Lambresi Is Fighting to Catch Wave of Leaders : Surfing: The tour’s three-time defending points champion trails nine surfers and is tied with another.

Every time the Professional Surfing Assn. of America Tour rolls into San Diego County, Mike Lambresi’s name seems to pop up first.

Little wonder. Lambresi, of Oceanside, is the three-time defending points champion of the Professional Surfing Assn. of America--the tour’s governing body.

But this year, after four of 11 stops heading into the $50,000 Killer Loop event that began Wednesday at the Oceanside Pier, Lambresi finds himself trailing nine surfers and tied with another.

One of those leading him is Paul Barr, a lifetime resident of Carlsbad who says a visit to a chiropractor three months ago helped straighten out his career.

Barr, in eighth place, joins fellow Carlsbad resident Sean Mattison (second) and San Clemente’s Shane Beschen (first) as three members of what Lambresi called “a changing of the guard.”

It might not happen this year, but he feels this is the start of the inevitable.

While Mother Nature takes her course with Lambresi, 26, and some of the older surfers, the new guys are staging a coup.

“There’s more competition every year, and the young guys keep getting better and better,” said Lambresi, who said the past two event winners have been 18-year-olds.

But what about Barr? At 24, he’s hardly a rookie.

Said Lambresi, “Paul doesn’t fit into any category really. Physically and mentally, I think he’s still young. But he certainly is not inexperienced.

“He’s been through some tough times and had to clear some obstacles, but he’s got the ability. I think this year, he’s turning the corner. I think he’s doing it. I hope he does.”

Barr feels the same way. After finishing ninth on the U.S. tour for two consecutive years, after two years on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world tour, Barr fell to 18th last year.

Several factors helped turn him around, but Barr says it is his back treatments and new diet that have helped the most.

Earlier this year, as “luck” would have it, his roommate, Guy Rowlett, developed back problems and went to see Dr. J.J. Heaivilin, a chiropractor in Carlsbad.

Heaivilin says nearly all surfers eventually develop spine curvatures from the constant twisting and pounding involved with the sport.

He examined Barr and found him to be a victim as well.

Weekly treatments and a new diet outlined by Heaivilin have worked wonders, Barr said.

“I definitely feel it helps,” he said. “Once a week, I go in for adjustments, and I’m eating better. I just feel more in tune, and I’m going to be a better surfer if I’m in tune.”

Lambresi said he can buy that rationale, but he said Barr’s biggest drawback was his lack of self-confidence.

“I don’t think he realized how good a surfer he was,” Lambresi said. “But that’s beginning to change. He’s becoming more confident.”

That improved attitude was nurtured in training sessions with Lambresi over the winter and enhanced in Barr’s first competition this year.

At the Coldwater Classic in March, an event in Santa Cruz sponsored by the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, Barr defeated two of the world’s top surfers in man-on-man heats and finished ninth.

The first was South Africa’s Shaun Thomson, a former ASP champion and a legend in surfing circles. The second was England’s Martin Potter, the defending ASP champion.

“(Those victories) really set the stage for me,” Barr said. “They really gave me confidence going into this season.”

Lambresi, on the other hand, says he has not lost his confidence but rather his drive. His concern is whether he can pull out another effort like last year’s, when he came from behind to win here.

“The biggest obstacle for me is to dig deep and keep the fire going,” he said. “I’m not young and enthusiastic like I was. I need to find something to motivate me.”

Said Barr, “He’s been doing OK. He just isn’t having the kind of year he’s used to having. I’m not sure if the judges have anything to do with it, but it seems like they’re just not giving him the breaks.

“He’s still a hot surfer, and he could easily win the tour. But I know there are a lot of guys right now who want it more. I know I want it more.”

Lambresi, whose wife, Kim, just gave birth to their third child in three years, offered this solution for himself: “Maybe I should keep having children and (use) the hospital bills for motivation.”