End of May this year we had the incredible opportunity to realize a surf coaching trip like no other. Nestled in the picturesque coastal region of West Galicia, we ran the #SurfingBrains surftrip, a unique surftrip combining expert surf coaching with neuro-centered training.
Over the course of 10 days, under the guidance of NOMB Surfcoach Angie and neuronuss trainer Chegus, we delved into the fascinating world of brain-focused techniques to enhance surfing skills. With the added delights of delicious meals prepared by camp chef Marie and the invaluable insights from local surfguide Ramon, this journey was a true immersion into the world of surf and neuroscience.
Is it safe?
Safety is of incredible importance in any sporting activity, especially one as dynamic as surfing. But for our brain, the question ´Is it safe?’ is essential. If our brain decides that something isn’t safe, it restricts our body from certain movements.
The carefully designed #SurfingBrainns program took a comprehensive approach to address this concern. Prior to hitting the waves, our participants treated their brains with specific activations and individual warm-ups. In addition they learned about reading and interpreting forecasts, connecting with the wave and identifying potential lines in the wave. NOMB Surfcoach Angie and local surfguide Ramon shared their expertise, teaching the team how to make informed decisions to ensure safety for their brains while maximizing the surfing experience.
The art of partyplanning (spot analysis)
With the guidance of our coaches, they developed a keen eye for recognizing wave formations, studying tidal patterns, and understanding the local geography to really understand why the waves were breaking the way they are. Here is the team partyplanning at an incredible surfspot up North.
Mastering spot analysis is crucial for surfers seeking the best waves. During the #SurfingBrains trip, our surfers learned the art of spot analysis, discovering how to identify the ideal wave conditions and entering the water with an already set plan. With their faithfull companion (our workbook) they partyplanned before every single surfsession, turning it into an importan routine. Here is the team partyplanning at a beautiful surfspot up North.
Exploring the brain’s influence on surfing
Neuro-centered training formed the 2nd core of #SurfingBrains, and it opened up a whole new perspective on improving surfing skills. The team delved into the science behind the brain’s role in sports performance, focusing on concepts such as input-output integration and hand-eye coordination. Through interactive sessions led by neuronuss.ch trainer Chegus, our surfers gained insights into how our brains process information and regulate our movements while surfing.
One key aspect was the individually designed warm-up routines that targeted specific neural pathways to enhance our physical preparedness. By understanding the brain’s adaptability, our surfers optimized their individual warm-up exercises and improve overall performance in the water.
Connecting with waves through vision
Surfing is an art of connecting with the waves, and our vision plays a vital role in this interaction. We dedicated a significant portion of this trip to understanding how vision impacts our surfing abilities. We explored techniques to enhance visual focus, depth perception, and spatial awareness while riding the waves.
By honing our visual skills, we became more attuned to the subtleties of wave formations, identifying basic lines, and distinguishing different zones of the wave. This newfound visual acuity allowed us to navigate the waves with more precision and grace.
Busy surftrip life
It wasn’t all serious training during our trip. Tons of giggles and fun moments marked every day. Important to mention were the UNO nights, finishing every day with even more giggles. We saw great clothing styles, air golf games and motor races.
Highlights outside the ocean were definately the relaxing trip to a beautiful spa and the visit to the workshop of local shapers Oscar and Trigo from Camiño do Rio Surfboards. Shapers isn’t actually the proper term for those to legends as their boards are made of wood. We felt very honoured that Oscar and Trigo shared their surfboard art and good vibes with the team. Gracias chicos!
An adventure into our brains
The #SurfingBrains trip in Galicia was an extraordinary adventure that merged the worlds of surfing and neurocentered training. We have all had aaahhhaa moments and got closer to understanding the complexity of our brains.
Big thanks goes out to NOMB Surfers Astrid, Marlen, Meike and Tina, trusting us to take their brains on a surfing journey. Big thanks also of course to Chegus from neuronuss.ch and Marie for spoiling us with delicious food. Check out our Facebook photo album for more pics about this incredible trip.
Stay tuned for news about a similiar trip planned in 2024. Sign up for our newsletter (below) to be the first one finding out.
Galicia just has something special about it. We are not sure if it’s the waves, the people, the climate or maybe a little bit of everything mixed together. Thinking about it, the waves do play a very important roll in our Galicia addiction 😉
In our 6th year of surftrips in Galicia, we decided to run two intensive surfcamps, a two-weeks and a one-week camp. While the first camp was gifted with waves every day at our doorstep, the second camp experienced a rare flat spell.
