Aotearoa Strike Missions

Surf Coaching in Epic Conditions!

• Running from May 2022 onwards – Dates set when a good window of conditions is approaching, register for alerts now
• 3 and 5 day trips – maximum of either 3 or 4 people per trip, various locations around the North and South Island
• Separate trips for Novice Surfers and Intermediate/Advanced Surfers – Locations and topics will be matched to the level of surfers on each trip, more details on all of that below
• $750-1300 approx price range – Includes all accommodation, daily breakfast, detailed technical surf coaching daily (mix of in-water coaching, land based training and video coaching depending on level), all transport during the camp and possibly to the camp location too

Strike Missions Overview

Over the winter months we’re usually somewhere tropical running surf coaching camps in perfect conditions, but not since a certain virus came along! We’re stuck in Aotearoa for now but what an awesome place to be.

Just before the first lockdown in 2020 we did an awesome coaching trip down South and scored pumping waves, everyone was improving nicely. On the way home I was talking with the guys on that trip about the idea of doing ‘strategic strike’ coaching trips. The idea being to overcome New Zealand’s lack of consistent surf and greatly increase the chances of scoring perfect waves for the level of the surfers on each trip.

Since then I’ve thought through the logistics, planned some suitable locations, put together some new coaching themes and topics and as of now I will be watching the forecasts. When I see a window of good conditions for a trip approaching I will send out alerts via email and social media 1 week beforehand, and hopefully enough people will be keen to make each trip happen!

You will have to be flexible but the upside is you’ll be surfing good quality waves for your level with just a small crew, receiving plenty of coaching and video footage that will help you improve your surfing before summer.

Surfing Levels and Coaching Topics

As mentioned above, there will be two types of trips (Novices and Intermediates/Advanced Surfers), and I have different types of conditions and locations in mind for each of these groups.

The Novice level trips are for Upper Level 2 and Lower Level 3 surfers on my scale, you can check your level here.  The locations I have in mind for you are the beach breaks of the Coromandel, Raglan or Northland. If you’ve done our Beginner surf course in Raglan over the past few years and then continued since, you’ll find this camp suits you well.

I’ll be doing a mix of in-water coaching and video coaching with you. The in-water sessions will be to help you improve your wave reading and positioning to catch more waves and increase the amount of good rides you get per session. It will also give you the chance to push your limits a bit in bigger waves if you’re keen! The video sessions will identify exactly what areas of technique require improvement, and I’ll then show you how to do that with smoothstar skateboarding and other land based methods.

Since we’ll be chasing a swell, you’ll also get a real good idea of how I decide when and where we go surfing and how to predict conditions better based on the forecasts.

The Intermediate or Advanced level trips are for what I typically call the “average surfer”, that is Level 3 and 4 surfers, check your level here. The locations for these trips will likely be Taranaki, Gisborne, Coromandel or possibly Kaikoura if you don’t mind the cold!

At this level I won’t be coaching in the water much if at all, my main focus at the surf spots will be capturing all your waves on video – I do my best not to miss anything. We go through the footage daily and this individual feedback is awesome for improving. You will likely identify things you didn’t know you were doing, things that can then be improved. On top of that we’ll go through the foundations of good surfing, that means fine tuning your takeoffs, stance, turning mechanics and speed generation. This stuff is useful for everyone and is the key to improving all manoeuvres. People often have a few ‘quick wins’ during the trips but also go away with a plan to fix the deeper foundation movements that are usually ingrained in muscle memory and take a bit more time and effort.

We’ll use Smoothstar and other land based methods to improve those foundations and the aspects identified as needing work form your footage. Finally, we often have a bit of a theme, based on the waves. Last time it was speed generation as we had running point waves, but it might be late drops and barrel riding or carves or something else, depending on what waves we get.

The Details

Accommodation: We will stay in a beach house near the waves. If it is a 3 day trip there will be 2 nights spent at the house, 5 day trips will have 4 nights accommodation included. On the final day we will finish up in the afternoon or evening and head home then.

I will attempt to find the most spacious accommodation possible but it may be that you have to share a room with another person of the same sex. In the past this has always worked out fine and we usually try and isolate the snorers! We will use the accommodation as the base for all the training sessions and for hanging out between surfs. You will be able to use the kitchen facilities for meals – we usually do a group shop which keeps costs down, cook a few meals at home and have a few out, typically lunches.

Transport: All transport during the camp is included and if it works out I may be able to provide free transport to the camps location depending where it is and where you live. If camps are on the Coromandel or Taranaki for example, I can collect you from Hamilton on my way there, or if the camp is in Northland, I can likely collect you from Auckland. If camps are further away from your base you might need to buy flights and meet me at an agreed time and place. With the Kaikoura trips I always arrive in Christchurch early on the first morning, meet people at the airport and drive them to Kaikoura in the rental car.

You will need to bring your own board(s) and wetsuits although on the novice camps I can provide some boards free of charge if needed. Some booties and a hood would be a good idea too this time of year. Bring anything else you’d usually take on a surf mission, plus some clothes you can do exercises in, and suitable shoes for the skateboard sessions. Don’t worry if you’ve never skateboarded before, I’ve got a lot of people in to it without injury! We’ll start slowly.

You will also need to bring towels and possibly linen for the beds but I will advise on that close to the time.

As mentioned, there will be a maximum of 3 or 4 people on these strike missions.

Keen to come? Here’s How it Works:

1. Make sure you will receive the surf trip alerts by:

• subscribing to our email newsletter list (if you’re not on it already) by completing this contact form with the box ticked (for the message just write “keen for strike missions”)
• following UP Surf coaching on Instagram and Facebook down below…

It’s a good idea to do all 3 options just in case spam filters or social media algorithms stop one or two of the alerts from actually meeting your eyeballs.

2. I’ll send out the alerts on all 3 channels when I see a good swell approaching, there will be approx one week notice
3. If you want to come, send me an email to confirm your spot. Also, given the short notice please like and share the alert posts with any surfing mates as it will help ensure that we get enough people for the trips to go ahead.
4. I’ll reply to confirm I have room for you, provide payment details and arrange pickups. Once payment is received your spot is confirmed.

That’s it, hope to see you soon!
Andrew