Innehållsförteckning för #342 WAVES från Surfing Life

Surfing fuses instinct with skill; technique with creativity. It’s a commingling of forces – physical, emotional, psychological and some say even spiritual – in one of nature’s most challenging environments. These shape our perspectives uniquely. You see, it doesn’t matter if you’re a grommet just starting out or an old salt doing it for the love of the game. It doesn’t matter if you’re a weekend warrior or whether you’re a full-time or aspiring pro. And it doesn’t matter if you are good, bad, or somewhere in between. We all love what we do and we all have an objective opinion of how that looks and feels. One surfer’s stoke may come from watching progressive airs, while another’s might come cruising through a high-line. Others may try and emulate the…

On the 27th of May 2018, another monster swell rifled through the pacific corridor that leads to the island of Fiji. The swell, that grew in consequence as it rolled on, was en route to Cloudbreak and another historic day in surfing. Debate still rages on — did it match the colossal swell of 2012? Were they the greatest waves ever surfed? By now those conversations are inconsequential as we are left to ruminate on the campfire tales of one of the swells of the decade. A few days before the swell and some 3000kms away, a tiler named Laurie Towner was preparing for a not-so-common strike mission. Not so common, not because Laurie doesn’t charge anymore, but because he doesn’t have a full-time sponsor that allows him to ply…

At the J-Bay comp, we sadly watched Parko announce his retirement and in true ‘Parko Style’ he waited until Mick had his time in the sun… what a legend! It was with overwhelming joy we watched him win his world title in 2012 and eliminate that dreaded thought in everyone’s mind — was he going to be the next Taj, Luke Egan or Kong — some of the best surfers never to win a world title. Parko showed the world he deserved a title, even if it was just one, he deserved it. The real question is, who will take the style master’s place? We’ve watched Parko slice every wall from here to Mexico and beyond, not with reckless abandon, but with the precision of a surgeon for the last…

If you are anything like me – you need to have things explained over and over a few times before it really sinks in. Throw in mathematics and a few extra technical nuances… and you’ve lost me. Air grabs sit in similar territory. We know they are nothing new and you’d be forgiven for calling any and every grab… well, just that – a grab. However as the sport of surfing has evolved and the lines of progression have pushed well past what many of our mortal minds can comprehend, we should take a moment to catch up or at the very least, brush up on our terminology. Progressive surfing has been taking its cues from skateboarding and snowboarding for some time. It’s been a congenial and reciprocal relationship, particularly…

Ain’t she just the oldest chestnut. Style. Who’s got it, who don’t and how can you get a piece? And when you want to talk surf style who you gonna call? You’re gonna call Mason Ho, right? “You never know what he’s gonna do. He throws style points back to his influences and elders. He’s truly one of my favourite surfers to watch,” says Kelly Slater. Kolohe Andino’s ex-pro surfer pops, Dino, a lifelong friend of the Ho’s, says, “John John is really gnarly, but he’s not as fun looking as Mason’s shucking and jiving. He looks down, looks back, does all that crap. He’s paying tribute to his dad on every wave.” Mason who is almost thirty years old, is in Costa Mesa, California, healing up an injury he…

How did you go? Get a few? It’s the all too common question most of us get after a session down at our local, whether it was pumping, or not. Sometimes it’s all we actually need, just a handful of waves to rinse it all off. A duck-dive through a crystal wall, a couple of turns out the back, or a quick 15-minute heat against a mate. There are other times when we might be a little greedier and ‘need’ more than just a few waves to get our fix, or wash away the labours of life we carry. More waves also mean more opportunity to progress. How else do we improve our technique, right? We need a lot of repetition to perfect what we are working on, and we…

It’s a privilege to sit and chat with influential people. Sometimes they’re famous, most times they’re more knowledgeable than us, and often they give a glimpse into what’s up ahead… lines on the industry’s horizon. This issue, we caught up with Wayne Rabbit Bartholemew to chat about all things professional surfing. As a pioneer, sometimes you have to have a look back to see how far you’ve come. With his history, vision, and passion for the sport, one doesn’t have to look too far into the future to know the legacy Rabbit started, should continue for a long time to come. Rabbit is a global ambassador for surfing. The former world champion was the CEO of the Association of Surfing Professionals (The ASP before it became the World Surf League)…

John Florence is a likable human. He’s got that soft nature and sense of calmness that surrounds him, yet when he’s on the open face or above the lip, he’s pure animal. If you don’t follow pro surfing, John Florence is a two times world surfing champion. Titles he won back to back in 2016 and 2017. He came into the 2018 season as a hot favourite to bag a hat trick of world titles, when the wheels seemingly fell off. After a string of uncharacteristically poor results, the reigning world champ found himself ranked 25th on the World Championship Tour, and the media went to town. And the questions followed: what’s happened to John John? Is he burnt out, lost interest perhaps? Yet the Florence camp remained resolute, nothing…

