Finding your perfect board

[Music] Welcome to the Mifasev Podcast, myself, Will Foster and the very much fully dressed Liam Morgan because we have a 30 mile an hour onshore. Onshore, blowy, well, yeah, onshore is blowy. Rainy, slightly, drizzly, gray, what, eight, eight degrees Celsius. Who turned off the summer machine or the spring machine at the time? At the very least, put it onto the spring set. Big time, we are not baking the balls in this, I tell you that, ladies and gentlemen. Do you know the last time we sat down and recorded, it was really baking hot sun shining there. We had a little bit of a blowy and now here's the mindful surf weather report. It's gray, wet, miserable onshore and still the way because it's kind of heavy, little tight. It's not really coming through to a surfable wave. So it's the worst of all worlds, but we're still happy, Will. We're still stoked and there might still be a little tickle after this before I go to the Mario movie with my boy at 2.15 when it's going to be really good. So exactly when it's going to be really good. Yep, I've said yes. Something like that. It's, I had said to him two weeks ago, yeah, we're doing that, that time, and in my head I went, "Oh, just don't be good, don't be good surf at that." Well, it might be, but, but I mean said that. Think of the dad credits. It's really fun. When you commit to something and people are saying before like, "Oh, you do do a lot of stuff for yourself, but if I say yes to something, and it's on, and it's here and someone wants to meet it, I'm in. I'm committed, like I'm definitely going to that. I'm looking forward to it." The Mario movie. I did watch the first one with it, too. It was quite good. But we had a sick, we just got to get straight to that surf mate. There's this surf we had yesterday. In sort of one slopp as well, wasn't it? It was a bizarre one because this is what happened. There's a few little sets we were chunky enough. It's that thing where we had no expectations. I wasn't even expecting to go in. I didn't even know if there was a wave. It was like saying one to two, which is for where we live is actually one to two. Yeah, and I driven past in the morning. Couldn't see anything. It was like minimal and then, and I was boring. And if Ryan, you're listening, thank you, boggy. Thank you very much. Why do I call them boggy? Well, we watched a surf tuition video in London, in a gym, star firm. And it was called, it was something like advanced surfing tips, something, something. It was a DVD, marinated by a British lady. And she was demoing. And if you get to the lip and you don't engage your rail before twisting, she got this lovely sort of quite posh English voice. You might bog your rail like this. And then we both went, oh bog. And that's just that was it. Start calling boggy. But boggy, if you're listening, thank you for letting me borrow your river max. I had fixed it up for him. So he said, go on. Yeah, that's why it was down with me because I see you were very much enjoying that yesterday. From the sound. Tomo, Daniel Thompson to those you don't know is a Aussie shaper. Sunshine coast, coast, gold, something like that. Nusa, something. Nusa, Nusa head. Nusa heads. Who's been shaping boards for many years. I don't know. I'm just making that up. Exactly. Well, the footage, the footage, the footage of him on average days. Yeah, fucking double overhead and barreling down the line. The footage you see of Daniel Thompson doing is testing out his boards because that's what's unique about him. Yeah. Unlike your Brit Marrix or your map, boluses or even include Luke Hart into that. A lot of the shapers, the best best shapers in the world out there are nowhere near professional level surface. They're average, really, really average surface. Whereas Daniel Thompson uniquely shreds. And I think was even on the WCT at one point and he's like a very, very, very good stuff. So what he can do is he can really R&D his boards. So it's quite an, we imagine that as a job where you live in the goal coast. Pretty sick. You've, you've tested out a board and you've gone, oh, I reckon that fin placement could just be. So then go back to the shaping bay, move the fins maybe like two mil to the left or right or back. Yeah, yeah, go back in test. Oh, when you finally get it right. Now, well, that's direct feedback. If you mix, if you make your own boards rather than having something make the connection is direct, isn't it? It's, you know what you're doing. What's the absolute? So, so much fun where you just tweak a fin and you move a rail and you shave it off a bit and you do it like. And then so yeah, so going through the backstory. The fire while, even that was made probably 15, even 20 years ago now. Yeah, it's a bit of a retro design almost now. Had this like scooped thing underneath it's a strange concave underneath it with channels and weirdness. And it's weird nose. Well, it's more like a wakeboard, isn't it? Or some sort of. Yeah, for me, I always think of a duck build platypus. Correct. When I see it. Correct. And it looks odd. You actually have one, didn't you? You kind of like you were shredding on yours at the moment. I remember you doing some epic turns on that. I think I probably mentioned this a few years ago in those shows when I heard it. I loved and hated it. It was one of those boards. And it was all, it was me, not the board really. There were sometimes when I was not good enough to be surfing it in the conditions we were surfing it in. And I got it 5/8 I think. But when I connected with the board and the wave, if one of the best boards I've ever ridden for joy and surfability and all of that sort of stuff. But I had these moments with it where as much as I loved it, I would also hate it. But it is also a board that I had, you know, you and I, that's really tricky. So surf at Morgan Port where I got absolutely thrashed. That was on it and I was on that. And I got like sort of nailed so many times hitting the head by it. You'll press the board and the board hit you. And then to add insult to injury as I was getting out, thankfully alive. I stood on the weave of fish. And so. I was just going to look. Look, I just sort of blamed the board as well. So I got rid of it shortly after I was in Ginaw. I can't keep this thing after this session. But no, brilliant board. And lovely construction as well. I think it was my first go at that kind of light construction that Tom or user used then, which is improved now, right? It's insane. And the we when we discussed Paul, they started the show today that I got I got that say it again. And I've said it many times and I'm someone that gets to test out many, many boards over quite a lot of surfs. Of a good-ish level in really average waves. And I would absolutely hands down say that the firewire board are the best that I've ridden. And that's amongst the JS is the lost. The the the the the firewire construction is is absolutely phenomenal. And then we come up to speed with yesterday's surf and I was on the