Words by Beth Franklin
Every surfer will know the frustrations of the sport, whether you’re a pro or beginner, there is always one more lesson the ocean is waiting to humble you with.
But when you get it right, and you catch that one wave where everything clicks…it’s enough to keep you coming back and facing that same frustration over and over.
On a recent surf trip, a coach told me that surfing is about resilience, it changed the way I looked at my frustrations completely and helped me get back to that space of enjoyment.
This is something 21-year-old Scottish surfer Kasey West is all too familiar with.
The Dundee University student took up surfing at 16 on a trip to Bali and said she was “instantly hooked”, however, as is the case with every surfing journey it was not without its frustrations.
Kasey didn’t let the frustrations stop her, and this year placed 4th in the Scottish University Surfing Championships women’s category.
We spoke with Kasey about how she went from beginner to winner, and she shared some golden nuggets of wisdom for surfers all over on how they can get there surfing to the intermediate level.
Read on for more….
My advice to anyone taking up surfing is be patient and enjoy the experience.
Tell me about your first time surfing – how it went, were you hooked from the start?
Back in 2019 on a trip to Bali I went for my first surf lesson and was instantly hooked! The lesson went really well, I remember leaving the water feeling super stoked and saying to my parents this is something I want to do more often. Although I was slightly disappointed when I watched the videos back and saw the waves weren’t even knee high as when I surfed them they felt a lot bigger this made me eager to surf bigger waves.
How long have you surfed and what has that journey been like to get to where you are now?
I’ve been surfing consistently since 2020, begging my surfing journey during the pandemic was difficult in the sense that I wasn’t able to take lessons I feel as though this led to me picking up many bad habits as I had no one to correct me but during this time I was surfing for the enjoyment of being out in the sea and didn’t really have the goal of learning manoeuvres.
The more time I spent watching the surfers at my local beach catching waves out back the more I wanted to be able to join them. I took a few lessons in 2021 where I improved my form and got the confidence to paddle out back. I remember the feeling of riding along my first unbroken wave, I’d say that was my first time feeling super stoked! This sparked my interest in improving my surfing, I became obsessed with learning about the sport watching countless YouTube videos on how to improve and how to read wave forecasts. Surfing has also inspired me to travel more, I have attended many surf camps over the past few years. This has really benefited my surfing as well as my confidence in the water.
I have been competing in university surf competitions since 2022, and attending these events has made a massive impact on my surfing. Watching the heats and seeing how the best surfers perform was so motivating. At the 2024 Scottish University Surfing Championship, I placed 4th in the women’s category, I was super stoked and proud to have made it to the final as in the previous years I would only make it to round 2. This moment made me realise how much progress I have made over the past few years and has motivated me to continue to improve.
Have you ever gotten in a funk about surfing and how did you get out of it?
Surfing is such a frustrating sport, I’ve had many ups and downs throughout my journey. I sometimes struggle with a mental block in the water, this is something I’m learning to overcome through using mental strategies to break through these blocks. I’ve found positive self-talk very helpful to overcome this, also the encouragement from friends in the water has helped me massively too. When I’m in the water there is so much to think about it can feel overwhelming sometimes but as soon as I take a deep breath and paddle into the wave my mind clears and I feel a sense of serenity, there is no better feeling.
Advice to anyone taking up surfing and wanting to get better?
My advice to anyone taking up surfing is be patient and enjoy the experience. Although surfing is frustrating at times it’s also the most incredible feeling, it’s so good for our mental and physical health. I encourage anyone I meet that hasn’t tried it to give it a go.
