The surf mentor with the neon cap: How Matt Myers shapes successful surfers using unconventional training methods
Former WSL surfer Matt Myers uses his mentor programme to take aspiring surfers on an unconventional journey to the top. His unique training and mental strategies have already helped secure three coveted Olympic quotas with the athletes in his care aiming for Paris 2024 gold on the waves of Tahiti.
Surfing
When surf coach and mentor Matt Myers trains professional surfers on the Santa Cruz beach in California or accompanies them to international competitions, he is recognisable from a distance by his neon-yellow cap.
He directs the surfers in the sea with dramatic gestures, swinging his cap through the air, indicating the optimal position in the lineup or signalling with crossed arms for his surfers to not catch the next wave.
Myers Surf Mentorship - the company he created just a few short years ago - has a long waiting list, with only the surfers with the greatest potential to become part of the sport’s elite selected to join up.
Right now, the coach is working with Vahine Fierro from Tahiti and Sanoa Dempfle-Olin, who under his charge became the first Canadian to secure an Olympic quota for her nation for Paris 2024’s surfing competition. He has also guided Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy, the USA’s Alyssa Spencer and many more on their journeys to the WSL World Championship Tour.
"I help them in refining decision-making, strategy, technique, and all other aspects to bridge the gap to being elite athletes," Myers explained in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, in which he also revealed some of his mental strategies, aimed at helping athletes to think like elite athletes.
Read on to discover the secrets of Myers’ training techniques, as well as why he always brings tennis balls and a 'magic wand', which resembles a mop handle with a table tennis ball impaled on it, to surf competitions.
From lifeguard to surf mentor
As a lifeguard, Myers spent countless hours observing the waves, but his true dream was to ride them full-time. At the age of 18, he finally fulfilled that dream when he secured an official sponsorship deal.
He won competitions, travelled the world, and experienced numerous emotional highs and lows, which led to a pivotal turning point in his life.
"I had to be very realistic when my sponsorship deal came to an end, and no more paychecks were coming in. I was always aware that this time would come," he reminisced.
Ending his career as a professional surfer was the toughest decision Myers ever had to make.
However, things would soon take a turn for the better.
"I was still kind of taking some college courses, like part-time on the side just to continue my education. And I just got lucky," he explained of the beginning of the next stage of his life.
The Team Chief of a famous surf company offered the 25-year-old Myers the position of Team Marketing and Event Manager. Over the next 10 years, he travelled the world for competitions along with surfing superstars like Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina, Tom Curren, and Bethany Hamilton.
But this role also demanded many days spent in front of the computer - the opposite of what he had grown to love as a full-time surfer.
To unleash his creative side, Myers judged in and organised surf competitions, created surf movies with friends, and much more. In the end, there was hardly any surf-related task he hadn’t turned his hand to.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which proved to be a turning point for him.
"I loved my job, but I'd been doing it for almost ten years. I was kind of ready to branch out and challenge myself," he said.
"The pandemic really allowed me to take a step back and breathe a bit because I was so used to my schedule and travelling. I have been really busy. In the time off I was thinking, okay, what do I really want?'"
For many years, Myers had observed and analysed the stars of the surf elite, identifying what set them apart from other athletes in the field. He harboured a silent desire to help exceptional talents evolve into elite surfers, fuelled in part by the absence of surf coaches in California during his own youth.
During an existential crisis, life coach Troy Eckert - who also collaborates with many athletes from the US surf team - gave him some advice.
"He looked me in the eyes. He said, 'You know, Matt, if you don't do this, it's a disservice to the world,'" recalled Myers.
Fighting nerves with tennis balls and 'magic wands'
"I really did a lot of studying of all the best coaches in the world and saw what each of them were doing so that I could kind of pick a little bit from each of them and kind of create my own programme," said Myers, looking back on the early days of his mentor programme, in which he aims to support surfers in three key areas: Performance (physical abilities), Career Guidance (Professional League), and Mental Development (goals, mindfulness and clarity).
The USA’s Nolan Rapoza was one of the first professional surfers to participate in the' programme. During a competition, he paddled out and lost sight of Myers, who was trying to signal to him amidst hundreds of people on the beach.
"He couldn't see me, and he had his arms in the air. I could hear him yelling for me," said Myers. "Then, about two years ago, when I flew back from Europe, I had my friend make the yellow cap for me. And that's how it kind of started."
In addition to his unmistakable cap, Myers brings his training sticks to every competition. The longest stick has a tennis ball attached to the end, while the shorter one is adorned with blue and red stripes as if it belonged in a magic show.
Myers’ sticks have become an integral part of his training regimes. He extends one of them and the surfer must attempt to touch it as quickly as possible with their foot. It's an excellent exercise for balance, as athletes have to maintain their stance on one leg throughout.
As part of the warm-up routine, he throws tennis balls to the surfers while they jog on the spot, calling out "right" or "left" as they attempt to catch the balls accordingly.
Myers discovered these exercises while he was injured himself and was working with physiotherapists to rebuild his balance.
"When you do these exercises, you're so focused that you can't think about competitors, surfing, nervousness, or any other fears," he said.
The thought process of the surfing elite
"The best athletes are the ones who can obviously perform their best in the biggest moments, when it's crunch time and everything is on the line," said Myers.
"At those higher levels, they obviously all have the talent. They have put in hundreds and thousands of hours into this craft ever since they were a little kid. They know how to surf."
Beyond the physical and technical training in the water, Myers aims to unplug the mental blocks of his surfers.
"I believe it's a lot about engaging in positive self-talk because once you spiral into negativity in your mind, performance will also decline. When a surfer is truly frustrated, the next wave won't be as good."
According to Myers, confidence is also one of the greatest factors when it comes to success.
As he explains: “Having that true confidence and belief in yourself that you deserve the success, and you deserve to be there and that you can win.”
Myers also assigns small homework assignments to his surfers outside the water. They are encouraged to define their goals and document their thoughts and emotions on paper.
"I really encourage my athletes to really write it all out. Because when you're putting it pen to paper, it sinks in a bit more. "
When faced with challenging or frustrating situations, he recommends that his surfers repeat a self-chosen mantra.
"So basically a few words just to really like calm yourself down, refocus and bring some positivity to the moment. It can be like 2 or 3 words, it can be a sentence. Something as simple as ‘breathe and believe’. Just remind yourself to take a nice deep nasal breath, and find that belief in yourself.”
Crosby Colapinto, a member of the US Surf Team, who also journals his daily experiences, praised Myers when he himself spoke with Olympics.com.
"He's definitely really onto it. You could tell he works really hard to be the best that he can be for the athletes that he's working with,” he said.
"The guys he works with are qualifying."
Making Olympic dreams a reality
Over the past three years, Myers has supported three surfers - Hennessy, Dempfle-Olin and Fierro - who have secured a quota for their nation for Paris 2024.
"I think it's [the next Olympics] going to be amazing for the sport of surfing. It's going to be awesome for these girls to have that platform and opportunity to perform,” he said.
"Teahupo'o has one of the best, scariest, gnarliest, heaviest waves in the world."
Myers' top pick for the Olympic gold medal is Vahine Fierro. Growing up in Tahiti, she has trained more than all other surfers on the waves of Teahupo'o.
And that experience may well prove to be crucial in a surfing competition that is primed to wow spectators and competitors alike next year between 27 and 30 July.
"Whether you are a surfer, a fan or you don't know, surfing at all, when you see this wave when it's proper doing its thing at 2, 6 or 10 feet plus range, it's going to draw a lot of eyeballs and get a lot of energy," Myers concludes.