revo max. So it evolves that revo max off of the Evo, which was their hype was Daniel Thompson's high performance groveler. Onto the revo, he called it, which was the wrapped up Evo, which is the high performance version of the groveler. With again, this funny nose and weird concave on the bottom to the mid-length version. And I rode this board and I'd I'd wondered since it came out like that might be when I looked at the design and the way the fins are and the way it looks like it's being ridden, that that might be the most suited board to me as a human surfer, not an alien surfer, by the way. But a human one of all time, I just got a feeling about it immediately I saw that design sort of being ridden thinking, that's my style. So long hacks. So drawn out turns. Yeah, a longer rail line because I'm tall dot dot dot dot dot and I out of absolutely nowhere. I put the tomorphins in the back. He does these special keel fins for it, which is a very upright keel. So it's not a. It's not a really tracky keel, but it still gives you that very very connected feel to the way it futures is it futures future fins and just the turns on this thing were a really really really amazing. And I was so enamored so impressed by this board only had a 40 minute surf in fairly average waves not unreal good surf but but not unreal. But the friend I borrowed it off I called a median said mate if you are definitely keep a hold of this. I'm going to go and get some cash right now. Yeah, check it in the bank and buy one even at 850. I just there are certain boards you ride and you just that's it. That that is a true Swiss army knife of the board and then you just saw it just now didn't you in the back of my van. It's really light as well for the length of it really light it's got a decent amount of rocker in it which is unusual from mid length. It's really narrow but because the rail is so parallel it despite it being narrow it flies away. It's got the whole it's got the kind of like a strange hole like almost the bottom of the box. - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Which is wild, really, from bored. You know, the channels almost run up to pass the mid length into the nose, don't they, and then back all the way back to the, from when I saw it there, and I've not seen that really on another board. - Making predictions, I think that, and this is already happening, so this is me, you know, making this condition. - Come on, stick, Meg. - Already knowing that, yeah, fucking, stick, Meg. - Whatever, whatever mini mid length it'll be for you, so a mini mid length for me is a six, four, six, six. - Yeah. - In the parallel lines with a 20 type fin at the back and whatever, flatish E rocker for speed, but a mini mid length where it's not big, big drawn out turns, heavy, high liters, nor is it down at hybrid, you know, pulled in nose, pulled in tail, it's still got the parallel rail lines. The mini mid lengths of this well, so we'll put reverb acts in that, we'll put the mini mo, my highly ingles be in that. The, the, the lost, they do it, they do a glide drift, oh, they do a big rig. - Yeah. - Anyway, the boards that are around the six, yeah, BP mini, bang. The boards that are around this six three, so let's say you, okay, it is how we would do it, so let's say you are five at nine, slash five ten, a mini mid length for you would be six three. - Yeah. - Let's see, you're now up at like six feet, a mini mid length for you would be like a six, four, six, five. For me, it's like a six, six, six, seven. - Yeah. - It's not proper blown out seven, seven, six. That size mid built in the right way for average surface, I think you will end up doing your best surfing. - Oh, one other goal now. - You will do your best surfing. I think that the, I think that the hybrids and the fish is and the sea sides and the mashups of this world, you'll do, you'll do some amazing surfing, but I think what's unique about mini mid lengths is they give you the wave count and speed that is superior to a mashup, to a more performance outline. They give you way more superior paddler abilities. You can take off more in the pocket, even more so. Wave count goes up a bit more, but because you go quicker, because of the parallelity of the rail line, when you then are able to go on rail and push turns, you will do better turns. Now, this is aside from like, oh, I'm off to the mental ways. I'm off to like the moldy, so I'm gonna be surfing L-pumpo. - You had your half double overhead. - Okay, yeah. - When that is the case, do not include mini mid lengths, mid lengths, hybrid. Do not include any of that shit in the equation. Beyond the most performancy board you can be on, and ignore the footage you see from Torin Martin, 'cause that is not you. Torin Martin, - A Mikey Febby. - Stalling with no leash on an eight foot board into a triple overhead barrel at fucking some far reach of Indo, in a pair of shorts and he doesn't even get a scratch and he doesn't even, like, don't, yeah, like Torin, 'cause people go, oh yeah, I tip my mid in that. Well, all right, cool, all right. Let's see how you get on in the mental ways on your mid lengths. But aside from that conversation, we are all all of us included, like the Aussies, the Saffers, the South American Europeans. Like, let's cover us all into this one collective of this general head high, chest high, a little bit overhead, sometimes down at waist high, walling right or left, where you wanna do a turn. That is surfing. 99%. It's not, yeah, yeah. It's not, it's not the boat trips in Indo. - No, so you know. - And it's not for most of it. Look, 'cause I look and, I fell asleep on the surf of the day, woke up Mikey Febby was surfing some absolute pumping waves all over the place, with Mason Ho as well, sort of was in there. - I was thinking, oh man, I really can't surf. But most of us are surfing, sloppy waves very averagely, and occasionally get what I, you know, like the other day I was like, "Whoa, I think I just got vertical." If I saw a picture of it, it would be like, at best, nine o'clock. - You know? (laughing) - That's actually really funny. That only sunk in when you said it, 'cause I took it, this is how terrible I am, the E-D-8 is telling the time, 'cause I don't use a real watch, or B, the maths in my brain, but, - Will this guy, the little hand is at, the big hand is at, that's pretty good. And I went, wait, wait, oh, no, no, that's actually really funny. It's one of those ones where, if you were given six months, all paid expenses, the exact nutrition, nutritionist, the, yeah, massage, yeah, surf coaches, not just one, multiple, every single iteration of equipment that's suitable to you, to your highest level, your most grovel level, whatever, all the best peptides, the peptides, the supplement, I need to just keep going. Everything, you then discover what is your ceiling? Where does it, where is the ceiling? In performance terms, yeah. That isn't reality. And even for the best of the best of the best of this world, you've got all the