The Pass is one of the world’s loveliest surfing spots. Lovely for lots of reasons. It’s aesthetically beautiful. There are fewer places prettier. Golden sands. Sweeping views of the bay. The mountains in the distance. The wildlife. The rock wall that makes up The Point. The waves are often beautiful. It’s a long, often glassy, right-breaking point wave that is challenging in … [Read more...]
Postecoglou coaching pointers
Is there are greater waste of time in the world of sport than in listening to post match player and coach interviews. Normally, very little is revealed. Cliches, complaints about officials and restating of the bleedingly obvious abound. It was refreshing to see a coach interview, earlier this week, that revealed clear insight into a prominent coach's coaching … [Read more...]
Are surfers sheep?
On a drizzling, dark late afternoon a few weeks back I was running on the track that links two surfing spots, The Pass and Wategos Beach. The path travels up a flight of steps, traverses a cliff line with a beautiful view of the ocean (a view that often includes sea eagles, dolphins, and whales), then passes down a second flight of stairs onto Wategos Beach below. It’s one of … [Read more...]
Where did the word canter come from?
After much thought and deliberation, have you been able to logic out the origins of the word canter? No? Well try this on for size. The earliest dictionaries suggest that canter is most likely an abbreviation of "travelling at Canterbury pace." The suggestion is that mounted faithful folk, on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket at the Canterbury Cathedral in England, … [Read more...]
Scorers and a play-makers. Is there is difference?
When coaches talk about the difference between a number 9 and a number 10 in soccer, a point-guard and a shooting-guard in basketball, a fly-half and a centre-three-quarter in rugby, a quarter-back and a running-back in American Football or a goal-attack and a goal-shooter in netball the focus tends to be on the differences in either the skill sets or the physical attributes of … [Read more...]