Both Kelly Slater and John John Florence exist on a different plane than other surfers. Kelly, of course, has 11 world titles, that weird thing that draws heat-winning waves to him in the dying seconds, and an innate understanding of waves that’s far beyond the Average Joe’s understanding. John’s got 1 world title–but it’s been widely regarded as fact that he’s been the best surfer in the world for some time now, despite his contest results up until this year. Over the weekend, (father/son?) duo had an unintentional alley-oop stand off, and MySurf.tv cut together a little edit.
On Saturday, when the Billabong Pipe Masters was called off, John John paddled out into a legitimate maelstrom and popped one of the most ridiculous alley-oops ever. Here it is on repeat so you can try to wrap your head around it:
Kelly, not to be outdone, decided he’d give it his best shot, too, only on a better wave. After tucking into a backdoor barrel, he casually took to the air and did his best JJF impersonation. Yeah, it wasn’t as high, but the wave was much better. The sincerest form of flattery, and all that.
Both of them, it appears, have spent far too much time playing video games.