money of the time in the world, that still is not reality for them, either. They're still managing their bodies and minds around life, around relationships, time out of the water, getting injured, you know, inflammation, mindset challenges, whatever it may be. - We can't all be Chris Emsworth, can we? - Cannot all different, - Fan of the show. - Correct. - Hello Chris, if you listen. But it therefore means that if you are your standard average surfer around the world, just getting to surf here and there, sometimes less, sometimes more depending on who you are. If you are just feeling and that's fucking massive mate, this is everything. - Yeah. - If you are feeling like it went vertical, that is progression. Nothing else matters. Why the fuck are we in there, in the first place? Is to feel that incredible kinesiology, that deep, whoa, of like, I did a turn yesterday, I did a backhand turn on this river max. I went worth, went round the corner and then immediately did this kind of floater, and then landed it. Now, to me it felt like I was, oh my god, but again, you watch it back and go, oh, that will never end. I think it doesn't even end if you, even if you're John John. - Well, it's just relative to him. - It's all relative. You go back to that thing and again, I stole this probably from Adam P.E. who stole it from somebody else, which is, who's ever had an original thought really, but which I love as a coaching philosophy, and it good for when you're making your own improvements is just be better than yesterday. You'd be better than yesterday. And if you feel that you've progressed, relative to where you were the day before, I mean, that's when it feels good. That's when any progression, do, feels amazing. Whatever you're doing with it, right? You might be learning a language so that you can have a better time surfing and Portugal, for example. You might be learning the musical instrument. And if you do something you couldn't do the day before, you can say things or understand things or do things on a board that you couldn't do last year, then the first time you do it feels fucking brilliant, especially if you've had to put a bit of effort in to get there, which most good things take some effort, right? - If I can do, and you know what's really hard as well in surfing, in a sport like a golf game, for example, it was a comparison, it's written right there. - Yeah. And what we're trying to do as surf is grasp onto, 'cause most of us are interested in progressing. There are some that just go, yeah, whatever. But I kind of read between the lines on that one anyway, that's we'll come back to that. Getting it down on paper is impossible. Oh yeah, but look at that footage here, but we are now not measuring with a ruler and protractor and that did you actually get to 12? Like you're not, yeah. Surfing is so, so hard to say. So that's why you have to internally go to, questions like, am I enjoying it more than I used to? Do I find being in crowds easier than I used to before? Do I, do I put myself in situations that are a bit sketchier than I used to? Do I, can I ride, you know, more performance you board now? Do you know, do I generally go in and catch waves like where maybe I didn't used to? Like as a surfer, it's very hard to grasp on to and cling onto some tangible progression metrics. So what you have to do is keep an internal kind of log diary on yourself to feel like you're on the path of progression because it can feel sometimes like you're not, like you're stalling. But I think what surfers do is look far too linearly at have I done a massive amazing turn because there is so much more to it than the turn in the sense of, okay, have you progressed in how you are in crowds? Have you progressed in how you dial in your diet when you've normally would go off the rails or have you progressed in how you feel pretty surf? After surf, during, like trying to make it tangible is about keeping the internal diary of a surfer of being able to reflect and sit and go. And it's why conversation in surfing is most important thing. - Yeah. - The funnest bit of surfing is a conversation around it. - Of course it is. - We obviously have to have the surf. - Well, look at what we're doing with this 'cause what are we doing right now? But this is the joy because first sheet non-surface what I understand, that what the fuck you're on about. Surfers obviously get it to the core of their being. True surfers really get it. They're like, fuck this sport. But then also in having that conversation with fellow surfers, the right ones, there is a, oh my God, me too. Oh my God, me too. Oh my God, me too. So it's the new me too. - You moved me, moved me, because-- - You heard the original move to movement. Was a little bit, whatever, we're not really into that political stuff, but-- - Well, it was cool. - Yeah, you can't have a powerful people exploiting not powerful people, otherwise they get all the best ways. That would be the-- - That could be a little bit unfortunate. - But the next one, the next one round is, the surface all goes. - Most people are in the same thoughts as you when you're having fairly, you know, because they're worried about themselves, they're not worried about you. But the thing I find with it, and this is why people talk about it all the time, what you do is, it's one of those things where you're relative to your level, whatever that means as well, but you know, you're kind of level of ability, you're level of fitness, you're level of mind, and whether you get like a centimeter ago, you know, you want to get better against that. And so if you're making progress against your baseline, and you're doing it with an open mind and a coachability, and an honesty of where you're coming from, then the gains feel good. Because like, you know, when you make gains in a difficult thing, they're more rewarding, but then when you find community around that as well, particularly, and you start to kind of peel back the, which is what we're all getting good at, the layers of like ego around it, and all that sort of thing. You can start to kind of really engage with people that you might not necessarily in other aspects of life, but because we're all surfers together, and you know how it is, and the challenges that it presents you at your level for both mind, which is thing, because it's scary, relative to what you're surfing, and body because it's physically demanding, relative to what you're surfing and what your fitness levels are. So all of those things, you want to share with other people really, and so yeah, you can, because when people over here surfers talking as well, and we do it, who are not sort of like, what the fuck are you guys on about? You know, what are you talking about? But weirdly, kind of the arc of a, a liability out into like life, and the parallels that run with gains in surfing, gains in life, attitude, fitness, mental strength, resilience, doing difficult things, doing something when you don't really want to, but get enjoy out of it once