Crouched on the side of the Supertubes dune, Jordy’s coach Chris Gallagher was watching his boy’s heat against John John, with a spare board perched gently on the fynbos. The JBay Open had been Jordy’s event thus far, and with sets powering down the point all morning, it’s fair to say that Jordy was sitting with the advantage over his Hawaiian counterpart. The siren sounded, on cue the ocean went totally flat, and out of helpless boredom we started chatting.
We cut in mid conversation. Our voices are just a tiny bit raised.
—
CJ: …but John John is vocally after a world title?
(We look out to sea. John John and Jordy are still jockeying for position in a flat and onshore Supers lineup.)
CG: Well, so is Jordy! He is one hundred percent after a world title. What else do you think he wants? What do you think he’s after? He wants a world title and he’s going to do whatever he can to get one. Why do you think I’m here? It’s not only me though, it’s all the years of amateur surfing, it’s the early years as a professional, its the wins and losses on the pro tour. All this is the experience that he needs to go through to get a world title. Hopefully it’s enough to get him that title.
What, in your opinion, is holding him back? What is his weakness?
(thinks) It’s his size. It's possibly his size.
Really? He absolutely rips in small waves. In fact, when it’s going to be small, he’s all-smiles, knowing that he is at an advantage.
Yes, but It’s not about his small wave surfing at all; it’s the fact that being a big guy sometimes opens his body more to injury than others carrying less weight and size. He has suffered some serious injuries over the last few seasons, and I think that sometimes he gets into these injury positions while surfing because he’s a big guy.
He’s injury free right now.
Yes. He’s in great shape. He has been eating so well. I’ve been helping with good nutritional food, to get him full of energy and whatever sort of fuel he needs when competing or when free surfing.
He seems to have the right boards underfoot.
I’ve been helping him there. We work together quite closely on his board needs and I make sure that it’s all on the right path.
(A set approaches. Chris tenses up a little, peering out to sea. This is a stressful moment. The set fades, no one rides, we continue..)
Are you the kind of coach to wave Jordy onto the set waves? Does he rely on you for spotting?
No. I tell him what’s coming, and I leave a lot of it up to him. He’s one of the best surfers out here in the whole world, and he’s won these contests at JBay before. He needs to rely on knowledge and intuition as well, which he does. He knows which waves are going to run, and which are going to go fat. He doesn’t like to rely on me for wave selection any way. He’s confident in these situations. I just let him know a little bit about what he can’t see.
In the past there has been a constant murmur that he’s not the best in big lefts. This seemed to change in Fiji in 2013. He found a rhythm, and went hunting for the biggest deepest caves out there. When it comes to Tahiti, he’s not scared either, going on whatever comes his way. Yet still it is known as an Achilles Heel of sorts.
There’s a lot more going on there. Sometimes he’s had some boards that might not find the best line in backhand tubes, and we have been working on this side of his equipment. I think that the perception could work as a positive, because he knows what to do when it gets solid and gnarly lefts, and he might get a little disregarded.
Speaking of which, how’s Jordy as a person?
He’s a great kid. I mean, he’s one of the best surfers in the world, he’s polite, he doesn’t drink and carry on, he’s married, he’s focused on a career.
His personality and his emotions?
At times I do need to bring it all down to the basics, and to not let him over-think things. So many people over-think so much. The competitive realm is to surf positively, use your skills, and ride two good waves as best you can. If he loses a heat doing that, then we move on. If he makes mistakes, then we work on them. I also make sure that there’s nothing else in his world that’s complicating things, you know. When I need to, I work on quieting the outside influences. Just bring all the noise down a little, keep things relaxed. Keep Jordy relaxed.
It seems to be working. He’s poised for a big jump on the Jeep leader-board (he went to 7th), he seems to be in a really good place. He was explaining to me that he has been working on some really simple little things, like hydration, nutrition and flexibility, and how all the little things help. That must be your influence…
We shall see. Let’s just focus on this heat now. In the big picture, he does need to beat John John….
For those that don't remember John John went on to beat Jordy in the dying moments of the heat.
Main Photo: WSL
