Surf Ranch’s legitimacy as a surfing venue has been the subject of much heated debate, which only looks to intensify with the impending Surf Ranch Pro set to begin next week. To surf coaches though, there are no downsides to the technology. Being able to control all the variables of a wave allows you to focus on developing skills and makes for the perfect classroom.
We’ve all seen the pros first playing, and then training in Kelly Slater’s incredible man-made wave in Lemoore, California. The coaches at Surf Simply, who work predominantly with amateur-level surfers, wanted to know how it would work as a coaching tool for the other 99 percent. So in July they relocated to the Ranch for the day with a group of everyday surfers, just like you, to see what could be achieved.
The price tag on a day at Surf Ranch notwithstanding, the machine lived up to its promise as an amazing surf coaching hack. With coaches filming and giving direction from the jetski, combined with Surf Ranch’s own built-in instant video reply system, the pace of error correction and reiteration is much faster than in the ocean.
“We saw people make weeks of progress in an afternoon. It’s been so rewarding,” said Jessie Carnes, head coach at Surf Simply. “A highlight of the day for me was seeing Russ [McGrane] fully inside the tube. He started surfing at fifty-eight and now he’s getting legitimately barreled in his sixties. It’s hard to imagine the level that could be achieved in the future by the kids who grew up with this as a training tool.”
But aside from young kids who’d most likely have parents backing them up anyway to help in their training, if we could just bring down the entry fee, we’d have an amazing resource for regular surfers who just want to get better.