No problem either, that only meant that we had to move to find some waves. The reward of driving around were incredible waves of all sizes. Look at the happy facer of our surfteams, they speak for themselves.
Can’t imagine what our wavehunting looked like? Wanna see smiley faces and Schabernack? Well, see it for yourself and check our Facebook photo albums for #GarfioGallego I and #GarfioGallego II.
To be honest, our serious wave addiction only got worse after this month in Galicia. That´s why we are super stoked to announced that in 2024, once again, we will be running two surfcamps in our favourite part of mainland Spain. Check out #Geilicia for more details. Warning: surfspaces will be booked out very fast, be quick to reserve yours.
Our last surfcoaching trip, #GuadeGirlsGang, didn’t have much to do with housewife duties and buying flowers. What we got was full on ladies power, in and outside the water. Six amazing mermaids crossed the Atlantic to take part in our confidence boost surftrip on the incredibly beautiful island of Guadeloupe.
For all of those you who have never heard of Guadeloupe before, it’s a French overseas region and an island group in the South Caribbean. And yep, it really does look like a postcard.
About the surftrip
Guiding the trip were surfcoach Angie and mental coach Doro. The idea behind the #GuadeGirlsGang was to actively build up confidence in the water. And hell yeah, did it work.
A mix of beautiful, glassy and consistent waves made it possible for the girls to work on the topic of this trip: to actively search for the waves. As a surfer transitions from whitewash to unbroken waves, it is really important to realize, how much we have to focus on the right positioning in the wave. A lot of times learning surfers think their paddle technique is off, or they are not strong enough. Truth is, if you position yourself at the right part of the wave, you only need about 4 paddles to gain some speed on your board. And then let the wave does it magic.
This process includes connecting with the wave, anticipating what the wave is gonna do while at the same time controlling emotions and chains of movement. Sounds complicated, right? Well, every surfer has to pass through this section, in order to become an independent and controlled surfer.
Needless to say, that our mermaids totally nailed it. The third day saw them catching waves by themselves and loads of them. Daily partyplanning before hitting the waves (analysing the conditions) helped to know where to sit, which waves to take and generally being in control.
Breaking limits
Then it was time for the girlsgang to test their limits. Local surfcoach Fredo took the group to a wave breaking offshore over shallow reef. The paddle out there wasn’t anything short of breathtaking. Seriously, surfing in Guadeloupe feels like surfing in an aquarium. Unbelievable. But back to the waves. We deliberately pushed the girls out of their comfortzones. The waves rolling in were clean and clearly marked, but also not small in size. Using techniques they had learned before (i.e. positive selftalk, the use of mantras, inner picture.) our mermaids faced the walls of water. And siiii, every single at least one took waves. Angie,Doro and Fredo were so incredibly proud!!
After this session, and the expansion of the individual comfort zones, the waves at our local spot didn’t bear much of a challenge anymore for the girls. Hence giving them all the time and opportunities to work on their surfing skills. While inconspicuously building up more and more confidence. Coach Angie was super happy with the results, surfcoach Fredo was left speechless with the improvements of the girlsgang. So proud of you, ladies! Check out our Facebook album and get lost in the picture perfect photos.
So much more to this surftrip in Guadeloupe
Apart from workshopping and surfing, there were a lot of other things going on: sunbathing, walking through the mangroves, chilling at the homebase, discovering our little town, exploring some crazy waterfalls, looking after Morny and her puppies, meeting Pierre and getting invited into his house, seeing turtles, eating from banana leaves sitting on the floor, pingponging, and simply laughing our hearst out. We admit, here might have been the odd ‘ I can buy myself flowers’ singoff, too. Thanks so much for your trust, good vibes and love: Doro, Gina, Kiki, Naomi, Niki and Susa. To us you are absolute rockstars.
Exciting news! #GuadeGirlsGang Vol.2
What we have learned in our time in Guadeloupe is to simply let life flow. And that’s exactly what we are gonna do and why we have decided to do it all over again. Clap your hands for #GuadeGirlsGang Vol.2, already in the making. With a renewed format, including even more time in the water, we are on the quest to get more girls confident in the water.
Do you want to be one of our next 6 mermaids in Guadeloupe? Get in touch to ask questions or sign up for our newsletter to be the first one finding out about the trip dates & details. We surely can’t wait for next year and more fun and incredible waves in Guadecrazyloupe. Sea you there!
