Train your paddling anywhere, anytime so you can catch more waves and have more fun with the Basis Paddle Trainer. Shipping globally now at https://www.surfbasis.com/

In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have top high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais. He’s worked with Carissa Moore, who won gold in Tokyo, and has coached a lot of top athletes, including the Seattle Seahawks during their Super Bowl run. We talk about what he learned working with Carissa, Caroline Marks’ mental approach, how Mick Fanning stays sharp, and how Kai Lenny manages fear.

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Chapters 01:58 Working with Team USA for the Olympic Tokyo 2020 Games 03:35 How Losing Became a Highlight 07:30 The Mental Framework Behind Winning and Losing 15:05 Fear of Other People’s Opinion 21:11 Strategies for Coming Back to the Present Moment 28:47 Key Lessons with Carissa Moore 33:50 Key Lessons from Mick Fanning 37:17 Three Practices to Increase Awareness 43:10 Excessive Worrying is the Problem 45:28 How Kai Lenny Tackles Fear 51:21 Ask Questions and Know That You’ll Be Fine

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In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have Barton Lynch—former world champ, Pipe Master, WSL commentator, and coach. He’s worked with pros like Sally Fitzgibbons, Kolohe Andino, and Team Australia at the ISA Games, but he also spends a lot of time helping everyday surfers. We get into the mental side of surfing—learning to trust your intuition, getting out of your own way, and surfing for the feeling. We also break down vertical backside re-entries, style, and how his drive came from a mix of total desperation and then learning to not care at all.

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Chapters 02:10 Key to Success in Pipe Masters: Desperation 07:40 Passion as a Motivator 09:15 You Fail for a Living 10:30 Value and Commit to Yourself 11:25 Story with Kelly Slater 14:10 Make Yourself Happy and Help Others 16:15 Light-bulb Moments Back in the Day 21:04 Video as a Tool 23:34 On Mastering Vertical Backside Reentries 26:15 Shift from Competitive Surfing to Coaching 27:30 Emotions When Coaching 30:35 No One Approach Always Works 31:07 Learning from Surrender 32:35 Competing Against Tom Curren 34:40 If You Can’t Imagine It You Can’t Do It 35:45 On Style and Surfing for the Feeling 38:34 Drill: Surfing in First Gear with 50% Energy 39:55 You Need to Mentally Rehearse It 44:33 Method Acting and Surfing 46:26 The Intelligence that Comes from Feeling 48:58 Stop and Be Grateful 55:24 Relying on Intuition 59:56 Surfing or Me? 01:02:37 Surfing Video Game

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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In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have Michael Frampton of the Surf Mastery Podcast talk about the fundamentals of surfing, mastering how to read waves, his philosophy on surfing, the importance of paddling, and the advantages of meditation in surfing.

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Chapters

02:03 Looking for the Details in The Wave

07:05 Be More Present

10:29 The Foundation of Surfing

11:11 Surfing is Just Advanced Basics

16:23 Develop Your Own Personal Surfing Philosophy

18:03 Technique is Secondary

19:15 Stress Affects Surfers of All Levels

26:05 Surfing is More of an Artform Than a Sport

31:02 Surfing Longboards Helps with Adaptability

36:17 The Shame Factor Hinders You

39:09 Board Choice is Crucial for Progression

39:40 Clean Up Your Technique with Dryland Training

41:20 Surfing as Martial Arts

44:43 Getting the Fundamentals of Surfing Right

48:08 Surfing is a Long-term Relationship

52:30 Online Courses at surfmastery.com

53:53 Light-bulb Moment for Technique

54:43 Light-bulb Moment for Boards/Fins

55:26 Intention While Surfing

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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In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have one of the most forward-thinking board designers in surfing, Daniel Thomson (@tomo_surfboards). We talk about how his planing hull designs are flipping traditional surfboard logic on its head, the evolution of boards like the Vader, Cymatic, and brand-new Neutrino, why most surfers are riding boards that are holding them back. This episode is packed with tips for surfers who want to ride faster, paddle stronger, and rethink their equipment from the foam up.

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Chapters

02:45 Design Influences for Tomo Surfboards

05:54 Revolutionize Surfboard Design for Everybody

08:19 Advantages of Planing Hulls Over Pointy-Nose Thrusters

13:31 Planing Huls: Hold/Grip Factor Relies More on the Total Length of Your Edge

