donkey n. a kook, someone who blatantly disregards surfing etiquette

Ok, I hate to be a negative nellie and all that, but this post has been inspired by the throngs of beginners flocking to the waves at one of my usual spots back home here in New York.  (oh, and uh, there’s no surf in New York, but that’s a subject for another post at another time)  I have no problem with beginners – everyone has to learn sometime.  I remember being a beginner flailing around in the whitewash just a few short years ago.  However, there were a few key things that I tried quite hard not to do when I was just starting out.  It’s about respect, safety, and keeping order in a changing and often dangerous environment.

With the influx of beginners these past few years has also come a sense of entitlement and general rudeness out there in the water.  Case in point; at a local benefit/memorial surf contest a few weeks ago a stand up paddler decided to paddle right into the contest zone.  Upon being told multiple times to please vacate the contest area and move down the beach, he promptly replied with a nasty, “Grow up.”  Really?  Really? I know this is New York, but gimme a break.

Think of this post as more of a public service announcement to ease tensions in crowded lineups, or “how to be a beginner that everyone respects.”  This is also in addition to the basic rules of etiquette that I’ve posted here.  Read it.  Learn it.

So let’s get down to business, shall we?

1.) Don’t Paddle Out To The Main Peak

The main peak in most lineups is where the primo waves are breaking.  Sure, nobody owns the ocean, but it’s the unwritten rule that beginners should not paddle out to the main peak.  Think of it this way: would you waltz onto a street basketball court in the middle of a game and start trying to practice freethrows?  Beginners often don’t have control over their equipment, and this can lead to dangerous situations with boards flying everywhere and fiberglass crunching and blood and carnage, etc.  If you’re just starting out you don’t need the best breaking wave as you probably can’t take full advantage of them anyway.  Paddle out and surf down the beach out of the way; you’ll get more waves and you will have all the room you want to lose your board or get caught inside.

2.) Don’t Sit Like A Buoy On The Inside

I’ve had several waves ruined by folks who were sitting directly in my line, staring at me and not moving.  Key word: sitting.  OK, Sometimes poop happens and you happen to get in someones way while paddling back out.  Sometimes I get caught in the Bermuda triangle and I can’t get behind them and can’t get over the wave in front of them.  But I try very hard not to let that happen.  That’s not what I’m talking about here.  What I’m talking about is folks who just sit there.  If someone is either paddling right at you to get a wave or is surfing down the line at you, you really should be doing your best to get out of their way.

3a.) Don’t Throw Your Board

This one is self explanatory.  Just don’t do it!  Learn to turtle roll or duckdive.  At least try to have some semblance of holding on before you let go.  Too many folks out there think they can just chuck their board and swim under the wave.  I was almost nailed by someone who did this a few weeks ago.  That’s not what your leash is for!

3b.) Don’t Kick Your Board Out

There’s something to be said for wiping out or getting knocked by the wave.  Sometimes you can’t help it.  But don’t intentionally just kick your board out and jump off when you’re done with the wave.  I see lots of folks ride a wave, and then just hop off and let their board rocket towards the beach at 90 miles an hour as they take a relaxing dip in the whitewater.  This is quite dangerous for those paddling back out.  Remember, if you’re on a longboard and your leash is 8 or 9 feet long, that’s a potential 18 foot radius of destruction.  I know several people, including myself, that have had very close calls or have been hit in the head by someone who kicked their board out.  Try to hold onto your board.  Reach out and catch the rail when the wave is over.  Stomp hard on the tail and the whitewater will pass over you.  Surf like you don’t have a leash.  This is just good surfing practice, not to mention it looks way better and more professional. You might think it’s hard at first, but you don’t know what you can do until you try.

4.) Don’t Be A Lemming

If you see someone out enjoying some waves all by their lonesome and you want in on the action, it’s pretty rude to paddle right up to them and plant yourself 5 feet away.  I’ve gotta say, for most surfers this is akin to just blatantly cutting in front at the supermarket line.  This happened to a friend and I the other day.  We were trading waves on an empty sandbar, and out paddles a dude who sits right on top of us and proceeds to drop in on us.  This is a major faux pas, dear readers.  It’s probably one of the rudest things you can do in surfing.  There are most likely some other peaks around, so try for that.  If it’s the only peak in the area then paddle out, sit off to the side a bit, and wait your turn.

