{"id":30453,"date":"2025-06-04T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=30453"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:10:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:10:41","slug":"performance-under-pressure-four-lessons-from-a-big-wave-surfer","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/performance-under-pressure-four-lessons-from-a-big-wave-surfer\/","title":{"rendered":"Performance Under Pressure: Four Lessons from a Big Wave Surfer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 4 Jun 2025 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Performance Under Pressure: Four Lessons from a Big Wave Surfer<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a> <\/div>\n
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Ian Walsh of Red Bull is renowned for his meticulous approach to tackling some of the biggest waves on the planet. Here he shares his wisdom with the wider sporting community.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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Main Image: Fred Pompermayer \/ Red Bull Content Pool<\/p>\n

By John Portch<\/h6>\n
\u201cTime really slows down,\u201d says Red Bull surfer Ian Walsh of the moment he rides a big wave.<\/h6>\n

\u201cIn every other part of my life there\u2019s a million things going on. I feel like I always have ten balls in the air. Did I forget to take the laundry out? Did I put it in the dryer? I have bills to pay, groceries to buy. And surfing is one of the few places in the world where that all just drifts away.\u201d<\/p>\n

This level of focus may sound familiar to athletes, but the stakes of big wave surfing are something else entirely. One false move and Walsh risks serious injury every time he mounts his board.<\/p>\n

Walsh has built a career on his coolness under pressure, which is why he was invited to share his insights at the Leaders Sport Performance Summit at Red Bull Media House in Santa Monica last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ian Walsh poses for a portrait at the Volcom Pipe Pro on 4 February 2018, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, USA. [Zak Noyle \/ Red Bull Content Poo]l<\/p><\/div>Four factors stand out in his approach.<\/p>\n

1. He acknowledges and harnesses his fear<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThose nerves and everything you fear are natural, and you can use that to elevate your performance,\u201d said Walsh. \u201cIt commands every ounce of your being and your focus to deal with what\u2019s coming at you and how you want to navigate it to try and finish on your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

This ability comes with \u201crepetitions and time\u201d. Walsh was in town for a training block at Red Bull\u2019s state-of-the-art Athlete Performance Center ahead of the northern hemisphere summer season. \u201cI\u2019m going to take full advantage of having this amount of time in a facility like this,\u201d he added. \u201cIt gives me the chance to push myself in a controlled environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. He keeps his \u2018smart brain\u2019 online<\/strong><\/p>\n

Walsh can keep his \u2018smart brain\u2019 online under pressure. It is a term often used by high-performance specialist Rachel Vickery. \u201cHave you got enough buffer in the system to absorb that natural increase in arousal state peaking?\u201d she said on the Leaders Performance Podcast in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery human has a threshold that basically says if my arousal stays below my threshold or below my red line, I can perform in a way that I\u2019ve got a lot more control of. If I\u2019ve got more buffer in the system, so to speak, then when I get the normal increase in arousal it\u2019s still under control and it\u2019s not shooting me across the red line.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Walsh\u2019s case, he de-escalates and grounds himself through the \u2018breathe-up\u2019 technique, which is a cycle of diaphragmatic breathing aimed at lowering his heart rate and preparing his body to stay relaxed underwater for an extended period.<\/p>\n

Additionally, thanks to training alongside Red Bull freediver Kirk Krack, Walsh has learned to hold his breath underwater for up to five minutes. \u201cIt\u2019s creating situations where I could elevate my heart rate and then get into a breath hold and understand how my body is going to react and eventually adapt to those scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a skill in and of itself to then go, \u2018how do I apply that once this physiological threat response kicks in? How well am I able to adapt and adjust and execute when all those changes happen?\u2019\u201d said Vickery, who would no doubt approve of Walsh\u2019s strategies.<\/p>\n

3. He already knows what to do when things go wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n

Walsh has long had a firm interest in meteorology and bathymetry [the study of the seabed, lakebeds and riverbeds]. He can pinpoint with reasonable accuracy when and where the most suitable swells will appear during both the northern and southern hemisphere surfing seasons. He said: \u201cThe reason it evolved to so much precision is to give myself as much of an opportunity on those special days as I can, because those days are rare and everything can change so fast on those mega swells.<\/p>\n

He then readies his equipment and support team. \u201cBy having my preparation done, I can get absolutely smoked on a wave, break my board, everything gets washed onto the rocks, but I have everything ready to go again. I can go right to the boat or the jet ski, get my second board, catch my breath, make sure everything\u2019s good and then get back into the lineup within 15-20 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have that ready, you could spend two hours dealing with it and it could be another month to six weeks or even the next season when you get another opportunity to push yourself in that calibre of surf.\u201d<\/p>\n

His meticulousness extends to listing and ranking restaurant menus in different locations. It drives his partner up the wall. \u201cI take it into my normal life and my girlfriend can attest to how annoying those details are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jokes aside, Walsh\u2019s approach calls to mind the words of mountaineer Kenton Cool, who once told an audience at a Leaders Sport Performance Summit: \u201cPeople often think of extreme adventure athletes as possessing a ridiculous appetite for risk, that we\u2019re reckless, foolhardy and make illogical decisions. In reality, it\u2019s quite the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ian Walsh photo session for The Red Bulletin, Los Angeles, 19 July 2024. [Maria Jose Govea \/ The Red Bulletin]<\/p><\/div>\u00a04. He goes for progress over perfection<\/strong><\/p>\n

Walsh\u2019s near-catastrophic failures have taught him to be humble when ironing out creases in his performance. \u201cLetting go of some of your ego will create a lot more latitude for opportunities,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe I did get annihilated on that wave, but I was also an eighth of an inch from making it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walsh studies film of his efforts. He is also a comprehensive note-taker. \u201cI can go back and be like \u2018this swell angle, these winds, these tides are shaping up like January 10, 2004 [a date on which he suffered a severe injury \u2013 one of several throughout his career]\u2019.\u201d He can then tell himself \u201cmaybe I should have ridden this forward or tried those fins. Maybe our water safety protocol could have been a little more buttoned-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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