Koa Rothman is a big-wave surfer who deals with fear often. He recently sat down in front of a camera to explain how he deals with it. Any big-wave surfer will tell you that they’re scared when the waves get huge, but it’s how they deal with that fear that counts. It’s not as simple as paddling into a giant wave, though. Well, it kind of is, but that’s just the very end of the journey. The training, the travel, the obsessive forecast watching… it’s all part and parcel of the big-wave surfing game.
For many, though, getting over the fear seems like it might be the most daunting part. There’s just something about that heart-in-your-throat feeling when you’re looking over the ledge of a wave that should probably not be surfed. “I’m always so, so nervous,” Rothman says. “Especially if it’s like, coming out of summer into our first big winter swell at home. The nerves that come through… you have no control over not being scared. You’re about to go do something that is really not something humans should be doing.”
A wise man once said that the antidote for fear is competence. The only way to get that competence, of course, is practice and training. No one will ever be finished practicing surfing — even someone like Koa Rothman or Kelly Slater. No matter how good at surfing one becomes, one can always learn something new. That’s the beauty of it, isn’t it?
“Just knowing what you body can handle is half the battle,” Rothman continued. “If you’re mentally there, you’re going to be good. That fear is going to stay there to keep you from putting yourself in a bad situation that could end up killing you. Fear is good. Being scared is good. It’s just that learning how to deal with it is the hardest part.”
Of anyone out there, Koa appears to be someone who has just about mastered dealing with fear, and the rewards are plentiful.
