SURFER MAGAZINE 2017

It’s important to stay true to yourself. My favorite surfer was Martin Potter. I liked how fast he went and how he used speed, but I never tried to copy his style. I always just did my own thing. You’re going to have your favorite surfers and you’ll like their style, but you have to stay true to yourself.

You’re always learning as a parent. More than anything, fatherhood has taught me patience. My son is 25 now and I remember getting frustrated teaching him how to surf. You have to take a step back sometimes to be aware of yourself.

Surfing isn’t easy, but you don’t always remember that if you’ve done it your whole life. You realize how difficult it really is when you try teaching someone else to surf. A person might be in the best shape ever and you’ll find them huffing, puffing, and struggling to get to their feet. Helping someone in that beginning stage puts things in perspective.

Modern surfing needs to evolve. These days, it seems like a lot of talented surfers are just doing the same thing. They might not even know how to do a proper cuttie, but they can do an air reverse. It’s just gotten so predictable, and it doesn’t have to be.

It’s actually harder to do a big straight air, without a spin or a grab, than it is to rotate. I like to see people going as fast as they can and launching above the lip, not projecting out from the lip. That’s what airs are all about.

There’s so much more to surfing than just airs. We need to bring back carving, power, and vertical surfing. I hope the next crop of kids starts learning to read waves and draw different lines.

I think surfing needs to go back to the fundamentals for people to be as stoked on it as I was growing up. But I still get really excited watching surfers who ride big waves well or surfers who are really good at getting barreled.

If you’re getting frustrated in the water, you’re not going to surf well. The best thing you can do is to go in, sit on the beach for 20 minutes, and start over. You need to be relaxed and in a good state of mind to surf your best.

Don’t be afraid to be different. You’d see a lot more individuals out there if people would accept this. What’s interesting about everybody surfing the same way, wearing the same thing, singing the same song? You were made just the way you are, and that’s how we’re supposed to be. Roll with it. Be happy with it. It’s a beautiful thing.