John John Florence has found the guy who makes the perfect equipment for him. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
John John Florence is a wildly successful surfer. Not only is he a three-time world champion (2016, 2017, and 2024), but he’s become a real businessman on the back of his surfing success.
Any good surfer will tell you that equipment makes all the difference. Put the best surfer on Earth on a board that doesn’t work, and they’ll still surf well — but they won’t win three world titles. Sure, a surfer like JJF could surf a door better than the average surfer can surf a good surfboard, but John would not have won all of his awards on a door. In the video here, courtesy of the World Surf League, John dives into his relationship with his long-time shaper, Jon Pyzel.
They’ve been working together since John was just five years old, and although Pyzel’s shapes do indeed work well for everyone else, there’s something about working with someone for a lifetime that’s just… different. Would John John be John John without Jon? Would Jon be Jon without John John? They’d likely be successful without each other, but with each other, the sky has been the limit. And they’ve almost hit the end of the sky, so who knows what’s next?
