ART THE OF SURFING
MATTY SCORRINGE
When it comes to surfing Matty Scorringe has been there done that. He was a dominant force on the domestic scene, represented New Zealand at the World Titles, took on the Aussies in the Pro Junior series and went head to head with the world on the Qualifying Series. During this period he also travelled extensively as a pro surfer shooting photos and videos for his sponsors at some of the best waves in the world. Several years ago through his association with World Tour legend Josh Kerr he travelled extensively around the world as Kerzy's right hand man, rubbing shoulders with the worlds best surfers. These experiences alone placed Matt in good steed in regard to knowledge gathered, to what it took to become a great surfer. The focus, determination and physical form that is required became the mantra of the man from Whangamata. Then his whole world came to a crashing halt overnight when Matt was diagnosed with a form of cancer that we have previously dedicated plenty of articles to. Matty through those qualities he had built as a surfer combined with willpower and the stubbornness to live out his days made a full recovery, and through that journey came out the other side more highly qualified to preach the values of dedication to a belief than any other man. Now armed with everything he learnt on that journey from the grommet hood days of floundering in the Whangamata shorey till now, Matty has launched an elite surf coaching programme, 'The Art Of Surfing' filling a void between the kickstarter schools and becoming one of the sports elite. With the main focus, to provide the tools to becoming the best surfer one wants to be.
You have moved through the ranks from grommet, to NZ team member and sponsored surfer, as well as being involved in promoting world tour surfers. What brought about this passion to share your experiences and knowledge with others in a coaching role? I guess its quite a natural transition for me. As you say I've been through the ranks and now that I'm where I am today I feel like I do have a lot of experiences and knowledge to offer in a coaching role. The whole time I was travelling competing myself and then also when I was working with Kerzy on tour I couldn't help but notice how far behind we were in so many areas as a nation. We've always had the level of talent, but the whole development programme and support network just wasn't the same as these other kids and athletes were getting and I've always thought how good it would be to have something in place like that back here in New Zealand. And I guess this is my way of contributing to that and hopefully helping some of New Zealand's top talent succeed at an international level.
What are you aiming to achieve and who is your coaching for? Well there is so many beginners surf schools out there now and a lot of attention has been put into getting kids out into the water to find that passion for surfing which is great. But there's nothing in place for anyone after that, so my aim is to help surfers of any age and any level improve their surfing in all areas. A major focus of mine will be elite surf training as I would love to contribute in helping New Zealand's top talents succeed on international level. However that doesn't mean you have to be a national champ, my coaching is for anyone from a grom that's looking to do his first turn to a 40 year old who just wants to improve his reo and anyone in between.
Is the high performance coaching area, something that has been lacking from the nz surf scene? And will the injection of coaching along the lines of what you are looking to bring transform into direct results in surfing ability? Look that's a pretty big call for me to say but I do believe that the high performance coaching area is something we are definitely lacking in here in NZ. Just look at Australia, U.S.A, Hawaii and Europe, they all have incredible high performance programmes in place and have done for years and I think the results those countries have achieved speak for them selves. The one thing I really noticed in my time on the WQS and WCT was how professional the surfers from these countries were that had come up through these systems.
Other sports for years have maintained that given the correct tools such as physique, that an athlete can be manufactured, considering surfers have always developed through an association and love of simply riding a wave, and progressed through the stages. Do you think great surfers can be manufactured? In one word no. I think to be a great surfer you have to have x factor, some flair and an uncanny knowledge of the ocean. But I do believe surfers who posses even a little bit of that can be moulded and transformed into great competitive surfers. Just look at Ben Dunn, he is an incredibly talented surfer but i personally can think of at least 10 surfers here in New Zealand who would posses more x factor, flair and even talent then he has in my opinion. But through the incredible guidance and coaching of the worlds most recognised coach, his dad Martin Dunn, Ben was able to achieve an amazing career and go onto great success on the WCT. So i think the proof is in the pudding of what good coaching and support can do for a surfer.
While the rest of the worlds level of surfing has gone through the roof in recent years, nz surfers have been left behind, what are your thoughts behind this, considering ten years ago we were
still up amongst the top 5 countries in the world. Well I think there's a couple of contributing factors. One would be the numbers these other countries have, were we have a handful of potential talents they have army like numbers coming through the ranks. And the second would be the development process these countries are taking with there kids and the professionalism these kids are gaining from it. As Iv already said from being there and seeing it first hand these guys are looking into all areas of high performance such as nutrition, fitness, technique, competition strategy and implementing it while travelling and competing. And unfortunately for our current New Zealand surfers there hasn't been something like that in place to produce the numbers that we need to compete as a mass against these other countries.
So explain how do you coach a surfer? Are you focussing on technical form and motion or simply the mental aspects of the sport? It all depends on the surfer, some have great ability but don't have the mental tenacity, some possess a great competitive head but need work on technique and most need a combination of both. The majority of what I do is based around improving technique as I think no matter what level of surfing you are at there's always ways to improve. By videoing someone surf and then slowing it down to show problem ares and going over methods to improve works at any level. Then on the elite side of things you have competition strategies, heat drills and all sorts of training methods to help improve someone's competitive skills.
Can you borrow coaching philosophies from other sports and apply to surfing? And do you at all look up or aspire to be like any other great coaches, such as Graham Henry and Wayne Bennet? Haha Im not expecting to be along coaching greats like those two but I think you can look up to and study philosophies of great coaches from other sports and apply them to surfing when appropriate. The difference is most of these great coaches coached team sports and I'm sure a huge part of what they did was focused around building team spirit and confidence as well as skills. Where as with surfing its you against the world, there's no team mates in the water with you so its really about installing confidence in the individual.
As you are new to coaching and you are going to be teaching a lot of surfers how do you progess and learn yourself as a coach? We'll I think that's the most exciting part of it for me. Even though I've been coaching for a couple of years now it's still a relatively new venture for me and I think the only way you progress and grow as a coach is through experience. The more you work with different varieties of surfers the better coach you will become. Of course the better surfer you are and the more experiences and knowledge you have the better equipped you are to coach, but in saying that I don't believe that's all that makes a great coach. There's so much more to it in terms of relating to clients and finding ways to get through to them. Just look a Graham Henry he was never an All Black but he's one of the greatest rugby coaches of all time.
For more info on Matty’s coaching courses or to simply follow the progress of Matt and his pupils visit theartofsurfing.co.nz