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Golden Tonsils

Surf commentators.

Surf commentators… Love them or loathe them the unenviable task of surf event commentary can make or break an event. We thought it best to catch up with one of them to find out what it takes to call a World Tour event.

You may be familiar with the dulcet tones of Matt “The human torch was denied a bank loan” Lindsay. Matt is a regular fixture on the commentary teams of the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro’s on the Gold Coast, as well as the Breaka Burleigh WQS events. He also has Level 2 Coaching and Level three International Judging feathers in his cap, so we had him explain the ins and outs of WT commentary.

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Some offices are better than others.

What are the golden rules of commentary?

Probably not to get too caught up in the event and focus on the surfers, so they know at all times what they require and what their situations are. At the end of the day, that’s what the event is all for – the surfers, and things can get pretty serious if there is a miss-communication from commentators. So I think that simply relaying information from all around the event to the surfers is the number one rule.

Do you prefer beach commentary or webcast?

My family like the webcast commentary, because they can actually see and hear me and know what’s going on, but i really like the beach commentary because I’m a bit more into the surfing itself, whereas the webcast requires you to do a lot of fillers and things like that which are great, but I just like the interaction with the athletes and the crowds.

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Peter Mel and Matt Lindsay waxing.

How do you have to adjust your commentary for the webcast?

When you’re doing beach commentary, you’re also interacting with the whole crowd, so you’ve really got to get animated. Also some people on the beach may not have a clue about surfing so you’ve got to try and give them a feel for what exactly is going on around them. The thing is with beach commentary, a surfer will never come up to and tell you how great your commentary was, they’ll only come up and tell you if it was bad and didn’t get the information they needed, whereas spectators really appreciate good beach commentary. When you’re in the web booth, you just need to focus on what the screen has up in front of you, and what’s coming through your ear piece so you know what to throw to and when you’re being queued in.

Do you ever find that there’s competition between commentators?

It’s not necessarily competition, but I think there’s definitely some people who are more assertive than others on the mic, they get excited and like to really take things by the scruff of the neck  and if you’ve got two commentators, the second one is left just to fill in little bits and pieces. A good commentary team is two people who can really complement each other; one who’s analytical and one who’s pumping everybody up.

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Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast and one intimidating crowd.

Do you think commentators can influence judges?

I think it can and probably has in the past, but that’s why the judges sit in soundproof booths now. I think back in the day, there was definitely something there; it’s such a subjective thing that if people get really amped up over a wave or a manoeuvre and the judges can hear it, it would be really hard to not let it affect your scores.

How do you find the post-heat interviews?

I like interviewing the more spontaneous people where you don’t quite know what they could say during the interview. It’s hard work though when you’re interviewing someone who doesn’t talk much and you’re really trying to draw something out of them. If they’ve had a poor heat, even if they’ve got through they normally don’t really feel like talking, so that can get a bit tricky.

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Some interviews are better than others.

What’s the key skill a commentator should have?

Definitely judging ability, you have to be a good judge or else there will always be a discrepancy between what you’re announcing to the crowd as someone is surfing, and the actual score they get and that isn’t a very good look. You also need to have a good knowledge of the technical side of surfing and how critical or difficult a manoeuvre is.

Got a favourite commentator? Let us know who and why.

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A bi-monthly eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!
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Your portal to cultural events happening in and around the surfing sphere.
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