5.) Spread Out In The Lineup

Ok, some lineups are just a big chaotic mosh pit.  However, most of the time at beachbreaks you can spread yourselves out.  If someone’s sitting and waiting for a wave, don’t paddle and sit directly in front of or behind them.  Sit off to the side a bit.

6.) Know How To Swim

This is self explanatory.  But everyone should know how to swim in the ocean.  It makes me a little nervous when friends tell me they can’t really swim too well, but it’s OK because they have a leash or they’re “attached to a lifesaving device.”  No!!  This is not the case.  I say this all the time but leashes can break, so you really can’t rely on it.  Ensure you can swim back if you need to.

7.) Don’t Wear Booties And Springsuits

And put your fins in the right way.

***

So now that you know how not to be a donkey, go out there and have fun.  Surfing is great, and I don’t want to discourage anyone from giving it a go.  It’s going to take you some time to get good, but the rewards are absolutely worth it!  You’ll make lifelong friends and lead a happier, healthier life.  Now get out there!

Corky Carroll, the King of Surfeneese"

While browsing through my mammoth stack of unread surf magazines the other day, I happened to run across the May 2010 issue of Surfer, which contained yet another article on surfing lingo entitled “The Language of Surf.”

It seems like about once every decade, the current language of surf, or as Corky Carroll says, our surfucabulary, must be tossed aside, and replenished with a whole new various assortment of nouns, adjectives, verbs and phrases.

Now, Corky is the King of Surfeneese. He is currently compiling his entire surfucabulary over on his website. Corky goes so far as to give you the meaning of each term, as well as how to uses it in everyday conversation. Case(s) in point:

KICK OUT:  a maneuver used to get out of a wave.  Also used to mean “leaving.”  Kinda like, “This party sucks, I’m kickin’ out.”

Or:

LOG:   another word for a longboard.  “Ah man, here comes Mickey on that giant log again.”  Why are all loggers named Mickey?  A group of loggers create a logjam.

While Corky is compiling his own list of surf terms, his surfucabulary does contain many of the terms that appeared in the recent Surfer article. “The Language of Surf” was done quite nicely, an in-depth look into current, as well as past, terms and phrases.

My personal favorite was Fish Killing, which Surfer defined as:

“Also known as the “Huntington Hop,” a pathetic up and down maneuver to keep the surfer moving forward.”

I, personally, couldn’t agree more. The move is pathetic. Granted, we see it in competition all the time, where it comes into play as a viable way to achieve a higher score on a wave. But if you’re not in competition, casually surfing your local break, trust me, you look like an idiot. If you’re just getting into surfing, listen to the Surfer editors, man. That pumping up and down, or Fish Killing, is a bad habit to get into.

As well as introducing a few new terms, Surfer writer Brad Melekian offered up a sidebar entitled “The Words I Won’t Say,” and the editors even created a cemetery for terms and phrases they claim to never use again.

And I must admit, I am deeply saddened at the passing of one in particular: Hot Dogging.  Surfer’s heartfelt eulogy to Hot Dogging read:

“In the prime of its life, Hot Dogging existed at the highest level of our culture’s performance. Cutbacks, noserides, cross-stepping – Hot Dogging encapsulated them all. Long-suffering, its deathblow came at the hands of college students who used it to describe a lewd prank. Attempts by hipsters to revive this unfortunate soul have, so far, proven unsuccessful.”

How sad. Rest in peace Hot Dogging. You will be dearly missed.

You see, my older brother Jimmy was a Hot Dog, and before he ever let his little brother even attempt to surf, he sat him down on the seawall of the China Casino (now the Courtyard Marriott), at the foot of 15th Avenue North in Jacksonville Beach, during the summer of  ’64, and stressed to him the importance of knowing the correct surf lingo.

That day, Jimmy pointed out a couple of other Hot Dogs, way too many Ho-Dads and quite a few Beach Bunnies that he considered Bitch’n, all of this to a little 7 year-old Gremmie who just wanted to hop on the nearest Hot Stick and surf.

My brother Jimmy and I, 40 years after he taught me the "Lanugage of Surf"

And as it would turn out, that lesson would prove invaluable, for you can’t bingo if you don’t know the lingo, right? And once Jimmy felt I was ready, that same summer, I rode my first wave, a mushy little pile of whitewater, on my beloved brother’s 9’0” Log, straight towards shore. Man! Talk about Stoked!

