Jordy Smith talked influences, training, and the weight of expectation on the World Surf League podcast. He’s the consummate professional surfer — he loves to surf, sure, but surfing is his job. He takes it very seriously, as any successful professional athlete must do. His rise, though, was meteoric. In the span of less than a year, he went from an average school kid to a top contender on the CT.
In the most recent installment of the World Surf League’s podcast, The Lineup, Jordy Smith talks to Dave Prodan about all manner of things, from the pro surfing hype machine, what it’s like living in the spotlight from a young age, dealing with the crushing weight of other people’s expectations, and more. Smith hasn’t had the easiest road to the top of the heap, and the conversation is an interesting look back at some of the bumpier parts.
At the time of their conversation, Smith was in a hotel room in Australia, quarantining with his wife and son. He enjoyed his time with his family — a different take on the quarantine than most of the other athletes, and went on to talk about which surfers have influenced his surfing, from Dane Reynolds to Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, and Tom Curren. The conversation got into his obsessive work and intense training he does in his relentless pursuit of a world title.
See more from the World Surf League here.
