July's development weekend report
With the World Champs just round the corner, and knowing I need to improve my surfing skills, I attended a Surf Kayak Development weekend. This was held on my doorstep in Pembrokeshire and was run at White Sands beach on the Saturday and Newgale beach on the Sunday.
Development Weekend report
By Junior team member Lucas age 14
I am really lucky as I live in Pembrokeshire and these are my local beaches. We have great surf beaches in Pembrokeshire and it is easy to find good conditions at our local beaches. This is really handy because I love going surfing.
Saturday
Today we went to Newgale but decided that it would be better surf conditions at Whitesands. We were really fortunate with the weather, it was really sunny on the Saturday and the surf was great for learning.
It was really nice surfing with other people, with a shared interest and I met some other young people also developing their skills. There were lots of people with different abilities, and different ages all wanting to progress with their surfing. It was really good being out on the water surfing as the coaches would be watching and telling you how to get better. The coaches were awesome and really helpful! I was told that I needed to lean forward more in the boat and enjoy it!
We stopped for some lunch, and a break to regain some energy ready for the second half
We then had a chat on the beach about tips on how to catch good waves, wave selection, the rights to a wave, surf etiquette, rips, and moving your weight in the boat. It was really informative. We then went back in to surf.
I have learned that I need to lean forward more and need to make sure my roll is bombproof. I will be making sure I go out and practice really hard at this over the summer.
Sunday
Today we went to Newgale and we were a smaller group. It was cloudy and the surf was smaller. We talked about surf rescues, tides, bathymetry- which is understanding what's happening under the waves ( i didn't know what that was!!!), rips and how to use them to your advantage.
We all went out and practiced capsizing and rescuing each other.
We learned all about how to help and rescue others and how its important to be prepared if something does go wrong when you go paddling.
We stopped for lunch and changed out of our wet kit and did the final part of the session on the beach. We talked about competitions, and using strategies and good surf etiquette while getting into the best position on the wave.
We also talked about what not to do in a competition, such as snaking, poor surf etiquette, and how not to get disqualified.
I really enjoyed the weekend and found it really improved my surf skills and gave me loads of confidence. I was able to commit to more challenging waves, and improve my turns.
I would definitely recommend doing development weekends as it really helps you progress your surfing skills.
A massive thank you to all the coaches, they were all really friendly, helpful, fun and knew what they were talking about.
I know how I'm going to spend my summer....surfing!!!
