About Martin
Martin Dunn, Australia’s most successful and innovative surfing coach, shares his knowledge, gained through working with Australia’s champion surfers over a 25 year period.
The results of his coaching programs speak for themselves:
- Development coach to 14 WCT surfers
- Coach to 14 ISA World Junior and Grommet Champions
- Coach to 10 Australian Junior Champions
- Coach to 5 Australian Pro Junior Series Champions
- Coach to 3 American Junior Champions
- Australian team coach 2x, Australian Team Manager 1x, NSW youth coach 10x
- On-going coaching with Australia’s next generation of elite surfers
- Creator and producer of this website www.surfcoach.com
- Creator and prodcuer of 7 instructional dvd’s, now morphed into the video membership site you are now reading.
Martin’s commitment to help surfers of all levels reach their potential is the underlying ethos of his coaching programs. Whether you are a novice or WCT surfer, Martin has developed, and will continue to develop, the programs to help you achieve your surfing goals.
The interview with Martin below, appeared in the April 2009 newsletter for Global Surf Industries
Martin Dunn has has coached many surfers into the WCT, including his son Ben who is currently ranked no. 32 on the 2009 ASP world tour. While we are not quite at WCT standard we had the privilege of being coached by Martin for 3 days during our 2009 conference in January. Martin videos you surfing then dissects the video and shows you where you can improve – genius! It is amazing what a bit of coaching can do, everyone improved straight after the first session.
Martin is retiring from his role as head surf coach at Surfing Australia this month to devote his time to surfcoach.com, a surf coaching business, which he will run from his home in Old Bar, on the lower noth coast of NSW, Australia.
I caught up with Martin last week just after the Australian Junior Surf Team, of which Martin is head coach, experienced their 4th victory as the ISA Quicksliver World Junior Champions - nice one!
TK: Where and when did you first learn to surf?
MD: I started surfing around 12 years of age in the Old Bar, Saltwater area { Lower North Coast of NSW }. So that’s 38 years ago.
TK: How often do you go surfing and what is your local break?
MD: I haven’t been surfing too much this year have been mainly standing on the beach behind a video camera. But I’m just about to move back to Old Bar to become a regular surfer again, and go fulltime into my online training programs for surfers.
TK: Coaching is a big part of all other sports but not surfing until now, why do you think that is?
MD: Well surf coaching is just beginning to take off in Australia and a few other places, but for much of the world the thinking is - you just have to surf more to become a better surfer. This is true for a certain percentage of surfers, but for the majority, they reach a plateau in their performance and can’t seem to attain higher levels. This is most often caused by technique errors in their performance, and good coaches now can rectify these errors. I’m seeing more adult surfers than ever before, wanting to just be able to do better turns.
TK: How did you get into surf coaching?
MD: I went to university and did a sports science diploma, and when I came out I had 3 choices. Be a fitness instructor, coach rugby, or coach surfing. This was 23 years ago, and as surf coaching didn’t have any formal training techniques, I found it fascinating to work out how to help surfers who wanted to improve. Since then, I have coached probably 1500 - 2000 surfers, all levels above beginners, from the novice surfer right through to WCT competitors. I have also produced 7 DVDs and other training packages which I have been selling on my website - www.surfcoach.com . I class myself as a development coach, and mainly focus my students onto their surfing technique and their decision making while in the water.
TK: What is the most common thing that surfers do incorrectly that could improve their surfing instantly?
MD: Most surfers have a low success rate. That is, they fall at the end of their waves, making for inconsistencies in their performance. There are two main issues:
- They perform the wrong manoeuvre in the section faced. For example, if a surfer has this problem, they would attack a pitching end section with a vertical re-entry: what this does is that if you stick the surfboard up high you usually get caught by the explosion as the lip hits the bottom of the wave, causing you to fall off. In this instance, you would be better to perform a flatter manoeuvre, so you land in front of the explosion. It’s the decision which is incorrect here, not the technique
- They have faulty finishing techniques, making for finishing inconsistencies. So a big issue from a technique sense is that many surfers land their final manoeuvres with a tall stance. They finish with a straight body, which is bio-mechanically a poor body position for good balance. These surfers need to learn to bend their bodies at the knees and waist, creating a lower centre of gravity, which enhances balance. In addition, the ideal body position for perfect balance is a compressed body, in a chest over front knee stance.
TK: You hold surf coaching camps within Australia and Internationally. Tell us a bit about your camps and where they are held.
MD: I have been conducting training camps mainly in Old Bar for 15 years. But also, I have conducted camps in New Zealand, Hawaii, California, Puerto Rico, and all states of Australia. These as usually put together by enquiries from parents, who organise a small group of surfers for me to come and train. The normal day consists of 2 surfing sessions per day, which are videoed and critiqued after each session. If the surfers are competitive, we also do competition training. At the end of the camps, I create training DVDs which contain all the footage shot during the camp, and specific training directions individualised to each surfer. This DVD then acts as a surrogate coach at the surfers own beach, every time they watch it before surfing. I also offer a service where surfers can send video footage to me from anywhere in the world, and I can create a training DVD for them to use at their local beach.
TK: You have had a lot of success as a surf coach over the years. Do you have a ‘proudest’ moment so far?
MD: You know, there are a couple of things I think about when reflecting on my career. I have worked with many surfers who have won world junior titles, and gone onto WCT qualification and that’s great, but I still get a buzz out of seeing surfers of all levels perform a new skill for the first time. Often, it’s a minor change in their technique which solves the problem. Providing the advice that works for the surfer is really a great way to make a living. The 2nd thing is that my son Ben is a WCT surfer. I’m really happy for him having a professional surfing career, but you know I’m more proud of the fact that he doesn’t drop in on other surfers in the water. He has respect for other surfers, and takes his turn like everyone else. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what surfing should be about.
TK: You coach everyone from beginners to professional surfers. What are the top 3 tips you would give any surfer?
MD: 1. Spend some time on the beach observing the ocean before entering it each day. This gives you an idea where the waves are breaking and where you should position yourself to get good waves each day you surf. 2. Always try to takeoff on the peak of the wave, that is, where it initially breaks. This gives you a good drop at takeoff and puts you into the power section of waves as you come off your first bottom turn. After each wave you surf, paddle back to the peak to do it all over again for the surf’s duration. 3. Look where you want the surfboard to point. When you turn you head to look begin a turn, this not only allows you to see where the surfboard is going, but also it unlocks the rotational power of your upper body, creating more powerful manoeuvres in the process. So if you are doing a top turn, look away from the top of the wave before you get to it. If performing a cutback, looking to the top of the foam, and so forth for all manoeuvres attempted.
TK: If people want to be coached by you how do they get in contact?
MD: I can be contacted through my website martin@surfcoach.com. In addition to face-to-face training, I am undertaking a major over haul of my site, and from the middle of May this year, surfers can access real online training videos though the site. This is my attempt to have a good go at training surfers effectively through the internet. Check it out, I’m sure many will find the content of the site interesting and effective.
TK: Surfing is certainly a very big part of your life – what does the GSI mantra “Life is Better When You SurfTM” mean to you?
MD: It gives you a release, and it helps start the day in a really effective fashion. As you get older, other priorities come into play, but you always know that surfing is always there to normalise you when life’s commitments build up.
