Words: Sam Gill
Many moons ago, I trotted off for my first day at secondary school. I can remember on that first day being presented with a brand new exercise book in each of my lessons and being given strict instructions to “cover it” as part of our homework. This involved covering the flimsy book cover with an extra layer to protect it. The school hoped that by reinforcing the cover of their exercise books, a process which usually involved wrapping the book cover in either cheap Christmas paper or posters from their favourite magazine, the pupils would somehow protect their books from the rigors of the school year. My geography book was my pride and joy! The cover had been lovingly wrapped with a Billabong poster, carefully prised from the centre of surfing magazine. The cover of the book now showed a perfect lefthander reeling down a deserted point and, in the background, wave after wave were stacked up, ready to follow each other down the point with perfect machine-like consistency. As the lesson washed over me, my mind would begin to drift and I would imagine myself surfing that perfect left. I would never put a foot wrong! My board would slice effortlessly through the crystal wave face and throw buckets of spray into the tropical air with every perfect turn. Daydreaming is what my disappointed teachers called it, but I called it mind surfing!
Fast forward almost 30 years and techniques that involve imagining yourself performing your sport, such as visualisation and mental rehearsal, are processes that many top athletes are more than familiar with. The most successful Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, used visualisation techniques to mentally rehearse all his races in the pool. He would go through every detail of an upcoming race and picture how it would look and imagine how it would feel. Every detail was covered: from climbing onto the blocks through to hitting the timing pad at the end of the race. These techniques are now commonplace across a wide range of sports. In fact, science is strongly suggesting that imagining the performance outcome you want in great detail goes a long way towards achieving that goal. So, while you are locked down at home and unable to surf, find that picture of your favourite wave. Then, as you gaze at it, imagine yourself surfing: picture that drop, imagine the feeling as your rail engages in the wave face and how your body moves as the spray flies. Imagine the small details: the sunlight on the water, the sounds around you and the smell of the ocean. Run through each element of the ride in as much detail as possible and, most importantly, visualise yourself performing at the highest level. Practice this process as often as you can and you just might find yourself ripping that bit harder when you finally get back in the water. Remember, this is not just daydreaming; this is mental rehearsal and the science of shredding!
Soul Surf Coach.
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And if you enjoyed the above article maybe these’ll also float your boat (or board). Be sure to check out NCW’s blog for more!