Every journey has its genesis, and now, 46 Gnarly years and thousands of Primo waves later, I am, ironically, squeaking out a living at the hands of the proper use of surf terminology, or surfeneese, as Corky would say.

Thanks for the lesson Bro. You’re still one Totally-Rad-Dude.

Cold water surfing can be a great experience, but your ears might not think so

The first indication I had that something might be wrong – that a potential problem was brewing – came on a beautiful fall day in 2008. I had just exited the water after a fun, two-hour surf session and was walking back along the sand toward my car when I discovered that my right ear, which had earlier become plugged with seawater, would not drain. It didn’t matter how vigorously I shook my head or how much I hopped about on one foot while simultaneously and repeatedly slapping my left temple. The ear would not unplug.

I was plagued all the way home not only by the sensation of a plugged ear–which was bad enough–but also by a persistent and annoying slosh, slosh, slosh.

Having been a surfer for nearly 30 years, ears plugged with salt water were nothing new. I’d suffered through them numerous times before, and they had always eventually drained. But this time something was different. When my ear didn’t drain the next day – or the next several days after that – I began to grow worried. In fact, if anything, the problem seemed to be getting worse. I was having trouble hearing and the continual sloshing in my ear was increasingly driving me nuts.

Finally, after two weeks, I’d had enough. There was no point in prolonging my misery. I had come to the realization that my ear was not going to unplug itself, so I made an appointment with a local ear, nose, and throat doctor.

“You have external auditory exostosis,” he told me, clicking off his otoscope and dropping it into the front pocket of his lab coat. He had just used the instrument to examine both ears.

He didn’t have to explain to me what those three words meant; I already knew. And, in fact, I knew I had it because I’d been diagnosed with it several years ago. But what I didn’t know, at least at the time, was that the condition had grown exceedingly worse over the intervening years.

“Your right ear is about 70 percent closed,” he went on.

“What about my left?” I asked.

“That one’s alright,” he said. “It’s only about 30 percent closed.”

“How come it seems to be getting worse?” I asked.

“That’s because you have more than just salt water trapped in there. You also have ear wax, dead skin and other gunk.” He grinned. “It’s a regular primordial soup in your ear.”

I didn’t find his paleontological allusion particularly humorous, and I sat for a moment, staring glumly at the opposite wall.

For those of you who are right about now asking, “what the hell is auditory exostosis?” let me explain.

Otherwise known as “surfer’s ear,” external auditory exostosis (EAE) is a condition of the ear canal whereby bony, knob-like growths form and, given enough time, gradually close off the eardrum. These bone growths are called exostoses and are the body’s way of protecting the ear from prolonged or repeated exposure to cold water and wind. Although the condition is generally considered benign, it can lead to chronic ear infections, equilibrium problems, and, eventually, hearing loss if left untreated. What happens is this: The bony lining of the ear canal becomes irritated by long-term exposure to cold water and wind, which triggers an overproduction of the bony substance under the lining of the ear canal. This bony substance forms in overlapping, concentric layers, which slowly but surely build up over time and eventually protrude into the external auditory canal, like stalactites and stalagmites.

Surfers, of course, aren’t the only individuals who are susceptible to exostosis. Anyone involved in activities where wet, cold, and windy conditions are prevalent can get EAE. Divers, kayakers, windsurfers and even sailors, for example, have been known to develop the condition.

Steve Hawk, the former editor of Surfer magazine once wrote that EAE was a “stupid affliction.” He wasn’t suggesting that the people who suffered from it – like surfers and divers – were idiots for engaging in their respective aquatic activities. What he meant was that, in biological terms, the ear’s response to cold and wind exposure made no sense. It was, he said, akin to “blocking a harbor entrance with rocks to keep the boats safe, and then suddenly realizing that the boats are now worthless.”

I finally turned back to the doctor and asked, “So what do you think I should do about it?”

He sat down on the edge of the examining table and readjusted his eye glasses. “Well, there are a couple of things,” he said. “You could ignore it, because more than likely the ear will eventually drain. But that doesn’t solve the underlying problem, of course. You still have most of your right ear canal closed. And that’s not going to fix itself.”

