High On a Wave

With Season 1 of the SLSA 2009 competition surf circuit in full swing, new surfers will be looking for advice on how a competition works and how to win, and veteran surfers will be trying to hone their edge. There are any number of classes, training opportunities, coaches, and sources of advice on a number of beaches. Spot a distinctive straw beach hat out in the distance, head towards it, and you'll find Mick Lunasea under that hat, sitting on his board, available to train anyone in need of learning or refreshing their surf skills.

Mick, a former director with the SLSA and long time RL and SL surfer, has been running informal training sessions for going on two years. He does this absolutely free of charge, just to help surfers and the surf community. It first started as a new surfer class but quickly evolved into adding the element of competition prep. Mick discovered helping entry level competition surfers get comfortable with the process - where to go, what to expect - had the benefit of calming the surfers on competition day and helped the competitions themselves run smoother.

As a testament to how well his classes are doing the trick, Sunrize Mornington and WickedV Carver - two of his prized pupils - were ranked 7th and 9th respectively after 2008 Season 2 competition circuit. SurfWatch recently caught up with some of Mick's pupils to discover the secret of Mick's coaching success. WickedV said a critical lesson she learned early on from Mick was control of the surfbaord and how to maneuver. One of the most important lessons she felt he taught her was to never get frustrated and always have a great time. He also taught her how to flip, how to crouch, how to go faster and how to make turns without bellying - lessons any surfer would agree to be valuable.

Sunrize Mornington added that he showed her how critical it is to keep the mini map up. He also talked about staying with the wave, crouching, and turning. After observing a student surf, he follows up with specific input and encouragement. She said Mick stresses to slow down if you get ahead of the wave and stay high on the wave. He ends the class with a Q&A session, taking as long as he needs to answer each question fully so his students come away with a thorough understanding. Bo Ohmai, new to surfing altho coming from a long simboarding background, said it was so helpful to learn from Mick how surf competitions work in terms of waiting in the line up for the marshall to put you in a wave.

So if you're new to surfing and want to know the secrets of successfully riding the waves, or if you're a veteran who wants to brush up on their skills, look for a straw beach hat floating in the distance and head on over. Odds are Mick can show you how to stay high on a wave.

Contact Mick directly to schedule a time for a lesson.

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