin to think about what these serious pros did in their day-to-day life. The huge amount … Continue reading →

State of the Union Address

Hard at work in The Side Wedge headquarters!

Oi seniors e senioras!

Eu sou Senior Steve! I am the President, Vice-President, Director of Marketing, Head of Content, and of course, janitor at The Side Wedge.

Today I am here to let you in on some important news. No, I am not going to learn to make this blog better. The news that I am about to deliver will have no impact on your lives. Further more, this update will make you turn off your computers and go to the beach to do something more important than read blogs all day.

I am happy to report that my simple blog has been added to Surf Aggregate’s list of best surfing blogs! I almost broke into a sweat when I saw blogs such as Young Wise Tails, Julian Wilson’s blog, Kerrazy (Josh Kerr’s blog), and Taj Burrows blog, and then at the very end of the list was The Side Wedge. Well, I guess someone is amused by me!

You Really Like Me! You really do like me!!

Of course after seeing this, I had to do something that I used to do when for example, I would notice that I somehow just pulled Kelly Slater in my next heat. It wasn’t crying and it wasn’t just laying face down in the sand (For the record, I was only laying face down in the sand for 2 minutes). It was to reflect on why I entered the event and on how I could beat anyone! So I began to justify why my blog was worthy to be on that list!

In case you were wondering, the bald guy wiped the floor with me.

After some reflection, I came up with this:

I can never compete with Josh Kerr’s blog because it is loaded with the most sickest surfing ever. Same goes with Marine Layer Productions. However, I am a writer as well as a former pro surfer with a talent for poor heat strategy. I deliver content!

My other buddies deliver sick videos and this*…

Hey everyone! Check out this lemur at the airport terminal!

Where is Madagascar Air!!!

We are eating sushi on the Goldie!

Bwa ha ha! This camel has to much rocker!

…Riveting stuff there.

The above quotes ARE the entire post partnered with a cool Instagram picture. So, you will learn a lot about what a customer service agent looks like for South African Airlines and if you are crazy to see a picture of a pro surfer eating, sleeping with a shirt on their head, or of a man herding ducks; your dreams have come true!

I am glued to this blog! I wonder what he ordered?

So my promise for you is that I will never post pictures of my friend Rob eating at Wendy’s or my friend Scott pointing at a gopher turtle.

So thanks to Surf Aggregate for helping me out! Also, a big shout out to the people who have visited my site. Especially the ones from Turkey, Iraq, and Pakistan. Remember, if you are slightly amused by what you see…please sign up for my e-mail alert. By showing your support, I may one day be able to improve this blog and it may even lead to me getting rid of the Tandy TRS-80 that I am now using to create my works. You have no idea how many Windows updates I have downloaded to make my computer compatible!

Here is the link for Surf Aggregate.

http://www.surfaggregate.blogspot.com/

*Ok…maybe I am not putting up cool Instagram photos because my phone sucks!