WE’VE ALL HIT THE POINT WHERE WE’VE MASTERED SOMETHING IN LIFE. THAT PLACE, WHERE AFTER HOURS OF TRYING, FAILING AND REPEATING – BOOM, SOMETHING CLICKS. The clouds part, everything becomes clear and a whole new vista of opportunity opens up before us. That’s when we can start to break it down. That’s the place we can dive a little deeper into the technical nuances of our craft. It’s the point where things become less frantic and we’re able to slow things down, and then suddenly… click… we’re there. Here’s four pieces to get your brain ticking in the right direction. What to do with refugee children? How do we address the denuclearisation of North Korea? How and why does racism and bigotry still exist in 2018? Will the overpopulation of…

Are you thinking that all this hoo-ha on how to grab, how to master the rail and debating the nuances of aerial surfing is making you feel a little left out? If it’s all going over your head a little and all you’re trying to do is catch more waves, hold onto the wall, ride a high line and perfect your fade-to-squat cutback… we hear you! Here are a couple of simple tips that will add a little spice to your growing passion. TWO EXTRA STROKES It’s amazing what two extra strokes will do when paddling into a wave. Forward momentum is everything and the more speed you can stand up with, the more impetus you’ll have going into the wave. More impetus = more ‘go-forward’ from the start, meaning…

The very existence of soft-top surfboards came about in the 80s with the Californian ‘Blackball’ system, where surfboards were banned from bathing beaches for safety reasons. It turns out, and rightly so, that a fibreglass surfboard underneath the feet of a beginner surfer is a dangerous weapon that can wreak havoc on innocent bathers and their heads. At the time there was no distinction between beginner surfers and highly experienced, competent surfers. It was simply a blanket ban on all surf craft, causing much frustration for many surfers who were not allowed to surf their local breaks during certain times. There was a loophole however, someone figured it out at the time, that finless soft-top surfboards (original boogie boards) were legal in blackball-demarcated areas and while they were quite difficult…

We all love gawking at a good surf image. You know the ones that stop you in your tracks and draw you in, and then whisk you away to your happy place. Heck, our mag is built on bringing you the best images out there. And although many of us think we’re pretty clever with our smart phone cameras, it’s not just a case of ‘point and shoot’ when it comes to nailing a technically good shot. So if you’re an aspiring photographer, or even a surfer wondering how the world’s best get their shots, here are a few pointers on getting it right. Our mates at CameraPro helped us compile this little tutorial to help you become a sharper shooter. BEAT THE SWEEP Remember it is you against the…

There is a term coined by American sports authors Seven Yellin and Buddy Biancalana called the fluid motion factor. In their book, The 7 Secrets of World Class Athletes, the term essentially suggests there are points of time during an elite athlete’s performance, where feelings take over, so much so that they oftentimes struggle to recall that particularly pivotal moment in a game or event. 1 It goes a lot deeper of course, there’s talk of the relationship between the prefrontal cortex and the athlete’s muscle reaction times, but we don’t need to delve that deep to grab a few takeouts. The book continued with interview quotes from high profile sportspeople corroborating the theory and I instantly started to ponder its significance for business, life and of course, surfing. I…

IN A SURFING AGE WHERE AIR REVERSES HAVE BECOME AS COMMON AS OUR SMART PHONE APPENDAGES, it’s refreshing to see the resurgence of the old fashion power carve. Ok, maybe ‘resurgence’ is taking it a little too far… it never went away, but rather became a little unappreciated for a while. Every, aspiring, teenage surfer can throw an air reverse like they’ve got it on a string, and for a while there we saw it become the focus of all free surfing clips eating up our bandwidth. Then we saw it being employed in the pro surfing ranks, and nowadays if you haven’t got it in your arsenal on the World Championship Tour, you might be found wanting. But we know a strong rail game will never be frowned upon.…

In Fiji, at stop 5 of the 2017 Championship Tour, 23-year-old rookie Connor O’Leary, was a hair’s breadth away from claiming his maiden-world-championship-event win. Another more experienced Aussie goofy footer, Matt Wilkinson, took out the final but Connor’s second place was a standout performance that helped him eventually claim the coveted ‘Rookie of the Year’ by season’s end. One of the coolest moments to come out of the event was seeing Connor taking a minute with his new full-time coach, Luke Egan. The pair, ecstatic and satisfied, hugging on the beach at sunset, with Connor clutching his impressive runner’s up trophy in one hand. Few rookies achieve such competitive highs, especially in the space of five events, and the result was made even more pertinent given it was Connor’s first…

PORTUGAL ENTICES MANY TOURISTS WITH ITS EXQUISITE COASTLINES AND UNCROWDED ATLANTIC SWELLS. When wandering through its cities, the ornately-tiled buildings edge the mosaic-style pavements and you feel like you’re walking on, through and around Portuguese history, art and culture without setting a foot in a museum. Its age-old vineyards guard the place where Port originates and don’t get me started on the tantalising seafood and the freshly-baked pastel de nata (a deliciously-sweet custard tart) which we fanged out on daily. But Portugal is not just for the everyday tourist; it targets the surf-enthused traveller or maybe the next Olympic medallist (check out our Travel issue #340 for more on Portugal as a surf destination). “The benefit to both elite and talent level athletes is significant in that the facility offers…

This photo feature is guaranteed to educate you without saying much at all.…