Cheers on the take offs – and the wipeouts. Chatter and smiles rippling through the lineup. Between sets, we even sing Happy Birthday to one participant.
Words: Hayley Lawrence
I’m at one of the Sister Sessions at The Wave – and it feels very different to a regular session.
“Imagine if we could get more women to surf together like this in the mixed sessions,” says Jo, a regular to the women-only days. “When I’m bunched in with the guys it’s more nerve-racking. There just seems so much more pressure, and I feel so bad when I mess up.”
Jo’s not alone. She’s one of a growing number of women who’ve found the support they need at the Sister Sessions – just one of the girls-only fixtures opening up at wave pools.
Women cheering on women
These sessions aren’t only opening up surfing to a wider female demographic, they’re transforming the level of women’s surfing – fast.
Having surfed both mixed and women-only wave pool sessions, the shift in energy at the latter is palpable. When it’s all girls, the lineup is more relaxed and bubbly – less charged and tense. The women talk openly about nerves, performance pressure and fear. They reassure each other. They celebrate each other. And their surfing changes because of it. There’s much more room to progress without the sting of a guy huffing because you didn’t quite make the take off. (Even though, half the time, he didn’t either.)
“The beauty of Sister Sessions is the atmosphere. It’s women supporting women, celebrating every achievement and having a brilliant time together. That combination of encouragement, confidence and fun creates a community people want to come back to again and again.” Abby Richardson, The Wave.
Last time I joined a mixed session at The Wave, I naturally paired up with another woman in the male-heavy lineup. We swapped tips, chatted between sets, and cheered each other into waves. The guys weren’t unfriendly. Just tenser. Chests out, jostling to get in the most rides. Just enough to put you on edge. And on edge is where mistakes live. Where confidence drops. Where the negative self-talk creeps in.
Women-only sessions swap that tension for support. At first I put the confidence leap down to the instant camaraderie of a female community. But it’s not just that. It’s acceptance. Turn up to the Sister Sessions and you’re in – whether you want to have a go at surfing for the first time or hone your skills on the expert settings. You might want to try a surfskate taster, breathe into yoga, watch the waves listening to a DJ set, or hang out with a smoothie and a brunch plate. Board or no board. Everyone’s welcome exactly as they are.
Confidence, coached
Surfing is as much about mindset as it is about skillset – something that all-women sessions lean into wholeheartedly. Which is why the most recent Sister Sessions partnered with SurfGirl and Surf Confidence Coach Danni Unway, to run workshops on managing anxiety in the water, working through mental blocks, and setting realistic goals. Tools participants could take straight from the workshop into their next wave.
“There’s something magic about women coming together and talking. It was fantastic to share concerns and anxieties with a group of people who genuinely understood, and Danni gave us real-time tools and techniques we were eager to take away and put into practice.” Lauren Vanden Driesen, Lake Operations Supervisor.
In the water there were also coached surf sessions available – a genuine game-changer for anyone wanting to progress. As well as the support of women gunning for you to enjoy every wave, a combination of on-land theory and direct, in-water feedback from expert coaches meant you could adjust your surfing in real time. Fifteen waves in, my cutbacks went from chaos to controlled. Positive reinforcement and the same wave on repeat rewired my muscle memory faster than any ocean session ever could.
Surf confidence to take home
Dip in for one wave or stay all day, the effect is the same: you leave the Sister Sessions buoyed. More skills, more surf mates, more reasons to get back in – pool or sea. The first paddle-out afterwards, back in the ocean for me, felt revelatory – with boosted confidence and skills that enabled me to hold space and get more, better waves.
The secret isn’t complicated. Every woman needs to surf with other women. They’ve got your back. And Sister Sessions are making that happen.
