Route B · Performance
Developing young talent
I did twenty years on tour. I know what competition demands. And I know what you must not demand of a fourteen-year-old.
Route B · Performance
I did twenty years on tour. I know what competition demands. And I know what you must not demand of a fourteen-year-old.
Who it's for
To get in, they need to surf on their own, catch waves out the back, and want to compete themselves — not have you want it for them. That last part isn't a nice phrase: it's the difference between a kid who progresses for three seasons and one who quits in six months.
Gets in and out alone, reads where to sit, doesn't need anyone pushing them into waves.
This is a season program, not a summer one. Without regularity there's no progression to measure.
They must want to compete. It shows in the first session and it defines everything after.
What's included
Specific work on what's failing, one correction per session. Ten tips don't stick; one does.
Which is not the same as training. Thirty minutes, priority, the clock and pressure.
A junior learns much faster from watching themselves than from listening.
Which contests, in what order, and with what goal for each one.
Wave choice, time management, what to do when you're losing. Almost nobody teaches this, and it decides more heats than technique.
Pending confirmation with Justin.
How you get in
An evaluation session, in the water, no commitment. It's the only thing that truly says where they are.
With them and with you, separately and together. What they want and what you expect don't always match.
If the program makes sense now, we start. If it's better to wait a year, I say so and we wait a year.
For parents
I'm in the water with them, always. The beach is chosen by the conditions, and if the ocean isn't right for their level, we don't paddle out.
I never publish photos or video of minors without your written consent. Never.
Pending: a report after each session, a monthly summary or a per-season meeting.
Pending: weekly frequency and fitting around school.
Season 2026
These are the official Federação Portuguesa de Surf dates for the categories we work with. If your kid competes, the season plan is built around this.
The national title event for the youngest categories, in one four-day window. Winners qualify for the Rip Curl GromSearch European final.
The national under-18 circuit. Two of our training spots are on it.
Where the youngest start: the regional stages run the full age ladder, including under-10s, before the national circuits.
I won't tell you your kid is going to be a professional. Nobody knows that, and whoever says it is selling you something.
What I can tell you is what can be worked on, how long before you see it, and when the problem stops being technical. In my years on tour I had coaches who told me the truth and coaches who told me what I wanted to hear. Only the first kind were any use.
Why me
Portugal has very good surf coaches. What you may not find anywhere else is someone who won a European championship, kept winning national championships eighteen years later, and still puts on a jersey to compete against João Antunes.
Write to me with their age, how long they've been surfing, where they usually surf and whether they've competed. I answer.