Building Ocean Confidence with Gather and Glide!

We love working with local businesses and inspirational people, and are stoked to collaborate with the crew at Gather and Glide. We're both passionate about making the ocean a fun and inclusive place for everyone.

They run surf courses for women in Newquay - we caught up with the founders Allanah and Sam to find out more about their business and how they're using bellyboards to inspire ocean confidence. Here's what they had to say:

Bellyboarding is one of the funnest, sustainable and fastest ways to build ocean confidence!

Recently we picked up our new quiver of Dick Pearce bellyboards and everyone loves them!

We are really excited to be bringing in new ocean confidence sessions to our improver courses this year at Gather & Glide here in Newquay.

From personal experience, when I was learning to surf, I remember watching all of the surfers out the back catching what looked like huuuge waves and there I was in waist deep water, telling myself that there's no chance in hell I would ever make it out there.

But I did eventually, slowly building confidence as I went and celebrating all the baby steps along the way, by getting in the water as much as possible and trying out different ways of catching waves.

Bellyboarding takes away all of the pressure that we can sometimes feel when we are surfing, because when we bellyboard, we are simply going out there to have fun, with no expectations.

So if you have been feeling frustrated on your surfboard or maybe have had a bad ocean experience, grab a bellyboard and go have some fun!

Bellyboards are much smaller and can feel more manageable in the water and you can either catch some nuggets in the shallows or grab some swim fins, paddle out the back and slide into some open faces like you would do on a surfboard! So Whether they are in the white water, on a 2 footer or a 5 footer bellyboarding has no expectation of fancy moves or the gnarliest waves it's just a bit of easy slide time...Easy for everyone!

If you're a surfer, ocean confidence is the key to your progression, allowing you to paddle out in bigger waves, surf for longer, handle wipeouts better, to take off on steep waves and so much more, which makes you more resilient out in the water.

We have already run a couple of ocean confidence Bellyboard sessions and they have been a huge success, with participants leaving the water with sore cheeks from laughing, feeling energized and more confident.

You can hire Dick Pearce bellyboards for FREE from selected stores around the UK, as an alternative to buying cheap polystyrene bodyboards.

So what are you waiting for? See you out there!