A virtual reality headset inside the mind of a hungry twenty-something fighting for his life in Changas

Every coach has a star pupil. For Mickey Goldmill, it was Rocky Balboa. For Mr. Miyagi, it was The Karate Kid. And for Matt Myers, we think it’s Levi Slawson.

But Matt doesn’t pick favorites, even when we prod him…

“I’m not about that,” Matt laughed, “two of my students are CT alumni who deserve to be back in the tournament, Nat Young and Alyssa Spencer. And Nolan Rapoza has been knocking on the door for the last 3 seasons and he’s not looking better than ever, Levi Slawson’s trajectory is very high right now. Plus, look out for Sanoa Depfle-Oli, who is going to have a great career.”

But, at least in this clip, Levi has the strongest showing – in terms of pure electricity and in his numerical score (tied for 9th).

This vlog (let’s call it what it is) takes the viewer through the training regiment and lives of five surfers looking for a spot on the Tour. Matt says he was inspired to do something similar to what SnakeTales does, but for the larger Challenger series.

Matt Myers is a former pro surfer who eventually hung up the bachelorette and worked various jobs within the surf industry until creating the Matt Myers Surf Mentorship four years ago. We actually did a full story on Matt in 2022 that you can read here.

“My training philosophy is very personal. I want to know how you feel and what’s going on in your mind. If we can connect mentally and be on the same page, it will be much easier to succeed,” Matt said. Knife. “It’s all about preparation before the heat, but I even do a little training in the middle of the heat with my surfers like signaling (why I’m wearing the neon hat) and communicating with them in real time.”

So Matt runs up and down the beach with his video surfers breaking scores.

Also, see below, the trainer can browse:

Surf Thriller ft. Matt Myers from Pedro Delbrey on Vimeo .

I then asked Matt what the hardest part of being a surf coach is. “By far, the hardest part is dealing with the losses. I’m competitive AF, and also very emotional and empathetic,” Matt admits. “But I realize that we’re all so lucky to be in these positions in life, to have a career riding a piece of foam on a wind-generated wave halfway around the world, it’s a dream job. But when my surfers miss qualifying for once, or the judges have an off day, or the waves stop, it breaks my heart. These Challenger Series surfers invest a lot mentally, physically, financially, so the losses are heavy. But that’s why we just prepare for the next opportunity that comes along.”

Oh, and I had to ask Matt what the League of Wet Shoulders means. “The ultimate goal is to head to the beach at the end of the event. And when you lead somebody, you obviously end up with a wet shoulder,” explained Matt. “We always joke about when we score a wet shoulder. We’re a team and if you’re not in the top of the chair, you want to hold on your teammate.”