Thinking about our past surfholiday trip to Ireland in November 2022, that’s the first thing to pop into my mind. Strange? Not really because it describes best all the non-stop fun and waves we have had.
All the wiggling started with a short clip I took of the surfteam, dancing on the beach at an early morning wave check. When I uploaded the clip to social media, the wiggle wiggle song appeared on the screen. I laughed and added it to the clip. And just like that, all the dance moves fitted the music. Epic!
I took this as a sign to produce little daily clips of the group. Imagine the fun we had seeing them later at night at our social media channels. Well, could be that I enjoyed the making off a bit more than everyone else enjoying the actual clip, but, in the end, that’s what being self-employed is all about: loving your job!!
6 years of surftripping in Ireland
#I❤️Ireland was our 6th coldwater surftrip we had organized up to the D-place The reasons we keep returning year after year are quite simple:
Amazing waves
Stunning coastline
Beautiful people
Our homebase James palace
And definitely our local surfcoach Good Old Lee
Mix all this together with a group of super motivated cold water NOMB Surfers, and there you go: the #teamwigglinghuevos. Explaining the origin of this name would take some time but let me tell you, it wasn’t short of giggles.
Mild weather and amazing waves
Going surfing in Ireland in November takes balls. You are facing mother nature at her purest. We were blessed this year with days of sunshine and mild climate. Sure, there was also a day with a 100km gail force wind but that’s part of the Irish surfing experience.
Talking about waves, we took advantage of everything the ocean had to offer. Local surf legend Good Old Lee made sure that we were at the right spot at the right stime. We surfed everything from knee high glassy peelers to powerful low tide beach barrels. Everyone of the group said hello to hers/his personal limits, and even took a step across. So proud of you guys!!
Homebase with (a) spirit: James palace
The D-place is actually a very popular summer holiday destination for Irish, Northern Irish and British holiday makers. There are a lot of luxury holiday homes, but all closed shutters when we get there in November. But none of these houses compare to our homebase anyway, the one and only James palace.
It’s a cranky typical Irish house with ocean view and passing by, you wouldn’t pay it much attention. Until you meet it’s owner, James. He lives in a little cottage right behind the house. James is what you envision a perfect Irish gentleman to be: very kind and welcoming, funny to bits, full of stories and with the biggest heart you can find up on the rugged Wild Atlantic Way. Every year he makes us feel like family staying in his house, rather than being a group renting it. We make sure to invite him over for dinner, and spoil him with little delicious treats. Just as we treat his cat, the world famous Adi.
Surftrip destination Ireland: come and see for yourself
I could keep writing for hours about the waves, about the coastline, about the moments, about what I love about Ireland and the surftrips up there. Leaving the D-place my heart is always filled with joy and love. All this, and especially the incredible waves up there, are hard to describe and put into words.
That’s why: come and experience it for yourself!! Good Old Lee and his surfschool Narosa are open all year round. Check their social media channels for information about Narosa’s iconic coaching weekends.
That’s if you can’t wait until we head up there again 😉 Due to pressuring demand, our next surftrip up to the D-place will be 14 days of pure Irish surfing experience!
There are 7 surfspaces available for this trip, with 6 places already gone. Better be quick and sign up for the last spot of 2 weeks of epic surfing, wiggling and laughing your heart out.
Words at the end
All the surftrips I run are unique and every single one holds a special place in my heart. I am grateful for the trust you NOMB Surfers, my kitchen crew and my local partners show me over and over again 💙
I am taking the time here to shout a big freezing thanks to my #teamwigglinghuevos: Chicken, Chegus, Flurina, Kim and Ray. You guys rocked it! A big freezing thanks to our host James, to yoga instructor and good vibes spreader Jude, to surfcoaches Good Old Lee and the Duncster for sharing their waves and looking after us. Can’t wait to be up your end again, and do it all over again!!
Celebrating our 5th year anniversary of surf tripping around Galicia we ran not one but two 14 days surf trips. A whole month of surfing every day? Can you imagine? A dream came true for our NOMB Surfers.
Trip #1: our intensive surfcamp
We started off our Galicia surf season with our annual intensive surfcamp. NOMB Surfers Annette, Chicken, Fabus, Hendrik and Meike were ready to give it their all. Camp chef Miris, an expert in our kitchen as usual, was prepared to not only spoil us with her delicious food but also to seriously improve her surfing.