“So, you’re suggesting surgery?”

He nodded.

My face immediately dropped. I’d heard of the procedure before, of course, and knew what it entailed. In the most extreme cases, an incision was made at the back of the ear, and the ear was folded forward like a thick slice of prosciutto. A surgical drill was then inserted into the incision and used to bore – yes, bore – into the ear canal, thereby removing the offending bone growth. Just the fact that a high-powered drill was involved – and would be boring into the very delicate bones of the ear canal – was enough to make a chill run up my spine. Utmost care and precision were used in the procedure, of course, so as to avoid damaging the skin of the incredibly thin ear canal, but as the saying goes, “accidents do occur.” Altogether, it was expensive, painful and, importantly for surfers, kept one of the water for several months.

The doctor must have seen my expression because in the next instant he put up his hand in a gesture the seemed to say “no, wait, wait!”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “There’s a whole new procedure for removing the exostoses that doesn’t involve drilling.”

He went on to explain that this new, less invasive technique, pioneered by Santa Cruz doctor Douglas Hetzler, was revolutionizing how EAE was treated. Instead of a drill, this new technique involved using a very tiny chisel and mallet to chip away at the exostoses. These tiny instruments – measured in millimeters – enter directly through the ear canal rather than the back of the ear. The skin covering the exostoses is carefully peeled back and the chisel is then used to scrape away the exposed knobs. No incisions were made, no flaps of ear manipulated like slices of deli meat and, most importantly, no drilling was involved. According to Dr. Hetzler, the drill can tear up the skin, which can dramatically slow down the healing process, and carries the risk of inflicting potential nerve damage.

Over the next several days – while waiting very impatiently for my ear to drain – I scoured the internet, reading up on everything I could find about the chisel technique. At first glance, it seemed almost comical. Using a tiny mallet and chisel to chip away at the knob-like growths brought to mind images of that scene in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs where the dwarves are busily excavating in their diamond mine, hacking away at the walls with their picks and axes.

Still, the medical establishment had pronounced the procedure a wholly legitimate technique in treating the condition. In fact, the technique had become increasingly popular over the last several years, with more and more surgeons adopting it over drilling.

According to an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Dr. Hetzler, who has played a major role in popularizing the technique among the surfing community, has performed over 700 successful EAE operations using the chisel technique. He has reported a ninety percent rate of successful healing, though he does acknowledge that the procedure is delicate and painstaking. Performing the operation, he said, is like “looking through a keyhole, working in a space that is no bigger than seven millimeters – the size of the end of your little finger at most.”
Dr. Hetzler suggests that perhaps the best way of preventing or at least slowing the growth of ear exostoses, short of quitting surfing (an impossibility, of course), is to wear earplugs and a neoprene hood or cap. He suggests that these, worn in conjunction with one another, provide the best means of combating the problem and helping the ear canal to stay warm and dry.

The chilly waters in Northern California are dangerous to exposed ears - photo: Thomas Garlinghouse

Given my obsessive personality, my reading expanded from learning about all the intricacies of the medical procedures involved in treating EAE to a broader understanding of the condition. And I was able to glean some interesting facts. I learned, unsurprisingly, that EAE is more prevalent in cold water surfers, especially those who are repeatedly exposed to water colder than approximately 65° F. The number of years surfed is significant in increasing one’s risk of developing exostoses. In other words, the more time one spends in cold water, the greater the likelihood of developing EAE. That’s why most patients develop the condition in their mid-to-late 30s, though there have been cases of people in their 20s developing it as well.

In perhaps the most definitive clinical study yet conducted on the subject, researchers studied a group of Oregon surfers in order to ascertain the cold water exposure necessary to produce exostoses. They found that individuals who surf 5 years or less (in water below 65° F) are unlikely to develop exostoses unless they are surfing greater than 50 sessions per year. Dr. Hetzler has suggested a different way of looking at essentially this same statistic. He argues that an individual who has spent approximately 3,000 hours in water colder than 65° F can expect to develop exostoses of sufficient degree to cause a significant narrowing of the ear canal.

