Photo wrap from this months @lostshore Technique Training Camp. Such a good facility to coach and train in. 13 years ago I did a sick trip to the ‘new’ pool in the desert at Al Ain with Reubyn Ash. I never would have dreamed there’d be so many fun pools and they would become a true accessible (if you’ve got the ££) regular training environment. The results are obvious. Fun place to be a part of for the weekend. Thanks to all involved. DM for details on the next one in June.
This August we’re setting sail for a good-vibes, 10 day dream surf trip sailing around the Maldives.
This trip is focussed on Adults who are keen for some thoughtful coaching inputs while gathering a bunch of clips and tropical pics surfing a variety of fun performance reefs through the uncrowded Central Atolls. Expect excellent meals, dhoney rides to the breaks, snorkelling, fishing, island exploring and generally having a sick time in paradise on a beautiful boat with a hand selected guide and a coach who really knows what he’s doing.
DM for the deets.
Unless you grow up in California, Hawaii or the Goldcoast I think you start your surfing journey dreaming of other places. ‘Proper’ surf zones. Like many a grom I surfed what slop I was given trying to replicate what surfing dreams the magazines had set up for me. A few years’ in when I started getting taken to some of the local reefs in my home zone I realised that some of the waves looked just like in the magazines. The first time I got a lift to one of the king spots on a macking day I remember thinking it looked like it could kill - ‘just like pipeline’ as I watched those above me like Jesse Davies and Del Boy take off where only some can and weave through the shallowest sections on the biggest of days. This winter as with most has had its moments of class and story on this coastline. One crispy morning I made a mission with one of my earliest surf buddies Jug to a seldom surfed spot. It was huge, with world class waves thumping down the empty lineup. No photogs or filmers and who was there? Only Del Boy and Jesse in the park spot looking as excited and ready as ever some 3+ decades later. The sort of thing Californians would dream of. It’s a beautiful surfing life this one when you dive deep into the connections of people and place.
North Shore Oahu remains the heartbeat of our surfing world. Spending even a little time bit of time here helps dish out lessons and lifelong learnings. Stoked to have had two super cool, positive cats on this trip in @malakai_hagley and @georgiemay.hicks Grateful for the opportunity to pass on some of what I think is the important stuff, experiences and places in this surfing life. Mahalo - hope to feel those deep sands next winter too 🤙
Portugal Girls Camp just wrapped up on the Algarve. It was my 20 annual trip to the @the_surfexperience which seems crazy. Myself and @emzwilliams123 ran the camp with a 50/50 technical and contest split. Was great to get @surfmyworld involved for some pool specific underwater training too. The secondary focus was fundamentals of Carves versus Snaps and competing correctly. Main focus as ever was prioritising fun and the power that can come from a strong supportive group unit. I loved every minute of it. The girls ALL did super well.
Maldives Grom Camp 2025 was a super fun floating affair. A select bunch of shredding young cool kids cruising with intent through the Central Atolls. A really wonderful place to be immersed in nature and even better to be able to immerse in it all as surfer. The groms did super good abd it instantly slid into my all time top 5 coaching trips I’ve ever done. 2026 we’ll be back with another grom camp and a seperate adult camp also. Let’s go! Big thanks to @perfectwavetravel for all the help with these trips.
A little shout out to my Aggie after school Nano-Groms now that the clocks have changed and we’re done for the season. It’s been a blast this year and super satisfying being part of the energy that goes with the progression in performance that they’ve all shown. So sick seeing them develop and charge into bigger waves and do turns that they could only have dreamed of last year. Its a privilege to do this on the beaches I now call home and my absolute favourite is when I see them surfing amongst previous Grom Squad generations who are all grown up and elite level ripping and encouraging and inspiring them. And so the circle goes - so cool.
Quality, focused training and an escape from UK winter. DM or [email protected] for info specifics on the following camps
GIRLS CAMP (U18s) - Algarve.
Jan 23-28
HAWAII PRO CAMP - North Shore.
Feb 5-15
PRO JUNIOR TRAINING CAMP - Hossegor
April 3-9
GROM CAMP(10-13) -Algarve, Portugal
April 12-17
@lostshore Barrel setting is a game changer. A technical slabby fast running shallow powerful wave that only rewards good technique. There’s a real opportunity for a major legacy with this and I’m really interested to see how tuberriding skills in the UK and Scotland in particular progress these next few years - I’m expecting a major level jump. Was super cool to jump in with the groms on this last training session and feel the vibe and be part of the rapid detect and correct progression.
I enjoyed my time presenting some of my theory with a selection of the @scottish_surfing Coaches and Open / Women’s team up at @lostshore recently - in the session we dived into the specifics of pools and the @wavegarden tech in particular. The are real benefits, opportunities and also challenges of wave pools. The @lostshore facility really is an excellent resource and a potential game changer for the pathway of Scotish junior surfing - integrating it into the ‘salt’ and the unique beauty of our culture is an interesting challenge. There’s a whole bunch of passionate, deep thinking coaches and surfers involved in @scottish_surfing and the wider scene looks ‘braw an’ healthy’ to me.
📸 @malsurf
