Basis Surf Podcast

By Basis SurfSports

Basis Surf Podcast episodes

October 12 How to Fix Chronic Pain and Improve Your Surfing w/ Cindy Lai
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Cindy Lai (@Cindylaifitness) is a New York-based fitness coach with over 20 years of experience helping people work through chronic pain. She's also a surfer who makes regular surf trips to El Salvador. In this episode, we get into why pain rarely starts where you actually feel it, and how something as small as an old ankle injury can end up affecting your body years later. Cindy also breaks down the posture issues she sees constantly in people who sit at a desk all day, and the simple practices that can help alleviate issues. She gets honest about being skeptical the first time she heard about the Basis Paddle Trainer, and what actually changed her mind thereafter. She talks through what happened after paddle training and how she felt when she finally got in the water in El Salvador. Her body felt different, her confidence increased, and her surfing changed for the better.
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Chapters
1:57 Cindy Lai's Background: 20+ Years as a Pain & Movement Coach
2:16 Cindy's Approach: Movement Quality First
3:27 How Uneven Hips Create a Ripple Effect
5:51 The Kinetic Chain: Feet, Knees & Hips
6:49 Why Surfing Wrecks Your Body Symmetry
9:32 Desk Posture & the Hunched-Forward Trap
13:11 Spine Mobility Drills: Cat-Cow & Rotation
16:07 Patience, Prevention & Small Daily Fixes
19:31 Diagnosing Van's Hips, Feet & Ankles
22:17 "Just Get Strong" Squats, RDLs & Mind-Muscle Connection
26:55 Training in All Planes: The 90/90 Hip Drill
29:40 Feet-Up Theory & More Hip-Strengthening Moves
33:12 Cindy's Surf Journey: Rockaway to El Salvador
39:02 Skeptical No More: Learning Proper Paddle Technique
45:29 Feeling Lighter in the Water & Final Advice

Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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56 min
October 05 Developing Style and Spontaneity In Surfing w/ Blake Neka
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds. https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
In this episode, I sit down with Gold Coast free surfer and content creator Blake Neka to talk style, boards, and the mental side of trading competition for free surfing. Blake breaks down how switching from a standard thruster to asymmetrical boards and quads completely changed the way he rides, why he'd rather surf chopped-up, onshore junk than a perfect point, and how obsessively studying surfers like Julian Wilson, right down to individual hand placement, helped him develop his own style. We also get into just how physically demanding his home break really is: with crowds packed shoulder to shoulder, and how he surfs best when he’s most relaxed and tired, around 2 hours into his sessions.
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Chapters
01:27 Welcome to Blake Neka & board shorts talk
02:52 Growing up surfing between Bali and the Tweed
03:54 What it's like having a pro surfer dad
04:43 Fixing a "crabby" style: Julian Wilson and Matt Banting
07:46 Skating, rugby league, and surfing like a skater
09:17 How asyms and quads changed his style
10:58 Why he loves crappy onshore waves over perfect ones
12:05 Surviving the Snapper crowds and localism
16:40 Leg burners and sweep on long point waves
18:36 Competing through the Pro Juniors and QS
23:11 Pickle forks, the shark tooth, and custom asyms
27:46 Lessons from competing and surfing best when tired
35:06 Fitness and training in the gym
37:42 Rapid fire: favorite surfers, fins, board sizing, and training tiers
44:03 Upcoming film and what's next
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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45 min
September 14 How to Actually Get Good at Surfing (Even With Terrible Waves) w/ Adam Tory
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Adam Tory of Hurricane Surf Company (@hurricanesurfcompany) presents a unique perspective shaped by two very different coastlines. He learned to surf in Tofino before relocating to the inconsistent waters of Nova Scotia, and now coaches surfers of every level while competing for the Canadian national longboard team. We get into why river and lake surfers often out-surf people who live right on the coast, how Adam breaks down a backside cutback on a longboard step by step, why he's built his whole approach around surfing bad waves instead of only waiting for good ones, and how the Basis Paddle Trainer helped him stay conditioned through a foot injury heading into a tough contest season. We also talk about what separates top international longboarders from everyone else, how climbing and skateboarding carry over into surfing, and go through a rapid fire round where Adam builds his ideal surfer.
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Chapters
1:16 Adam Tory of Hurricane Surf Co.
2:11 Nova Scotia's Wild Seasonal Swings
3:47 From London Skateboarder to Tofino Surfer
6:06 What Makes Tofino's Beach Breaks So Consistent
9:12 Building Skills on Tofino's Closeout Beach Breaks
12:03 Moving to Nova Scotia: Quantity vs. Quality
14:58 Competing for Team Canada & the Nationals Barrier
16:03 Contest Nerves and a Lesson from a Lake Surfer
19:58 "Crappy Waves Make Good Surfers"
25:44 Reading Waves & the Hunter Mindset
31:03 Paddle Power: The Overlooked Fundamental
36:49 Pan Am Games & Lessons from Elite Surfers
45:53 The River & Lake Surfer Cheat Code
51:58 Longboard Footwork & the Backside Cutback
1:00:50 Cross-Training Secrets, Rapid Fire & Wrap-Up
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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1 hr 14 min
August 31 The Mind Behind Dave Rastovich’s Unbreakable Surfboards w/ Gary McNeill
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Gary McNeill is a lifelong surfboard shaper, who focuses on hybrid construction, environmental sustainability, and hand-shaped designs. He has been shaping surfboards for Dave Rastovich for years and in this conversation he breaks down exactly what goes into building boards for one of the most respected surfers in the world. Gary gets into flax construction and why it holds up so much longer than a standard board without adding excess weight. He also talks about what it actually takes to shape for a surfer as dialed in on volume as Rastovich. He describes the channel design behind his twin fins and why it changes how the board holds through a turn. We discuss why most surfboard companies have no interest in building something that lasts, and we also take a rare look into the thinking behind boards that have shown up in some of surfing's most iconic footage.
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Chapters
3:02 From Thruster Competitor to Shaper
5:01 Teaming Up with Dave Rastovich
7:03 The "Castles in the Sky" Board Story
9:19 The Taurus Channel Explained
13:25 RTT & Pip: Sizing the Twin Fin Fish for Any Wave
24:42 Developing the Flax Construction
27:43 Why Flax Outperforms Other Materials
30:50 Mass Adoption & Designed Obsolescence
33:43 Dane Reynolds and the Acid Surfboard Test
35:27 Advice for Riding Alternative Boards
38:48 New Shapes & What's Next with Dave
45:24 Quickfire Round: Perfect Surfer & Fin Preferences
49:07 Tier Lists: Board Sizing, Cross-Training & Sign Off
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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55 min
August 17 Inside the Mind of a World Champion's Surf Coach w/ Matt Grainger
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Matt Grainger (@surfers-compass) is a former pro-surfer-turned-coach who has worked with world champions and CT event winners. In this episode he walks us through Nathan Hedge's comeback story, including the training and mindset work behind his run to the semis at Teahupo'o, and how paddle training was fundamental preparation - something that most everyday surfers forget. We also get technical about frontside carves in terms of weight distribution and rail engagement, taking examples from John John Florence. Matt also explains why style comes down to keeping your personality in the water instead of copying anyone else's approach, and how slowing down and completing waves builds the muscle memory needed for progression in maneuvers. He also gets into board selection, land training, and the mental side of competing, pulling from decades of coaching everyone from grommets, intermediates, to pro surfers at the highest level.
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Chapters
01:07 Welcome & Meet Matt Grainger
02:32 Coaching Nathan Hedge's Comeback
04:53 Hedge’s Winning Trials & Facing Kelly Slater
06:51 Teahupo'o 2014: Facing Adriano de Souza
10:06 The Perfect Barrel & Board Rescue Drama
15:18 Reading Athletes: Mindset vs. Technique
16:46 Margaret River Prep & Wave Selection
21:01 Foot Pressure & Rail Engagement Explained
26:32 How John John Florence Redefined Surfing
33:49 Style, Personality & "Surfing Is Dancing"
40:12 Teaching Progression: Why Less Is More
47:12 Prepping for Teahupo’o & the Power of Paddling
59:47 Rapid Fire: Favorite Surfers, Fins & Boards
1:13:46 Land Training Tiers & Where to Find Matt
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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1 hr 22 min
August 10 The Key to Power Surfing w/ Robbie Rickard