you've finished doing it. They're running so closely together that if you lean into it, you can take loads of the things that you learn, and sort of apply it to the everyday, even if you sort of struggling through a spreadsheet, or whatever you do, or a day on the farm, or whatever you're doing, you can help your mind if you like, because you can sort of build a bit of resilience. - 100%. The surfing world undoubtedly is shifting towards a more nuanced direction as well, and you see it with content, because the content that we see now, the stuff that really makes an impact, is not just footage. That's what's changed. You can see it everywhere. And you see guys like Mike Graven, who we've mentioned before, he's a British surfing. Yes, he's not got massive following, so we can use him and then also use people like Jamie, O'Brien, who I'll come to and say, Ben Graven is an obvious one, but a guy like Mike Graven coming in with five ways to stay stoked is a surf after a certain age, because it's not enough, just the smack off the lip, and the heavy metal music, and the footage of amazing waves, that is super hot. It'll still have its place. - It's part of it. - It's just another part of it. But the conversations of depth, there's some people do roll their eyes out, and I've had it before. - Oh, fuck us in my first surf again, even though, right? And that's fine, of course, man. Take the pace, it's great. Like, we're all different. But the content that you see now, it's subtle, but it's there. And even the Jamie O'Brien's at this world, who will then go on to talk about, like, no, this is about, he's fucking brand. This is about having a fun day. This is about joy. And yes, although we found his content, you know, a little hard to, you know, observe sometimes, you know, especially when he was back in the early days, when he was kind of mace, mostly just ripping into, - Poo, poo, poo, poo, poo, - Poo, poo, poo, poo, poo, poo, but quickly as a segue, that Raglan, that video, - The feces, what? - The fuck, fuck's sake, I only saw it recently, when you recommended it, - Yeah, and Raglan did the piss take. - I know. - People got, a lot of like followers of Jamie, I think got really upset with that. And it's like, he's kind of like a fun take on it, dude, you know. - He is so funny, mate. - Anyway, that's an aside, but, but that even Jamie O'Brien's content, which was always just like barrels, barrels, barrels, oh, surfing amazing. - Alpha, alpha, alpha, oh, - Honestly, ego, la la la. Now, you're watching it, you're like, it's got kid, - Yeah, that's your old baby. And you've seen what he's saying on video, 'cause I watched his recent video in Snapper. And there's little bits cooking through you go, fuck an owl. So he's realizing, so I think surfers are definitely after a richer experience of it, not just being, you know, how sick is it, how good is your top term, but they're being way more going into it. And more importantly than anything, going back to the roots of our show entirely, how you're experiencing it, how you're finding it. - Yeah, I know you're surfing well, but we don't actually know how you're feeling. How was that surf for you? Oh, by the way, cheers for us. And yeah, actually, it wasn't great. It was this, it was, oh God, well, when were you on the beach watching you? Fuck you, a rip in. Oh yeah, but no. So, you know, it's again, it's all this personal experience of life. There's always a great story to share, and we can all then go, oh yeah. Everyone else is also experiencing challenges. Not just in surfing, but in life too. And when you all get that shared experience of, no matter what life you're living, it still is challenging, 'cause the next challenge just pops up, 'cause they do. It's inevitable. There's a shared like, oh, that's extra stoked. That's the, that's the yin to the yin 'cause now we've got the, the yin, which is the masculine, the testosterone, the alpha, which we love, and the giggles, and the barrels, and I want all that, 'cause I'm as blokey as anyone. But I want also, oh God, how you getting on? What was it like? You know, oh yeah, well this, and I've been feeling like that, and this has been doing this, and that affected that, and it makes it so much richer. The whole experience. Recent surfs, dude, 'cause we always do that in the intro. We've done that one, we just said yesterday. How was it yesterday? Come on. I mean, we've got a couple, I've had a couple locally actually, which have been really fun, but. Of course, we had the other one, the sunny one too. The sunny one, and. That was your nine o'clock. It was. It was. But the only picture taken was me doing what I, and again, this is where you kind of, it robs you of some of the joy. It steals the joy from you if you let it, and you don't let it. But it's great for improvement when you see pictures of yourself surfing, like. And I kind of knit these two things together, 'cause I want to talk about balance boards, like, kind of segue into like, and are they effective? And short stories, for some things, not for others, especially around surfing, right? So, I'm constantly seeing, when I feel like I've surfed poorly, I've had a poor wave, and then if I ever get the luxury of having a photograph of it, I'm still making that, after all these years, years, dude, trying to get better at surfing, looking at my board, or looking down at the wave beneath me, not having that proprioception of awareness of, like, I'm looking up and around. I don't need to know where my feet are, where they are, the boards are. And when I connect with that, I surf way better than when I make the. Yeah, it's really a beginner of trying to see what my feet are doing, or reset them, or whatever. And you surf so much flatter, you less awareness of where the best part of the wave is to be. It so reduces the optimization of surfing when you start to look at your feet, when you look at the board, like anything. And it's trying to remind, I'm sure Clayton, will be saying this, is like, when you ride a bike, or you go for a run, or you do another sport that you kind of have done for a long time, and you kind of not overthinking it. You never look at your feet, or you don't look at the wheels of the bike going, now you're looking up and making sure you cycle in the direction you're trying to cycle in. If you look at the wheels, you're gonna crash, or you're not see what's coming towards you. So it's like a work on, still after all these years, that it's only when you see it, in this case, black and white, 'cause black and white people are like, "Fuck, yeah, I'm looking back at my board, man." And that's why that one wasn't very good. And the ones that were good, I'm looking all the way around. Now, add a conversation with Dan at, this is where I'm going with this, Dan at North, great, great site for action sports. They're like wakeboarders these guys. - Still North. - N-O-R-S-T. They make some really cool stuff as well, so, but they're, they've got a lot of editorial around, particularly around