Riding waves thrills young surfer
Born in England and bred on the Bluff, the 12-year-old, started surfing at the age of five.
BRADEN Pratt, 12, finds his thrill on the waves when he’s out on the surf. Born in England and bred on the Bluff, the 12-year-old, started surfing at the age of five.
“I enjoy living on the Bluff because I get to go surfing in the sea, which is right at my doorstep, whenever I want. My dad is a big surfer. He brought me into the water and I just developed a natural love for surfing through him,” he said. Sharing his fondest memory, Braden recalled a day at Ansteys Beach where he was on the longest wave he ever surfed.
“I was looked back at my mom and dad. As I waved to them, my board just stopped out of nowhere and I had a wipeout and hit the sand. I went flying and got a mouthful of sand, fortunately, I didn’t hurt myself. The most I’ve gotten hurt was a cut once or twice from my fin but nothing too bad.
“Surfing is really fun. I love the feeling of riding a long wave and coming back out. I also love the moments where I get to discuss it with my dad or my friends and the other groms.”
The Glenwood Prep Grade 6 learner is a member of the Bluff Boardriders and has participated in a few surfing competitions where he has battled it out against other Bluff talents. “I’ve won a few prizes before, particularly in 2019. Our competitions are not too formal as it’s more about keeping the love for the sport alive. I don’t really surf on a competitive level. I do it more for the enjoyment and social aspect.”
He said the most challenging thing about surfing is mastering the big waves and overcoming the fear that comes with that. “I’m still working on perfecting my cut-back. That’s where you go to the top of the wave and then you come back around it by carving on the open face and bringing the surfboard back around in an arcing motion. I tend to lean back a little too much every time I try it out but I’ll keep trying until I get it.”
He recalls a highlight of the meeting and surfing with famous South African surfer, Royden Bryson some years back.
Braden also looks up to Jordy Smith who is a South African professional surfer, competing on the World Championship tour surfing. Braden shared that the Covid-19 lockdown had quite a negative impact on him and put a setback on him as a surfer.
“I became very unfit as the restrictions banned us from going to the beach for quite some time. I couldn’t surf at all. When I eventually got back into the water, I was quite rusty. I wasn’t as good as I was and had to re-learn everything again from before lockdown. I can still feel it even now but I continue to build up my skills and go for the bigger waves.” He has four boards but his Clayton Spine-tek is his personal favourite.
“It’s a very light board and it makes surfing easier, for the most part, provided it isn’t too windy.
”Surfing runs in the Pratt family and serves as the biggest support system to the young grom. Braden excels in the classroom and also enjoys soccer, cricket, swimming and hockey.
“My dad’s golden rule is to do well in school and have fun.” “We are super proud of Braden, he puts effort all into everything he does. We consider ourselves lucky that our children enjoy surfing as much as we do. We have the best time when it’s all four of us out on the backline and paddling. We’re pretty much a surfer nature family,” shared his mom, Casey.