I ran across other intriguing facts as I continued my internet research. I learned, for example, that EAE is by no means a recent phenomenon; it is, in fact, a medical condition with a long historical pedigree. Several pre-Columbian populations in coastal Chile and Peru, for instance, demonstrate evidence of EAE. One study, which analyzed more than 700 skulls from several archaeological sites in coastal southern Peru that dated back more than 8,000 years, showed a high prevalence of the condition among the male population. Evidence of EAE has also been found in pre-Columbian populations in North America, especially among certain Native Californian groups. At an archaeological site on San Clemente Island, one of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of southern California, a sample of human skulls yielded numerous examples of EAE. The researchers also noticed large quantities of abalone shells at the site. Putting two and two together, they tentatively concluded that the presence of EAE was likely the result of a lifetime spent harvesting these large aquatic snails – a task that required diving in the cold waters off the island. Perhaps most amazing of all was evidence of EAE in human skull fossils dating back to approximately 250,000 years – the time period of the earliest Homo sapiens.

All this information was probably more than I needed to know, but it did help me decide what to do about my ear. I didn’t want to end up like one of those Peruvian mummies – slowly going deaf without recourse to modern, technologically advanced medicine. So I opted for Dr. Hetzler and his chisel technique.

On the day of my operation it was cold, overcast, and drizzly. I hoped this wasn’t an omen of things to come. But when I saw Dr. Hetzler prior to the operation he was friendly and cheery. This immediately put me at ease.

I wish I could say I remembered something about the operation – at least for reporting purposes – but to be honest, I have no recollection of it whatsoever. I was under general anesthesia for the duration, and didn’t awaken until several hours later. By then I was lying in a hospital bed with my ear bandaged, heavily looped on Vicodin, with the offending exostoses having been reduced to tiny chips of their former selves and placed in a plastic vial by my bedside.

As the haze gradually cleared, I noticed my girlfriend, Lauren, sitting next to me. She had a distinct frown on her face.

“How’d the operation go?” I croaked groggily, trying to sit up.

“If you ask me that one more time I’m going to hit you.”

“Huh?” I stared at her in dismay, absolutely clueless, trying to figure out the reason for her sudden outburst of hostility.

“That’s at least the tenth time you’ve asked me that.”

Apparently, as Lauren was later to tell me, I had spent the last half hour in a continuous cycle of waking up abruptly, asking about the success of the operation, and then, without waiting for an answer, promptly falling back asleep. So, by the tenth time, Lauren was understandably exasperated – hence the hostility. Luckily, she didn’t stay mad very long and drove me home, gave me another vicodin, and put me to bed.

My convalescence was blessedly complication-free, with my right ear improving daily. By the end of the month I was eager to get back in the water. And, indeed, after the requisite 4-6 weeks of healing time, Dr. Hetzler gave me the go-ahead. Instead of running to the beach, however, one of the first things I did was make a bee-line to my local surf shop, where I plopped down twelve bucks for a pair of Doc’s Proplugs – rubber ear plugs specially designed to prevent surfer’s ear.

At the counter, a young kid rang up my purchase. “Those things are great,” he said. “They work really well. I’ve heard it’s a total bummer to get that ear problem.”

“Yeah,” I replied, “I’ve heard that, too.”

Front Page Of SurfCoach.com

What surfer doesn’t want to improve their surfing?  Most surfers, however, don’t tend to seek out much training beyond the tip tricks featured in TransWorld Surf and Surfer.

If you’re looking to improve your surfing then the best thing you could probably do is to hire a surf coach to give you private lessons.  However, most people can’t really afford this or just don’t have the time to invest.  Perhaps the thought of a surf coach is just too much commitment.  However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get comparable instruction.  Enter SurfCoach.com, an attempt to fill in the gap and enable surfers to break through plateaus and perfect new skills and maneuvers.

Martin Dunn is the creator of SurfCoach.com, an online training center offering video tutorials and instruction on proper surf techniques and skills.  He was kind enough to give The Surfing Handbook a full access pass to check out the program.

The SurfCoach.com Video Library

SurfCoach.com has been around the internet for a while in various shapes and forms, but recently Martin has revamped the site into an “on demand” online video format and is putting new efforts into adding more content on a regular basis.  “You will see that the site is my attempt to really help surfers through the internet,” Says Martin.  “Two new movies are going up this month, and I hope to produced at least that number each month into the forseeable future. I reckon when I’m finished there should be 150+ movies on the site within the next 5 years.”

SurfCoach.com offers training material for all levels, from fresh beginner to advanced.