British wakeboarding, which is super cool, and I've tried that a couple of times, I loved it. But Dan very kindly sent us a balance board, which is, I've got at the moment to try now, which is this beautifully made cork, kind of design with a roller and a little ball, without the stops that you would have on an indoor board, right? And we were just having a chat, 'cause he said, "Look, how useful is this for surf skills?" And my take has always been, not very, really, honestly, because they don't give you the sense of dropping with gravity down a, you know, down a ramp. - The wave's going down, yeah, sorry, the board's going down, down, down. - The board's going down. When you were going quick, as we've probably said last time, you don't really, you don't have to think about balance when you're going quick, 'cause you're just standing on your board and motion is taking you, so you become, weirdly, you become lighter on that board. So that kind of stability that you're producing on the balance board, which is brilliant. for is not always very applicable once you'd be on the certain stage to riding a surfboard in decent waves and being on the face of work. However, this was my epiphany. So, and we had this open chat about this and we'd keep trying different bits because you can't get that generation of, I can't lean on it so that I could put my hand down and think about how I do a top turn or a bottom turn or a cut back. But it's amazing for course stability and that in itself is good. You know, if you get used to the core, strengthen your core in anything, any sport that requires rotational strength and is it to have a strong core. But the thing that really struck me with what is it good for if you then apply it to a surf trainer beyond all the core stuff? It's easier the less you look at your feet. It can train you to be on an unstable thing and not look down at your feet and start to practice the concept of looking where you're going, looking around and trying to build that as a muscle memory and a mind kind of exercise to say, "Well, I'm trying to balance on this really unstable board. Bear in your mind that comes with this like hard ball as well rather than just a roller." That's I think where it might have some, you know, beginning to test it out a little bit or any balance trainer, but this is a beautiful one. It will have some benefits to then taking that into the ocean. So I'm connecting those surfs together, recent surfs where I've had some really, what I felt were great waves and then not some great waves. The connecting factor, one of my things that I'm committing to improving at is stop fucking looking at your feet, dude. Look where you go. Look where you're going. Look where you want to go. And so that's been the last couple of times that I've served. And then beyond that, because I know you've kind of been around the coast and you get onto yours in a sec, I'm doing my thing of prone paddling. I mean, I'm going to talk a lot more about this over the next few months as well. The prone paddling, when there isn't any surf, and now it's kind of getting warmer, apart from today, is just a dream, you know. So good. To get out and do some distance and get some paddle training. I've seen you go from before you were doing lots of it to then after the differences absolutely wild. Listen to this who wants to make their next step in progression. You've got a bit of a, like, am I fit enough at paddling to catch a lot of waves? Yeah. Because if you're not, the progression is slow. And the joy maybe isn't quite as great as it could be. Oh, for sure. Unless you're kind of person that just likes to just kind of go out and cruise and just more just be there for beyond this, because we're all different. That's fine. But if you really want to progress at the actual surfing thing, rail to rail, wait for the waves to take off. You've got to be ultra paddle fit. And set yourself the goal of getting fitter. And as fit as you can be, especially as you get older. In that, of course, of course. So I saw there was one surfing, particularly last year, to a spot on the North Coast where you had been putting in a lot of paddle training. And then we went out like we do. And I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. You were on another one. And then on another one. And then I was like, oh, this is what I was like to surf with me. And then there are certain makes you do surf with. I've got one, there's a friend of the show, Tiago. He's ultra fitter paddling. Yeah, he's super fitter. Super paddling. Surfing with him just on the Friday. We had a full day of surfing. And he's just around me all the time, me and me. And it's sick. And you literally did, like I said, life before, prone paddling, lots of it, and then bang after it. And then suddenly, that's it. You're up, you're up, you're up. Go. Next one, next one, next one. And you're getting back up. Oh, he's out back up the back. He's amazing. And we had it. Yeah, we did have a really good day that day. And big shout out to Tiago and Ryan hanging out with the boys. And it was really fun day. We started crazy early. Got on it. We were all riding mid lengths. I was on my big baron. I've talked about the big baron loads. Great board. That's a true mid length in the sort of classic sense of a really flat rock. It's a big old thing. Yeah. Very cruzy. Long turn, like good turn still. You still really turn it. But it's a very, it's very smooth long turn. Yeah, you love that. I can't get too tight in the pocket. I watch Wully trying the L baron. Yeah, I'll do it in the L baron review the other day. It's a sick board. Yeah, I've got that as well. So phenomenal. But I felt really dialed in that day. I did. And I put a large part of it down to diet. I often think we diet with me. Is it that I'm so affected by diet? Or is it that I'm so aware of how my body is affected by diet that I'm then able to put that awareness into disment and then practice and gain the benefits of a better diet? And I think it's pretty both. Food does affect everybody. Too greater and lesser degrees. Maybe it does affect me more than someone else. I don't know. I'm never going to know the answer to that. Yeah. But I dialed in my nutrition the day before and on that day. And because I dialed it and before and on that day, I did three serves. And we did, we reckon seven hours in one day. It's the most I've done in one day for about-- I can't remember. Three, four years. And the body held up. It was really surprised next day. I was ready to go. Wow. Ready to go again. Yeah, that's cool. So that is a bit bizarre for me. Normally, I'm-- I mean, that's a lot. I would really struggle. And we had the most glorious evening surf. It was one of those ones where it was uncrowded. The spot that we went to where there's normally a really strong crowd on the corner. The right handers are coming in. We had many, many ways with just pals. It's million SRF. It's like you can't ask for more. Just doing big hacks. Sharing ways, shouting at each