Basis Surf Podcast

🔥 Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds. https://surfbasis.com/pages/trainingplan

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.

Sign up for our free surfboard guide for sizing down volume, video library and newsletter

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!

Join our community of over 140k followers across IG, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube:

Basis Instagram

Basis TikTok

Basis Facebook

🔥 Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds. https://surfbasis.com/pages/trainingplan

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).  

Sign up for our free surfboard guide for sizing down volume, video library and newsletter

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!

Join our community of over 140k followers across IG, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube:

Basis Instagram

Basis TikTok

Basis Facebook

🔥 Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds. https://surfbasis.com/pages/trainingplan

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.

Sign up for our free surfboard guide for sizing down volume, video library and newsletter

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!

Join our community of over 140k followers across IG, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube:

Basis Instagram

Basis TikTok

Basis Facebook

🔥 Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds. https://surfbasis.com/pages/trainingplan

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.

Sign up for our free surfboard guide for sizing down volume, video library and newsletter

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!

Join our community of over 140k followers across IG, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube:

Basis Instagram

Basis TikTok

Basis Facebook

🔥 Get your FREE personalized 2-4X wavecount training plan in under 30 seconds. https://surfbasis.com/pages/trainingplan

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.

Sign up for our free surfboard guide for sizing down volume, video library and newsletter

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!

Join our community of over 140k followers across IG, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube:

Basis Instagram

Basis TikTok

Basis Facebook