At least once a day – Jon puts on his wetsuit to practice balance, board control, steering, paddling, popups and footwork. It has been pretty incredible to watch his improvement day by day. Here in the PNW, as an 11 year old – the larger surf – limits the time that this grom can have in the ocean. However, with the lake so handy- he still gets a lot of water time.
He glided over from the dock to this point – unless you have ever tried to balance on a small thin surf board – you’ll probably not understand how difficult this is. In the Surf Clinic – they offer SUP Boards or very large Foamy Boards. This is a tiny BIC board.
He practices his pop ups. He’s so fast – I have not captured it yet. Those tummy muscles are going to be ripping! He is also practicing the paddle. Stroke, stroke stroke – out –and then 15-20 fast paced – stroke for all it’s worth to get to the top of the swell to drop in strokes. Shoulders and arms are getting really strong now.
Lake Fan Base. They just watch him and wait for him to get finished. . . .
It’s not all hard practice – he sets up fun times too – Running and jumping on this kayak.
If you are interested – Here are a couple of videos of his board balance –
He’s training to be a part of a Surf Team – traveling to different competition events. Still looking for sponsors . . . .
+Angie Wright
That is very cool! I love the videos. How old does he have to be to be on a team?
Hi Amy! For the Tigersharks 4H Surf Club – I think it is 4th grade. There is alot of spring training before they actually surf. The Competitive Surf Team – is more on desire – desire to grow as a surfer and surf the winter in any safe conditions – rain or cold. We also have kids who watch the weather, work on the FB Page, make videos, work on text and email communications – so there is space for the non PNW Winter Surfer as well.