Supercoach Enters Top 10 Earners On The World Tour!

When Stab calls, Glenn ‘Micro’ Hall is “a bit dusty” and headed from Sydney airport to the Central Coast. Last night he celebrated the victory of his great pal Matt Wilkinson, scooping the first backhand victory at Bells in almost 20 years. This is a story you’re beginning to know well. The guy who had never won a World Tour event is on top of the world after winning three events in a row this year (a Q and two CTs). And, Micro’s female client, Ms Tyler Wright is second in the world.

Micro is heart and soul. He’s honest, raw and a feel-good story like no other. He competed in the Pipe Masters in December, before retiring at that same event, and is now the unlikely World Tour coach du jour. As is the landscape, coaches cop 10 percent of their pupils’ contest earnings. Considering Wilko has made $200k in 2016, and Tyler has made $76k… Micro has so far made $27k+. And he isn’t done yet.

Stab: Surely you didn’t expect another win down there?
Micro: Well, I didn’t not expect it. It was definitely one of those ones where you say let’s do it again but you don’t expect it to happen like that.

Hey, I just had a look at the top 10 ratings and did some crude mathematics and your contest earnings this year mean you’ve earned more than Parko, JJF, Julian, Gabs, Kelly… you’re at eighth in the world. STOKED! Yeah, that’s first top 10 I’ve ever been in!

“Micro has always been able to identify a change in conditions almost before it happens,” says Jarrad Howse. “We look at a beachbreak and see a right in the corner and a fat left down the beach, but he looks out and sees something in the middle. Other coaches might say play priority and wait for the sets, but Micro is really specific about what waves he wants his guys and girls to ride, and isn’t afraid to punt on a smaller one.”

Photography

WSL/Kelly Cestari

That’s $US27k so far this year. Ok, so what’s the secret? It’s fucking bizarre. Nothing’s changed, really just doing our thing and it just happens to be going really good.

Tell us about simplifying. It’s an overused analogy but very common and very successful. I do reckon that coaches overcomplicate it. They don’t try to, but they try and justify all these finer details, as if to make sure that they’re doing their job. Of course there’s all of these little things that every surfer could work on and improve but to do it at an event is fucking stupid in my eyes. Coaches are trying to help, but often give too much information and do the opposite.

Damien Fahrenfort coached Jordy to victory at Lowers in 2013. He said: You’re not smart enough for strategy. Go catch two waves and don’t do those stupid laybacks. Tips like that can be way more valuable than little technical stuff when you’re at an event. When you add that into the mix of having general comp nerves and the pressure of 30 minutes, you’re only going to get to ride a handful of waves in a heat and theres not a lot of adjustments you can make.

The stress and intensity during a heat that a good coach would never let their apprentice actually see.

Photography

WSL/Cestari

Tell us about the arrogant world number one swagger of Mr Wilkinson. He’s owning it. The whole blocking out thing was just impossible. If you try to pretend that the whole yellow jersey thing isn’t there, you don’t wanna talk about it, hear about it, read about it. It’s impossible. Eventually you walk down the stairs in the yellow rashie with the commentators are talking about it and that will build up into this pressure that you’ve been trying to run away from. It was definitely my approach that the best way to go about it was to embrace it. I just thought, fuck it, just run with it and laugh about it and embrace it. But honestly, we’ve even been betting on all the dogs that have the word yellow in their name!

And a different finals day prep to most? We went to Wilko’s mates’ who was playing in a little festival and had a beer and burger on the headland. It was sick, we watched the music and just tried to make sure he still feels like him, and not playing some person who’s not actually his natural character.

How realistic is a world title? Obviously, mathematically he’s in a good place. There’s still a long way to go and he still needs to get results and he knows he’s got some work to do in some areas. But, if he enjoys it and keeps doing what he’s doing he can win the world title no matter what anyone else does.

Ok, Wilko has almost fallen off tour the past few years so I don’t know how hard he would’ve pushed for the million dollar world title bonus like other guys. Is it there do you think? He might have to dust off that page of the contract, eh.

That extra 10 percent $100k would be nice for you to top of the year. I hope so. Let’s see if he can go and do it all again and get another hangover.

You’re goddamn right Micro can surf, and was a goddamn savvy competitor. Pipe, last year, just prior to retiring.

Photography

WSL/KC