His face firms up. But I used that grudge against those guys to drive myself harder, and I won my first world title that year. Slater has always stood a little apart from his fellow surfers. But they're also the first guys to kick you out of the water at their break. I do think it's for sitting around on the beach all day.
Slater believes surfers simply goof around too much.
People should focus more on basic form, the shoulder line and balance, which no one talks about, and study board shaping and wave and wind patterns. He plans to write a book and make a video on surfing technique, if he can find time. I wake up, make a few calls and check the wave situation, then either head down to San Diego to see friends and surf or maybe up to Santa Barbara to see my board shaper, play some golf or go fishing with him, surf. My goal this year is to read one book a week, but I'm behind. The Man Who Listens to Horses , The Art of Peace , and a Ben Hogan biography.