There’s no one that knows the intricacies of riding the waves on the North Shore, in all their varied moods, than John John Florence.
The kid was surfing Pipe when he was four years old or something. And back then John had to make the most of every scrap he could find. Picking off the unwanted waves, looking for sneaky ones that didn’t turn an eye in the more senior ranks. It was during this time spent learning exactly what every wave was going to do that John gained the superior wave reading ability that serves him so well today.
Take this clip for example. Featuring a current riddled, nightmare of a sandbar session that would leave most surfers either lost at sea or with the flogging of a lifetime. Yet John navigates it with what appears to be casual abandon, picking off a bunch of beautiful tube-rides among the mayhem.
