Banting was scheduled to head to New Zealand this week for the New Zealand Open hoping to continue his strong start to the season.

But the event won't go ahead due to COVID-19 issues meaning Banting will have to bide his time to continue his golden run so far in 2020.

So far, the 25-year-old has taken out the Central Coast Open, picked up a quarter-final result at the Surfest Newcastle Pro before suffering a last-gasp defeat in the final at the Sydney Surf Pro at Manly Beach last week.

"If I was told at the start of the year I was going to get those results I would have been stoked," Banting said.

"I've made some good prize money and am sitting first on the QS after three results, but it's going to be a long year ahead and it's a wonder what they're going to do with the Coronavirus."

Luckily, the government-imposed travel restrictions won't impact on Banting too much in the near-future; it just means he will have to stick to the east coast of Australia searching for waves.

Otherwise, he would have had a self-imposed 14-day isolation period upon arriving back in the country.

"We didn't have an event until late June in South Africa so hopefully by then the travel bans will have been lifted and everything will proceed as normal," Banting said.

"I was going to do an overseas trip in the two or three months I've got off, but now I'll stick close to the east coast and try and avoid the virus at all costs.

"I can take it as a bit of a break and use it again towards the end of the year."

Banting attributes his strong results to a higher level of confidence and an ability to "just back myself."

"It's hard to put it down to one exact thing, but I've surfed a lot more mature and wiser, made good decisions and when the wave came I completed them," Banting said.

"I've had a few strategical moments in heats where I surfed a bit smarter than I did at the back end of last year.

"When you're a bit more in control in your heat you win because you gain confidence which trickles down."

He admitted his early season success had been due to a more measured approach in 2020 events compared to those 12 months ago.

"I've had a brilliant three weeks; in the last result at Manly I was winning all the way in the final and got pipped in the last 10 seconds," he said.

"It was pretty devastating to have it snatched away at the end."

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