It's all about starts and finishes.

That was the mantra going through Tacking Point Surf Life Saving Club board paddler Tyse Thrower's head at Blacksmiths Beach on Sunday.

It was a position he had been in before - side-by-side with a number of other competitors on the final wave of the race before a sprint up the beach.

Two years ago, Thrower was sitting in first position in the closing stages of the under-10 state titles before he ultimately finished fourth.

But history wasn't going to repeat this time as he held on to claim his first gold medal at the state titles.

"My coach makes us do heaps of starts and finishes and I knew that if I failed the start and finish he'd be a little bit cranky," he said.

"On that last wave I thought 'hooley dooley' and thought I was in with a chance of a medal so it was really good."

In the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a state title final, Thrower completed an almost perfect race to avenge his fourth-place finish in 2017 at the same venue.

"On the way in I was trying to think just not get up too early but not too late and sprint up to the finish because I knew it was going to be tough to the finish," he said.

"There was about eight people on the same wave as me."

Conditions tested competitors with a tricky three-foot shorebreak that the youngster had to navigate successfully.​

Coach Richard Broomby said Thrower's performance was the club's first medal in four years at age state level.

"It's so hard to get into a final let alone medal and we haven't achieved that since Ryan Carroll was part of this club and he's now up at Northcliffe," he said.

Broomby was pleased to see the hard work had paid off after preparations started back in August last year.

"We ram it into them that starts and finishes always win races," he said.

"Everyone at that level is fit and strong and can paddle fast but when there's 10 on the wave like in Tyse's race, the pressure cooker comes right on them and everyone starts making mistakes.

"Waves can re-form and dump again or speed up and you have kids pushing boards and trying to get off.

"I've seen kids get off in really deep water and totally stuff it, but Tyse's finish was practically perfect."

The five-day-a-week training program had paid off.

"The ones that practice the finishes wins the races," Broomby said.

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