Back loop clinic.

My German pal Basti has been wanting to book in for a back loop clinic for quite some time now but it's been hard to find a space this summer as I've been pretty much fully booked but we managed to put a day aside between other clinics and headed to Punta early(ish) morning to work on his backies. Unfortunately, when we arrived the swell was almost non-existent, maybe waist-high in the sets with the tide fully out. Grrrrr. However, I've been slowly grinding him down over his last few visits about learning forwards and he's been stubbornly reluctant. I sensed my chance here. "We might not get another day for training together for ages". "You could learn forwards in one day, back loops can take a long time to master". "It's only water". You get the gist. Anyway, he succumbed to peer pressure and we did the beach theory then the water practice of the forward loop and got ready for that first, all-important attempt when BOOM the waves suddenly picked up, effectively rescuing Basti from his predicament and, with a big grin on his face, we spent the next few hours working on his back loops. Oh well. Actually, he made great progress with his forwards in the first hour and I think he got rid of most of the fear he had and will be ready next time I get him in my clutches, hehe. Back loop-wise he made great progress indeed and sorted out his take-off and rotation with a couple of tips, and eventually came quite close to landing a couple, just under rotating, which is much better than over rotating and means he's well on his way to back loop success! He got the last laugh anyway when his team lifted the World Cup last week. Again.

Anyway, check out the photos below of our session together...