other. Whoa, go. Sharing the next one. And I get just as much joy I see in a friend, get that kind of wave as I do myself. And I've not all been like that for a long time. But I think that's something that I am very, very pleased and gifted to have within me. That's not something that I try and do. It's just that I've always been a big believer that if someone asks us experiencing what they're experiencing, and I already know how that feels. I can already then feel it. It's weird. It's like, 'cause I know that feeling. And now I can feel it, do you know what makes sense? It's like I'm feeling it as the-- I think that's a secret unlock is that allowing yourself to feel good for other people doing something that you also want to be doing at the time, getting a work, getting that way. It's unreal. It helps your enjoyment at the session. You'll meet a lot of surfers in your life who aren't like that at all. But they're still really fun to surf with, because they're relaxed and calm and fun. But by the grace of God, hopefully you'll meet people on the path who turn the untangible into the tangible. Because I'm in life too, right? Where they-- Rare breed a person that genuinely wants you to have a-- It wants you to get the best out of your life. Correct. And despite me being naked, after the third surf, really cold, discussing the dramatic reduction in size of my penis, and how untrimmed my bush was looking. Despite all that, the surfers-- Get your excuses in there. Yeah. Oh, oh, yeah. Fuck, get deaf big time. It was really cold, obviously. It is seriously cold. Guys, everyone is cold. But despite the absolute lack of trim-age and the hellishness of what was going on, that you're there with pals, and you're really glad that you've got those kind of mates that will say things like Ryan said, "We'll never see you surf that well." That's a love-- that's such a nice thing to hear from a mate you've surfed with for 20 years, 15, 20 years. So it's just that shared experience. Me and Tiago were talking about this, and Tiago's a great friend of the show, great friend of ours. He and I were discussing how, not all surfers are like that. They're not all going to be really hoot and really cheering you on. But when you do meet those ones that are, it's really special. It makes it-- what I was trying to say is it makes the untangible into the tangible, because as surfers, you live this very wild existence of untangibles that just is raw and it's amazing. Soon as someone is there and they've seen your wave and seen that turn, it's captured it in someone else's mind. And it adds to the specialness of it. Oh, yeah, John, remember when you did that turn, or remember when you got that barrel, or when the stories just get even richer. And in the end, really, what we all remember is not the waves. When we're really old one day, and we are really close to the end, we're like, "Oh, yeah, it was with that team and it was with that crew, person, or I saw his thing." And we-- you remember that more? Wonderful. I wonder if we're like there and reflect and think, "I wish I felt better vibes towards the paddle boarding community." [laughter] And the foilers. And the foilers. Oh, I really wanted to see them get better waves. [laughter] When they've come past you for the fifth time in five sets. On the-- [horn honking] Motorized paddle. Motorized foil now. Yeah, yeah. Anyway. That's a chop for an attempt. No, it's fucking funny. I've posted some stuff on Insta Dude about-- it's done the rounds now. There's a shot of that guy. He basically on a foil with motorized holding a GoPro on a big stick. He doesn't see the surfer behind him who's already on the wave. And then wipe some ballfout and I'm like, "Ah, that's the picture." This wild-- The best-- one of the funniest things I've ever seen was the jaws clip where Chief Brody legs it up the ladder. Yeah. Because they've had a sighting-- or they've had that death in the early part of the movie. Then they're all, "Oh, can we go back on the beach?" And the. What's the guy called what they call the the um not the chief at the The mayor mayor good word the mayor. I'm a no everyone's gonna get back on the beach No, no and Brody's like oh I'm not sure what I'm he's like oh my god, he runs up the ladder And he's like oh my god Everyone out and he starts running back down and going With this gun and then because someone's edited in this a stand-up paddler and the liner This is all being said where we're saying this with joy and love in our heart What do you know what do you know what on a serious note we You and I are away better on that front now because I think also Words have been said a couple times they have With a couple stand-up guys they have been awesome. There's a local guy here who Whose name evades me but we had a chat once yeah, it was a bit heated But it needed to be had and look and he's out the wheelchair now so All water bridge It's all water He's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's on the solids again He's all right. He's he's all he's forgiven That's funny Liam well done But Has been played completely different with him since super super good at a good light yet I'll get away you get away cool right we're gonna go like this and And and the same with anyone on the North and then there's a guy actually leave it for to mention There's a guy called will will if you're listening We bumped into each other in the car park at Saunton They're the secrets out quality place at Saunton Beach check that one out if you live abroad outside the UK great beach and You know talking about stand up and he sees unless and this and that there's a guy who follows our show and he's like Oh, you know you talk about standard paddlers, but again, if if if a standard padter's got a good etiquette mate It makes no difference. You stood up on a board. Okay, it's all a bit fun But mate, I love that you start the straw that's fucking that's gonna be brilliant. We're gonna remember that line I love that one And he's he's just out the way up to it Moving on to either weather's really kicked in now. Fuck you. No, we're gonna be getting away It's like summer up north. This is bloody marvellous. Yeah, we're staring at pissing rain You know talking of that used to go to and this not a secret spot either But if you if you're up that way or you get to go up that way Bamba Bamba Beach in the Bamba up on the northeast coast before you get to Scotland spelt for people B.A.M B.U.R. G.H. There you go. Bamba. It's got a fantastic castle that is Seen lots a lot you know It's a beautiful is me working for the Bamba to Northumberland tourist board down Bamba tourist board But it's it's stunning stunning stunning beach Clique crystal clear water epic waves when it's on loads of space call call local crew really friendly However, you should go up there in the summer and It's now from where we dialed down here. It's about 12 hours right up for this wave if you if you if you make it in what a good run And and I've been there in August when it's like eight to nine