The beginner materials cover the basics of how to correctly paddle the surfboard, pop up, and catch green unbroken waves.  The video materials provide a good backdrop so newbies can visualize the skills they will need to master.

The meat of the course lies in the power moves section, where Martin goes over basic and advanced maneuvers on the wave such as the cutback, forehand and backhand re-entries, correct bottom turns,  finish maneuvers, floaters and snaps.

Whiteboard Training Video

The coaching doesn’t just stop at the surfing videos, however.  Martin offers a whiteboard training video for each main maneuver with tips on how to apply what you heard and saw in the surfing clip.  For example, in the whiteboard video on speed creation, Martin highlights some incorrect techniques and habits that many surfers tend to fall into.  Martin also offers tips on how to practice specific techniques on land using a longboard skateboard.  Using a longboard skateboard is a great way to get in the necessary repetitions that are required to get a skill into your muscle memory and erase bad habits.

Also included with each major maneuver is a “training card,” which is basically a color PDF printout that you can take with you on your surfs so that you can make a quick review before you paddle out.  These are pretty helpful tools to remind yourself of key points.

Example of one of the training cards

“I have a lot of experience and IP that surfers will find useful,” says Martin. “It isn’t just a matter of presenting to surfers how surfing should be done, but also ways to create change in their performances. Hence the movies on staying focused, writing notes on the surfboard, and using a skateboard to simulate the actions. By having an understanding of correct technique or decision making skills, correction strategies, and coupled with a surfer’s desire to improve, performance can be improved.”

“Most surfers reach a plateau quickly in their performances, and their solution is to surf more and/or buy new equipment. But the reality is that flawed technique is usually the issue. fix the technique, and better performances and with that more confidence results.”

In my opinion, SurfCoach.com is one of the best training materials available to help surfers get off their “plateau” and get back on the road to improving their skills.  In checking out Martin’s videos and applying them to my own surfing I’ve already noticed an improvement.  I have started small, which is important according to Martin.  If you try to do too much at once – such as watch three skill videos and attempt to apply them all in one session – you’ll get frustrated.

So, I started at square one, which is the speed creation video.  In the past five or so sessions I’ve just been focusing on throwing my arms to create forward momentum down the line.  I’ve definitely noticed an improvement in my speed as well as my confidence in propelling myself down the line.  I used to tend to just point the nose of my board and hope for the best, but now I’ve noticed that I have more control and purpose when I take off.  I’m also slowly getting rid of the “huntington hop” (bouncing up and down spastically) that I would try to use to get speed, replacing it with a much more controlled rail to rail acceleration.

The videos on each maneuver are short, but you’ll find that you’re going to be watching them over and over to digest the skills shown.  Amazingly enough there are Regular and Goofy versions of the videos for most maneuvers.  The videos are excellent – the level of surfing is very high, and they illustrate perfectly the technique that you’re trying to adapt.  One of the biggest problems I have with surfing tips and how-to’s for advanced maneuvers (especially from magazines) is that the writer simply cannot convey the body mechanics necessary in words.  Even a picture is not enough.  You really need to watch a surfer performing a maneuver in order to really “get it.”  Maybe that’s just me and my learning style, but I have a feeling most people are the same.  It can be pretty hard to try to read a description of a move and picture it in your head well enough to “mind surf” it out and rehearse it in your head.

For competitors there is an entire section on competition training.  Lessons here include wave selection, positioning, strategic thinking, and more.  This is a must for anyone looking to really accelerate in contests.

One package includes special videos for your ipod or iphone, which are basically like the training cards in electronic form.  I liked this little feature, although it would be nice to see it divided up into smaller videos for easier access to the beginning of each technique.  It’s good to have, though, and to watch quickly before paddling out.

Overall I think that SurfCoach.com is an excellent tool for improving your surfing.  Aside from having your own personal coach, it’s probably one of if not the best surfing instructional tool I have come across.  Martin plans to be able to incorporate video analysis in the near future as well, so surfers can upload video of themselves and have Martin critique them.

The only downside I see here is the price, which might be a bit high for many people.  However, if you’re looking for quality material and you can afford it, I highly recommend SurfCoach.com.

Head over to the website to check out some great training videos that are available for free!  The free videos alone are excellent tools.

Check Out:  SurfCoach.com