The Mindful Surfer

This weeks intro we cover Liams recent surfs and as well as working on staying motivated despite not getting many sessions in. 

Will shares insights and stories from his recent trip to Portugal - the floggings he took as well as the successes (and his discovery about short boards for intermediate surfers). 

We then get onto recent fitness routines for surf as well as dietary tweaks to stay lean enough to perform when we’re out in the water. 

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam 

This weeks intro, we discuss facing your fears as a surfer and how to overcome the power of ego especially amongst peers!

Liam then relates the idea of “beginner vs advanced” to what makes more sense - what are you a beginner or advanced at? What have you had more practice at? You might be advanced on the open face but a proper beginner on barrels & airs. 

We then get onto recent surfs (of which there have been fewer than we’d like!!)… 

Liams couple of recent sessions have involved going out in bigger waves (and how happy he was with the paddle out fitness) and her exploring the FireWire seaside again. 

Will reflects on a recent surf trip and a) feeling super grateful to be back and b) falling back in love with the FireWire seaside again - it’s flow speed and release down the line. 

Will also talks about getting a mid length board purchase completely wrong! It had too much rocker which weirded out the whole feel of what a mod is meant to create. 

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam 

This weeks intro we talk about every surfers hardest first world challenge ; 

no surf! 

Liam then shares how he’s been staying stoked on his social life and enjoying his swims and Will talks about using Bristol Wave park and little wind swells here and there to keep some stoke alive. 

We then go onto talk about how surfing provides so much but because it does, it has another side - not doing it!

Be it through flat spells, injury , work, family, finances - not surfing is hard for surfers but there is a cure: being mindful of your habits (how you think, what you eat, how your relationships are - the more you focus on what you can control, the easier it is to accept because you “rely” less on surf. 

Then there are also wave parks and surf skating but we know they’ll never beat the mega sessions at the local beach. And here in lies the key message - that going without is good for us because it builds patience which builds a deeper stoke appreciation for when it does come around. 

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam 

This weeks show , we talk about the mental challenges of recent surf sessions and how they’ve come about from being in more crowded waves and whether people are bringing good etiquette.

Will got frustrated in a session he talks about  , Liam does the same - but in each of the stories there is always some learning and resolution we can take with us on land and back into our next session. 

In mind body stoke, Liam shares the awesome gains he’s been getting from doing an over head kettlebell press - and doing it regularly enough to really notice the benefit. 

We move on to talking about how profound a difference it makes to be leaner for surfing and the basic logic involved in doing a power based sport.  

Will then shares his mind body work and how much he’s been enjoying just feeling good … as corny and mehh as it sounds (but that inevitably he wants “something” and of course , it’s a new board!). 

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam

This weeks intro we cover recent surfs and how fun it was to

a) have a small nibble of local swell 

and 

b) travel for some epic sessions on the north coast and Bristol wave pool 

The main takeaways were: 

1. Expectation is the biggest obstacle to a surfers journey - mastering the art of letting it go and you opens up a whole world of possibilities 

2. Wave pools are AWESOME tools for progression because they’re tricky and they offer up so many of the same walls to hit - get to one !! 

3. Gratitude for the surf you get to experience no matter how small or how infrequent is the surfer who is stoking…isn’t that the goal??!!  

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam 

This weeks intro we dispel the ultimate surf myth : 

If I could surf more (in better sunnier waves with fewer people…) the happier I’d be! 

Why is it a myth? 

Because where ever go, there you are and if you’re someone who has tendency x & y now, you’ll carry that tendency to the paradise we “invent” in our head. 

So what’s it about? 

Gratitude… for your health , loved ones and the waves you DO get the ride whether they’re infrequent / frequent / big / small / messy / clean. 

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam

This weeks show is a run down of the mindful surfer trip down to Portugal and all the stories, insights and learnings that took place. 

We cover ; 

- What grovel board worked amazingly!

- Why mini mids could be the best one board quiver for a trip 

- How to navigate crowded lineups 

- Why diet plays such a big role on performance 

- How to calm your mind and body during   “surf triggers”

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam

This weeks intro Will dives into new board discoveries having ridden the FireWire revo max (a high performance mid by Daniel Thompson) and how much he was frothing on its performance, glide and wave catching ability.

We then get onto what we actually get to surf worldwide , that most of us surf around the waist to head high range with low to medium power & shape and that’s why the fishes, mids, logs and hybrids will only keep on growing - they make it soooo much more fun! 

Convo leads on to how difficult it is to make “tangible” gains in surfing because , when you don’t have video footage, how can you know you’re improving? You have to go somewhere else mentally to keep track. 

Liam then shares recent surf insights and how much he’s learned to “look where you wanna go” rather than down at your feet and how much of an impact it’s had. 

Will shares stories about recent sessions and how positive an impact the quality of his diet seemed to have on his recovery when compared with recent trips. 

In mind body stoke, we talk about meditation and dark chocolate - the effects both have had on performance, mood and sleep quality. 

Stay stoked guys! 

This weeks intro is a random one around baking ze balls and boosting testosterone!

We then get onto;

- Liams epic “time out” mindset shift during a surf and how good it was for his next dip mentally and physically 

- Wills recent canaries trip and the reasons why it might be the best he’s ever had 

- Board chat heads onto Shibui boards and our prize giveaway 

- Training discussions head towards getting the right balance to not over train for surf sessions (but not under either) 

- Life philosophy chat then covers “what is the ideal surfing life?” and how it ultimately is the one you craft for yourself  

Stay stoked! 

Will & Liam 

This weeks intro, we talk about how this winter will go down as a classic in the south west of england (yes the weathers been gnarly but WOW the waves!!) 

Will then talks about how lonely and isolated a lot of his surfs have been this winter - in wind and rain!! He then talks about a shocker of a surf he’d had followed by an amazing one - and how normal that is! The ebb and flow of surfing (and life) is inevitable and how important it is to not fight with it. 

Liam then talks about a recent surf he had with his son on a super fun 2-3ft day at home on the mashup - and talking about the virtues of sticking with a daily driver to be better able to measure your progress (rather than get confused with “is this me or is this the board?”).

Will then talks about his love of all sized surf crafts - how how he’ll go from a 6’0 fish all the way to a 9’6 log and all sizes in between.

Liam then talks about how memorable small waves can be when you’re with friends - super high vibes because the egos disappear and everything just flows. 

Will then talks about his recent shoulder niggle and how he’s working out how to manage the inflammation whilst still surfing each day. 

Liam shares insights on his latest fitness and nutrition routine and how awesome he’s feeling for doing an extended fast! 

Stay stoked guys! 

Will & Liam