This sounds familiar….

At some stage every surfer has fear and anxiety in the water. It might be different surf conditions for different people but we all go through it and when we do it can be crippling. This immense desire to want to progress with our surfing because each baby step feels so good and empowering and we really feel like we are getting somewhere and achieving goals but the fear can hold us back so much it almost makes us feel like we are plateauing. Man does that feel familiar..

Fear and anxiety in the ocean is so common yet we all feel like we might be the only ones going through it. Why does it happen when all we want to do is surf?

When a surfer does not understand something then we are not able to prepare for the consequences or outcomes which builds fear, fear of not knowing what is going to happen and how to stay safe when it does happen. Through the education of reading the ocean a surfer is able to read the patterns of what the swell is doing and is able to prepare for what’s going to happen. This fairy simple concept becomes so complicated as the ocean is a forever changing environment and therefore is a hard thing to read and understand. So many people say “its just time I the water” and that’s fine if you are wanting to learn to surf at a young age as a young surfer is able to learn from mistakes and build the confidence they need to then conquer the bigger swells but what is I am a person learning in my 20s or 30’s or up? What then?

Fear & anxiety sit in so many different areas of surfing, depending on the experience you have had with surfing normally will indicate where your fear lies and there are some very common patterns that our coaches are able to see which will guide us to where your fear & anxiety is and how we overcome it, what tools we give you to understand why its there and what we need to do to break it down so it doesn’t prevent us from progressing.

Fear & anxiety have a place in the water when you are surfing. You must learn to respect the ocean and what it is doing but it should not consume you when you are out there in the water. It should be the drive to stay focused and motivated to improve, it is the energy that pushes you to want to get better but you must understand why its there so you are able to use it as a positive not a negative.

Because overcoming your fears & anxieties is an incredible feeling.