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Robbie Rickard is an Australian free surfer known for his style and incredible power surfing. We start with his early years of competitive surfing, what it was like going up against names like Soli Bailey and Mikey Wright. He breaks down what he looks for in carves, and explains why timing often matters more than raw strength when it comes to powerful turns. We also spoke about the benefits of surfing longer boards, and how it helped him smooth out his own surfing. We discuss his relationship with SYSTM Surfboards, and the process behind creating his own model, the 6’5” Rob. Lastly, we discuss the shaping machines that he and his dad built for some of the biggest brands in the surfing industry (@surf.shaper).
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Chapters
02:07 Growing Up in Fingal Head
03:23 First Heat Against Soli Bailey
08:41 Mentors: Jay Phillips & Poncho Sullivan
09:15 Riding a 6'3" for 3 Months Straight
13:02 Grinding Through the QS
17:25 Meeting Chippa Wilson at Caba
18:33 The Secret to a Good Carve
23:26 Experimenting with Panda Surfboards
27:57 Designing the 6'5" Rob Model with Kobe
33:12 Sizing Longer Boards & Tail Shapes
40:17 Building Machines with Surf Shaper
49:23 Rapid Fire: Favorite Surfer & Fin Setups
51:22 Tier List: Magic Boards & Training
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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54 min
August 03 Shaping the Best Surfboard in the World w/ Hayden Cox
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Hayden Cox (@haydenshapes) is an Australian surfboard shaper, founder of Haydenshapes Surfboards, and the man behind the winning board in the most recent Stab in the Dark. Hayden walks us through exactly what he built for the contest, and what separated his board from other shapers when it came down to the final surf. We also dive deep into the design theory behind his rocker line for the DarkNoiz model, unpack his development of FutureFlex construction technology, and breakdown the shape and story behind the Psychedelic Germ. We close this episode with a rapid-fire round where Hayden builds his favourite surfer, ranks fin setups, rates the best ways to improve your surfing outside of the water, and tiers every method of sizing a board, including a very honest take on the under-arm test.
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Chapters
02:15 Introduction to Hayden Cox
02:24 Short Notice Before Stab in the Dark
04:12 From Taj's Board to Ethan's DarkNoize
06:09 Rocker Line & FutureFlex Feel
10:45 What Sets Hayden's Boards Apart
13:35 Center Line vs Rail Line Rocker
17:35 Subtle Millimeters & the F1 Analogy
20:00 Watching Ethan's Winning Waves
24:50 Construction: The Featherlight Poly Build
27:13 The Call That Changed Everything
32:40 Origins of FutureFlex Technology
46:11 Building the Perfect 3-Board Quiver & the Psychedelic Germ
54:28 Rapid Fire: Favorite Surfer & Fin Setups
57:54 Tier List: Magic Boards & Training
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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1 hr 2 min
July 21 How to progress SO Fast in Surfing it feels like Cheating (Part 2)
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
In Part 2 of this series, Van Vu breaks down why some surfers seem to level up so much faster than others. He digs into the compounding relationship between paddle power and wave-reading ability, showing how catching more waves builds a mental "memory bank" that changes what you perceive as a makeable wave. Using a side-by-side comparison of two surfers with different conversion ratios, he reveals how that gap widens dramatically over just a few weeks, and explains the key shift in strategy every surfer needs to make as they progress. If you've ever watched a more advanced surfer effortlessly find speed and power on waves you'd have let pass by, this video explains exactly why, and what to focus on to close that gap yourself.
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Chapters
0:00 Recap & Building on Part One
0:39 Why Pros Look Like They're Playing a Different Sport
1:24 The Limited Opportunity Problem in Surfing (vs. Basketball)
2:03 How the Skill Gap Compounds Over Time
2:39 Building Your Wave-Reading Memory Bank
3:21 Surfer A: Taking Waves & Expanding Opportunity
3:56 Surfer B: Tentative Choices, Slower Growth
4:45 The Compounding Results After Weeks of Training
5:37 Beginners: Why You Should Prioritize Wave Count
6:17 Advanced Surfers: Shifting From Quantity to Quality
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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8 min
July 20 What Most Surfers Get Wrong About Surfboard Design w/ Shea Somma
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Central Coast shaper Shea Somma (@sheasomma) is known for surfboards that make the most out of whatever the ocean throws at you. In this episode, we get into the DNA behind his designs like the Mini Super, a Mini Simmons inspired groveler built around an optimal length-to-width ratio that he reverse-engineered into a unique user-friendly board. He also breaks down how he won Best in Show at the 2023 Boardroom with his Bonzer-based Panza shape. We also talk about the most common mistakes surfers make when buying boards, and why the current obsession with surfboard volume might be one of the most misleading trends in the industry right now.
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:13 Shea's Central Coast Waves & Shaping Origins
04:13 Sharks, Colors, and Surfboard Superstitions
05:59 The Mini Super: A Mini Simmons Evolution
12:26 Fins, Concaves, and Hydrodynamics Explained
16:35 How the Simmons Design Spread Across Surfing
19:21 Winning Best in Show with a Bonzer
25:04 Building the Panza: Groveler to Step-Up
30:10 Twin vs. Twinzer: What It Actually Feels Like
36:19 Ocean Beach Guns: The OBG and the Judah
40:02 Biggest Mistakes Surfers Make Buying Boards
44:21 The Truth About Volume
47:04 Good and Bad Trends in Surfboard Design
48:59 Shea's Current Quiver, Board by Board
54:38 Upcoming Film Project and France Art Show
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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1 hr 2 min
July 14 How to progress SO Fast in Surfing it feels like Cheating
🔥Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds.
https://go.surfbasis.com/pb_freetrainingplan
Ever wonder why some surfers seem to improve twice as fast as everyone else, even with the same amount of time in the water? In this video, Basis Surf founder Van Vu breaks down the "surf progression funnel" — the step-by-step system that determines how many real reps you actually get on a wave, from spotting it to completing a turn. Using a simple side-by-side comparison, Van reveals how one overlooked, land-trainable skill can snowball into a dramatically higher wave count per session, per day, and per weekend, explaining why elite surfers like Laird Hamilton and Billy Kemper quietly train this exact thing behind the scenes.
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Chapters
00:00 How to 10X your surf progression
00:45 Elite pros secretly train their paddling
01:30 The surf progression funnel explained
02:13 Ocean knowledge & reading waves
02:50 Paddling: the highest-leverage skill
03:32 Why paddling is trainable on land
04:11 Pop-up: train it before you need it
04:49 Speed, line, and the turn
05:33 Surfer A vs. Surfer B: the numbers behind 10X
07:54 The Shohei Ohtani lesson: master the fundamentals
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Tom Carroll, Zeke Lau, Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Eric Arakawa, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Parker Coffin, Dane Gudauskas, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, and more!
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9 min

About Basis Surf Podcast

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Interviews with pros, coaches, and shapers to help the everyday surfer get better at the thing they love.

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