Two weeks were packed with daily surfcoaching and free surf sessions, loads of theory and practical exercises. Unfortunately, surf coach Angie suffered from a knee injury and had to be stitched up. To make things worse she picked up covid in the hospital, what a bad timing.
Not having to deal with any quarantine restrictions in Spain, Angie isolated herself from the group and changed her coaching format. This way the group benefitted from extensive video & photo analyses and worked in pairs on their specific tasks in the water. The surfing results were incredible, sometimes things do simply happen for a reason 😉 See for yourself!
Learning how to surf, or improving your current surf level, does not only consist of training in the water. As the ocean is constantly moving and changing, we surfers spend a lot of time observing and trying to anticipate what´s going to happen next. Our NOMB Surfers were advised to daily observe the conditions and write them down in their surfing diary. They were instructed to discuss the waves within the group and independently find their waves in the ocean.
There was a lot going on outside the water during those two weeks. Together with coach Angie the surfers took a closer look at the pop-up techniques, they created muscle memories through surf skating, they learned basic lifesaving skills, had an introduction to mind coaching techniques and so much more. And just like that, our intensive surf camp in Galicia was over. We were really sad to see this epic group leave but were excited to welcome the next group of motivated NOMB Surfers. Hasta luego, intensive surfcamp team 💙
Trip #2: our AllYouCanSurf trip
After two weeks of sunny weather and glassy waves our second group was greeted with a low pressure system coming from the South, bringing rough weather and seas. But no problem for our surf team, motivation levels very sky high. The thought of surfing 14 days straight put a smile on everyone´s face, even in the rain.
NOMB Surfer Annette and former camp chef Miris just couldn´t get enough of Galicia and it´s waves, they stayed for our second camp as well. Annette had a surfboard shaped by local shaper Nico MX Surfboards, named it ´Ramonetta´ and was super keen to spend as much time as possible in the water. They were joined by Casper, Markus, Ava, Kim and camp chef Ray. What a team! Here are Annette and Ramonetta, shorebreak surfing with style.
With the AllYouCanSurf trip we were trying out a new format. It basically consists of our usual surf trip format but without the coaching aspect. That means an organized and carefree trip with loads of freesurf. A challenge for surf coach Angie who is used to giving tips in and outside the water. Several times she caught herself falling back into her surf coach mode and had to stop herself. Old habits die hard 😉
Angie made sure that the team didn´t get bored when conditions got a bit smaller, and invented the first ever NOMBlymics. Our surfers competed in different categories: the longest wave, the best claim, the best barrel, the biggest effort etc. Check out the clip and cheer for our surfteam.
The group was incredible and shredded really hard. Sore arm showed just how much our surfers enjoyed the Galician waves. Power ladies Kim and Ava were hard to get out of the water. Casper and Markus were the ones patiently sitting out back and waiting for the bombs. Annette and Miris kept surfing in their fearless rhythm of the past two weeks and camp chef Ray took her ladies Coco and Orki out for surfs.
And just like that, another trip was nearly history. To finish things off we organized a little fancy dress surf. Everyone was supposed to bring something that they normally don´t take out surfing. Ohh, and it was supposed to be smaller than a hand. Schabernack levels were through the roof that day. See for yourself!Thanks for surfing with us on our first AllYouCanSurf trip, you guys rocked it 💙
One epic month in our favourite homebase with our favourite local guide, coach and amigo Ramon. Without him nothing of this would have been possible, what a legend!! Thanks so much for everything, Ramonskis!!
We left with the desire for more and are super thrilled to announce that we will be running #GarfioGallego next year. Two intensive surfcamps, same place, same fun. Spaces will book up pretty fast, make sure to secure yours asap.
Thanks for everyone who joined this years #GaliciaV, thanks for your support and good vibes.
NOMB Surf is what it is because of you! Sea you in the ocean soon!
#FuerteFuerza has been a special type of NOMB Surftrip. While our other trips are designed to either surf as much as possible, go adventure surf tripping or enjoy a relaxed surf holiday, #FuerteFuerza put the ladies and their power into focus.
Surfcoaching and Mindset work
For 10 day, our ladies not only surfed nearly every day but also challenged themselves physically and mentally. As most of you probably know, surfing is not only about catching and riding a wave. Our minds play an important role when it comes to being in the ocean. If your mindset is off, catching a wave will be luck and not exactly skills, or things can go wrong very quickly. Power surfer AK shows how the right mindset results in epci waves.
An important fact for your brain to know is that you believe in your physical abilities. Knowing how much your body is capable of doing gives you a lot of confidence in the water, especially in situations out of your comfort zone.