degrees maybe 12. I'm still wearing boots Yep and gloves and I'm an ortherner so we used it was like this quite a lot So I used to love going up there surf was great places place was great, but as a summer holiday destination when your wife like sunshine and Going south. It's not port not an eat. It's not an easy sell But please visit it and and the funny thing with this is where the UK has quite a tough time with this because again We can nip on a flight which we're doing soon Let in the listeners know we are off to Portugal a couple of weeks And that's a two and a half hour flight and That would be four hours less than going up there and you're getting 20 25 to go Like you're just where you're gonna go yeah and and make the train would be four or five times the cost of that flight Oh, I know I'm trying to not save the planet and go on the train But I've got to go up and off again next couple of days and that train tickets what three times more than if we off peak return This is welcome to the mindful train traveler 160 pounds fuck sake to And our flights were what 50 quid 60 quid yeah fucking dick. There's no choice of the train right you can't choose another provider Anyway moving on to get a flip so boxly. Yeah, I'll be going. I'll be going beetroot red getting really angry about life Bloody train tickets. Bloody bloody train tickets daylight robbery Hey guys if you like hanging out with us and listen to the show Why not go over and buy us a coffee? Yeah We're gonna put a link into our bio and Instagram. So it'd be the mindful surfer at buy me a coffee as well So we can bring you more shows number one number two We can be more regular in what we do with content indeed So we can turn up every week and number three will number three so that we don't have to have People like visler Knock on our door every fucking day Telling us how we need to advertise their wet suits when they're dog shit. We don't even like them So let's not have ads. Let's not have shitty visler wet suits So girl buyers a coffee and we'll see you soon Uh breath into the nose second number two bit of mindfulness breathing through the nose And breathing out nice and slowly Same thing again breathing through the nose Breathing out nice and slowly And same thing again breathing here. It's really notice the air going in And breathe in out nice and steady One more just breath in through the nose Breathe out nice and slowly Good work guys one of the biggest things getting the way of surface progression is cortisol cortisol is a stress hormone That we produce in response to Being alive you mentor produces it's actually really healthy It's just if you produce a little bit too much you can have a knock on effect on digestive health and Brain performance and physical well bit like everything right as many many books on it There's a wicked one spring's to mind one of my first most favorite books I read when I was on a real wellness journey. It's called the cortisol connection by I think his name is Sean acre I think but it don't quote me on that just type it into to amazon. It's a great book The reason why affects us the surface is of course If you produce into it's cortisol it reads really hard to repair muscle quickly grow muscle because It has a knock on effect on testosterone could testosterone and cortisol work off of each other they they if you read about hormones And it's a little different for women but but roughly still the same anyway. So we'll have we still have the same human body we're dealing with um And it's it's to say that if we can mitigate cortisol we'll help improve things like recovery and strength on your board and how you feel in the gym and how deeply you sleep and How you digest food and so therefore everything that would affect your surfing because the performance of your body is the performance you surfing full stop So if you Manage your cortisol levels better you can become a better surfer now What we mean by that is it's it's basically stress levels So if you ask the question if we reduce our stress levels can we become better better? Can we improve our surfing? Yes. What can we do now? This segues is straight into my body stoke what I have done the last couple weeks It's just add back in a lunchtime meditation So I would have always done Morning is a morning routine. I do that I make that sound for about 20 minutes in the morning while I'm deep squatting and It's like my third form of meditation with yoga because I'm stretching and then evening before bed, but No, no add a bit more in the day too and just see and it's just had such a wonderful effect That doing that in the day to just mitigate all of the noise and the thoughts and what if this and what about that and this is going on and there And and then has it had an effect on my surfing? Yeah, I think it has had but I think Also just as a human and and then again if you again if you help the human you help the body Of course, it's gonna have a knock on affecting your surfing you you wherever you go. Hmm. There you are Yeah, exactly so so guess what how life has been lately? Will reflect the moment you step on that board. So if you can do anything to lower those levels Um, it's gonna improve yourself. You know we even talked about before this show didn't we do because you were talking about Clean up clean up diet in that way because I'm trying to clean diet I'm certainly not drinking as much as I previously have and in the week I'm leaving that out of my life. So it's kind of less of a less of a thing but then you kind of You could sort of do too much exercise. You can do too much. So uh say I'm saying this I haven't done the full russle winter thing and got Got a shredded like russle winter as unfair play. I was watching something I put comment on Insta the other day looks absolutely amazing same ages me so Get inspirational as much as anything But when you when I sort of try doing a little bit more movement bit more exercise cleaning up the diet a little bit You can do stuff that starts to kind of eat in to The little bits of joy. So I'm still having moments where I'm enjoying myself and you know do more like if I have a beer it will be a social beer. But because my evenings in the week have been fairly clean, in fact very clean, I used to have a routine of a couple of, well, back then it was probably a bar of dark chocolate rather than a couple of squares. But I was watching this American doc, I really wish I could remember his name, he's an ER doc talking about things like elevator cortisol and fitness gains and so on and so forth. And he was talking about food and nutrition and good things that were good good to kind of work into your diet. And he actually referenced, and because I've been off this along with all the other kind of what I would see as like treats recently, he referenced making sure dark chocolate was in there because he said the benefits of its effect on lowering cortisol in the evening particularly after meals is worth the calorific content that's in there, providing it's 