Back in about 1999, my friend Ian Buchan suggested I interview a surf coach up near Forster, a small Australian town a few hours north of Sydney. Martin Dunn was just starting to cement his reputation and Ian thought his story would be newsworthy. Ian, whose own coaching ability was reflected in his son's meteoric rise up the Australian Juniors tour, was impressed with Martin's skill, so I knew I could trust his judgement.
The following weekend, my son and I packed up our boards and headed north for a weekend of surfing and interviewing. Justin wasn't all that keen on sitting around waiting for me while he could be surfing, but he was forced to because I was the one with the car. As it turned out, he got more out of the interview than either Martin or I did.
I flipped on my tape recorder and the interview began. About 5 minutes into it, Martin said, "Why don't I just show you how I go about coaching? Justin, want a surf lesson?" Justin went from near comatose to highly amped in a heartbeat at the prospect of getting a free lesson from the guy who coached the likes of Ace Buchan and Fred Patacchia, not to mention his own son, Ben Dunn, who was already a rising star.
Justin's weakness at the time was his roundhouse cuttie. It wasn't that he couldn't do them; it was just that they weren't quite right. Martin caught this straight away and called him back to shore. He told him to bring his trailing arm around behind him and point his finger at the lip of the wave. It sounded stupid, but it worked. It forced him to put his whole body into his cutbacks instead of just his feet and legs. That short lesson transformed Justin's surfing. He dropped the finger-pointing, but he got the idea.
Unfortunately, my article never got published, so I didn't make any money and Martin Dunn didn't get any media exposure for it. Fortunately, he didn't need it. He is now a highly successful surf coach and offers online classes on his website, The Surf Coach . Check it out.
Written By: Rob Schneider