Challenging our minds
We all have our own road of life, experiences that mark our way and make us the person we are today. Negative experiences and thoughts often limit our abilities, not only in surfing. During #FuerteFuerza we wanted to address fears and blockages, and provide our ladies with tools to change their mindsets, and make them stronger.
We created a safe atmosphere where everyone could share their histories, and work with their minds either in cooperation with the other chicas, or by themselves. We talked a lot about negative selftalk, about our role as ladies in the line-up, we learned about breathing techniques and breath hold, we set mantras and a lot more. Seeing the positive changes in our ladies attitudes was totally mindblowing. So proud of you chicas!!
Challenging our bodies
In order for our ladies to understand the powerful abilities of their bodies, and also to develop strength and muscle memory, we had organized a well designed schedule during #FuerteFuerza.
We started off with a pole dancing class with long time NOMB Surfer Kim. Kim not only shreds in the ocean but also is a crack at the pole. Our ladies took the pole dance challenge and were surprise about how much they were able to achieve during their first session. They showed quite some natural talent. Amazing, right??
Next on the surftrip agenda was a surf fitness session with personal instructor Kati, Lesano FV. Balance work, important core strength and a deep stretch made a great class. Kati also shared her personal development to become the power woman she is today, inspiring story.
Friday was a surf layday for our ladies. But no need to be sad, we used the surf free day to hop on a boat to Lobos Island with our friend Javi from Lobos Explorer.
Also on board NOMB Surfer Wieneke. Wieneke is the owner of SUP Limburg, a SUP & Yoga school in the Netherlands, and had prepared a special type of challenge for our ladies: a SUP Yoga class. Needless to say that all our ladies really rocked the SUPs, and not even one fell into the water. Beautiful day at such a special location.
With recharged batteries after an incredible layday the ladies were ready for yet another challenge: a yoga handstand flow with our friend Jude from Narosa Surfschool, our partner school for our trips to Ireland. Lucky us that Jude was holidaying on the island right in time to show our ladies how to do inversions. Even without any experience all of the ladies took the challenge and surprised themselves. Surfcoach Angie was stoked to find out how much she was capable off doing upside down.
Windy days? No Problem!
After a whole week of surfing every day, plus mindwork workshops, plus activities our ladies were stronger than ever. Unfortunately mother nature had a different plan. With 60kmh off shore winds we decided to take our surfing to the street.
Surf skating is an effective and fun tool to address problems of stance and also to gain more confidence in balancing and turning the board. They learned skills can then be transferred to our surfboards, incredible improvements guaranteed. Needless to say, that our ladies gave it their best and got more confident by the minute. Way to go, chicas!
Successful first ladies confidence boost workshop
We, that´s trip organizers Angie and Doro, are super happy and so proud to be able to say that #FuerteFuerza has been a glowing success. Starting the trip with no real expectations but loads of motivations to make a positive change in our ladies lifes, it was amazing to see how they challenged themselves and developed new skills. In and outside the water. This is what Doro has to say about the group:
More confidence and more fun while surfings – that was our mission.
It was inmensely impressing and inspiring just how the participating ladies made our mission reality. Backed up by our small but incredible community they faced their individual challenges and outgrew themselves.
We could have not wished for a better first run of this new surftrip format. Leaves us counting the days till the next ladies shredder trip..
Don´t believe what we have been up to during #FuerteFuerza? See for yourself in our Facebook photo album.
More ladies power to come
Being blown away by the outcome of this trip, Angie and Doro decided to do it all over again:
with a revised program and even more motivation and knowledge, our next ladies only surftrip #GuadeGirlsGang will take a max of 6 ladies to the incredible French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe next spring (18th – 28th March 2023).
Don´t know about you but we are pretty damn excited!
Make sure to sing up for our newsletter or pre-reserve your spot with Angie straight away. No doubt that our girls gang will fill up real quick. More info will be published asap.
Thanks to the #FuerteFuerza ladies AK, Gina and Katharina for trusting in us, for giving it your all, for being all so different but so amazing together. You are true legends and we could not be more proud of you!
Thanks to our friends Kim, Kati, Javi, Wieneke, Jude and Basti for being part of this trip, your support is truly appreciated.
Sea you in the water soon!
Angie & Doro
PS: our next two surftrips to Galicia in May are already booked out. No need to be sad though, follow our adventures on our Instagram and get lost with us in the waves.
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