85% or above. And so I was like, oh right, I try anything. Because the other thing that I got from him, the hack that I got from him if you can call it that because we're not really about hacks, we're about living well right and living sustainably and not just doing trends and tricks is working apple cider vinegar back in. My sleep has improved tenfold dude just by taking that whether that is before bed, so nighttime peeing pretty much resists to one on nothing more so than most nights. But now this kind of additional thing of a little square of dark chocolate in the evening as well to get that kind of, whether it's dopamine or what, but the reduction in cortisol levels or feeling of stress, so you feeling like you're giving yourself some sort of reward which has a sort of dopamine effect, but in a really relaxing way and all of the good stuff that we know that's in dark dark chocolates if you don't overdirt because of the heavy metals, I'm like fuck yeah this is good. And so the point is like in the same way that you can overexercise because you've got to live right and enjoy life, life's an enjoyment, you've got to live life. So yeah if you go down this sort of full pure botanical route where you don't have any enjoyment and you over train, you start to feel like dog shit. So it's going back to that concept of walking a line between like order and chaos, so you know you're training that middle path, life feels a bit good. So that was my one thing, it's a tiny little thing on top of everything else I've been doing and it immediately and so what if it's placebo, it feels better. But the I've got a really like I'm like what do you eat the bar now? To give me the bar, I could eat a hundred percent chocolate, or my four bar of 100 percent if I had to. I could eat it, I mean I can eat chocolate for a year, I can cough it down. Yeah it's unbelievable. I tell you that foods, I've been smashing down frozen cherries because they get picked and then they go straight into the freezer. So obviously it's got this freshness idea, keeps holding on to the antioxidants, that's been a thing that's been talked about for many years about how frozen foods sometimes, it's pretty tame on it, it really does. But frozen pizza, yeah, frozen pizza works too. The good fellas and oven chips, all of it, all got the goodness for all the good stuff. And with cherries I didn't realise it's my brother told me, big shout out to George Foster who's been on the show, believe I'm not, many years ago now. Yeah he was, yeah. But George was telling me that cherries contain melatonin and I've been getting really good sleeves. So really interesting, they're hot and they're delicious. I just eat them frozen, just straight in the mouth, be better. Chuck them in a bowl. Yeah. They're actually quite low in carbs. I thought they were riddled with carbs, they're not as much as you think. They help nachgok so they're like, there's loads of things. I've been loving frozen cherries lately. Cherries are good. Really, really good. But do listen to surf media. Come on, 744. You know what? I haven't really been full on watching too much stuff. I always tune in if there's a Dan Harmon video. I really like the stuff he's doing and the kind of like honest take that he does on it. But I did get, as I say, I kind of got drawn into watching Mikey February the other night. You know, you talk about people who surf midlands. He's notoriously phenomenally good on a midland. But he was actually on fairly short, kind of boards with Mason Ho. I think it was a stab production. I can't remember what it was called, but I watched that guy and I'm like holy shit. And that's the genius of somebody who's put in all the hours and practice and growing up with it an effort to do something that is so difficult and demanding. But make it look so effortless and easy. I think whenever you observe that in any realm where somebody has had to get good at something, which is why we draw onto these guys, you know, guitar, piano, surfing, football, whatever. I'm watching him. I'm like, oh dude, he makes the insanely difficult look like it's the easiest thing and so graceful. So you know, this wave is pumping. So he's going so fast, but really makes he look like he's going slower because he's not panicked, he's just flowing. He takes his really high line and it's just, I think the guy is an absolute legend when it comes to surf. It's one of those ones where I think when we're discussing this with a friend of the day, I think what gets underestimated is how athletic the top of the top of the top in surfing are. And because it's a sport that when you do it like, oh, it's all for it's stylish, it's fucking insane, producing that style with your body. How compressed. So people understand that doing a turn to that level, how much balance and strength and power in the core and the quads. Like when you meet a top pro surf, like they are mega athletes, like they could they could be the best in the world tennis. They could be the best, they could be professional football players, like they could because but with surfers with surfing as well because it's, oh, it's just fun. It's just fun. It gets categorized as this kind of non athletic but the level even in someone like Mikey, if you actually got him in the gym and got him doing some various tests, you'd be blown away. Like when I watch him bend, he fucking, he's like ankles are like like the inside of his ankles are touching the inside of his rail. But how flexible and strong that it's just mental. What people can do with their bodies. Strength, contact level. And do you know the bit that I always watch from these surfers when they're in pumping ways or and you know, they're at pipe or they're surfing. Not quite, I mean, look, Mollogmore's a different kettle official together. But you know, the kind of, you're in a t-shirt, you're in boardies, but you're surfing like fucking powerful pumping waves over reef. And so all of that and then they take a wipe out and they get back up, pop back up the resilience. The resilience in your body from getting in slammer. It's insane. It's like being hit by a tricycle. So you're dealing with the athleticism of that of doing it on the wave. And then when you're getting that smacked, you're dealing with the smash of like playing a rugby match. These guys are beasts. But we just don't observe it like that. Surfers normally get, oh, it's surfing. It's surfing. Look, the top is the top for a reason. Freaks. Like ability to get what and be able to do what they do on the open face is just freakish. And here's a real. You only see the output of all of their hard work. Oh, man. That's what I keep hoping to agree. It's like everybody thinks, oh, wow, look at that guy. He's so gifted. And it's like, hang on a minute. You're gifted in areas that allow him to be athletic. But you can't do that without putting in someone you mental amounts. Yeah, I'm more of a mouse. Dude, anyway, what a show. Unreal. Guys, thanks for having us. Always a pleasure. See you soon. Bye.