14:42 Kelly Slater Surfing Hale'iwa on 5’3” Cymatic

18:09 Sci-Fi Shape Blends Planing Hulls with Pointy Nose

20:44 New Board Design with Kelly Slater

25:41 What It’s Like Working with Kelly Slater

28:55 Goals with the Revo Max

31:22 Mini-midlengths

36:32 First Twin Fin Setup

37:35 New Upcoming Shape: The Neutrino

41:08 How To Size Boards

42:37 The Underarm Test for Rails

44:07 Too Attached to How Boards Look Than How They Feel

46:09 Tips for Surfing His Shapes

47:58 Intention When Surfing

48:53 What Board to Bring If You Were Stranded on an Island

49:11 Vader V2 vs His Other Shapes

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In this episode, Van Vu—founder of the Basis Surf Podcast and the Basis Paddle Trainer—talks about his journey as a surfer obsessed with improving his surfing in this interview with Michael Frampton of the Surf Mastery Podcast. He shares how rushing to shortboards stalled his progress, and how returning to longer boards, focusing on fundamentals, and building paddle fitness transformed his surfing. Van also explains why paddle power is the biggest bottleneck for most surfers and how more reps—not flashy turns—are the real key to progression. The conversation dives deep into technique, board choice, coaching perspectives, and why catching more waves is the fastest way to improve.

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Chapters

02:23 Earliest Surfing Memory

05:37 First Time Shortboarding

09:00 Don’t Size Down Too Quickly

13:25 Sizing Down in a Thoughtful Manner

16:00 From Riding a Pickup Truck to an F1 Car

19:30 Inspiration for Starting the Basis Surf Podcast

22:13 Lessons Learned from Starting the Podcast

27:28 Surf Coaching is Still at Its Infancy

30:14 Learn through Brute Volume

33:24 You Need to Catch More Waves

36:00 Inspiration for the Basis Paddle Trainer

38:00 Maintaining the Arched Prone Position While Paddling

41:00 The Biggest Resource Is Your Time

43:15 2x-8x Your Wave Count

47:30 Surfing as a Pyramid

49:10 Paddle Power of Pro Surfers vs Beginners

51:45 It’s a Game of Years

54:12 Discount Code

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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In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have Matteo Blevins of Nica Time (@nicatime) at Playa Colorados, Nicaragua. We get into wave positioning, paddling at the apex, and angling your takeoff. He breaks down his go-to boards, twins and quads, and how they help him make impossible sections. We also dig into his unique backside pig dog stance and how the right paddle technique can help with your pop-up.

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Chapters 02:12 Why Colorados Is One of the Best Beach Breaks 04:38 Seasonal Changes and When to Go 07:06 How Tides Affect the Wave 10:09 Wave Reading and Positioning Tips 12:11 Paddling Is 80% of Getting Good Waves 14:10 How to Take the Correct Line on a Barrel 16:08 Why Strong Paddle Technique Helps Your Popup 17:03 Backside Pig Dog Technique Breakdown 20:26 Recommended Quiver for a Trip to Colorados 23:48 Twin Fins vs. Single Fins in the Barrel 26:29 Common Mistakes Surfers Make at Colorados 27:00 Mindset and Favorite Board

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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Train your paddling anywhere, anytime so you can catch more waves and have more fun with the Basis Paddle Trainer. Shipping globally now at https://www.surfbasis.com/

In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have Augusto Carrara, founder of Underwave Training (@underwave.training). A breath and apnea coach specializing in land and water-based breath-hold training designed specifically for surfers. We’re gonna talk about how to acclimate to repeated CO2 exposure, discover your own personal relaxation triggers, adjust the gears of breathing for surfing and the importance of being a good swimmer/paddler.

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Chapters

01:23 Meet Augusto from Underwave Training

02:16 Augusto’s Early Breath-Hold Background

06:25 Why All Surfers Need Breath Training

08:38 Functional Breathing for Surfing

10:55 Regulating Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

12:41 Prepping for a Hold-Down in Real Time

14:40 Relaxation Techniques During Wipeouts

20:17 What Happens When You’re Exhausted

23:07 Training Your Body to Tolerate CO₂

26:25 Underwater Drills for Realistic Surf Scenarios

33:57 Never Train Breath-Holds Alone in Water

35:33 The Swimming Gap in Surf Culture

44:03 Surf Intentions, Boards, and Dream Waves

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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Train your paddling anywhere, anytime so you can catch more waves and have more fun with the Basis Paddle Trainer. Shipping globally now at https://www.surfbasis.com/

In this episode of the Basis Surf Podcast, we have Didier Piter (@didierpitersurfcoach), who was the head coach for Germany in the 2024 Olympics, a 4 time European champion, and a semi-finalist at Pipeline. We’re gonna talk about the key to bottom turns, paddle training for Teahupo’o, common mistakes that most surfers make, and the importance of balancing art and technique.

Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:30 Coaching the German Olympic Team 08:36 Techniques for Major Maneuvers 09:58 The Art of Balancing Technique and Flow 13:45 The Key to Bottom Turns 15:12 Embracing Plasticity in Surfing 18:00 Training Neuroplasticity for Surfers 23:25 Preparing for Teahupoʻo 25:42 Paddle Training for Teahupoʻo 28:02 Coaching his son, Sam Piter 31:08 Secrets to Progressive Surfing 33:16 Common Surfing Mistakes 36:40 What Board to Bring If Stranded on a Deserted Island 38:05 Intention When Surfing

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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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