John John Florence’s natural instincts and bold decisions allow him to blow up like he did at Trestles. Photo: ASP|Rowland
What the f%$k was that? This is what made the 2014 Hurley Pro at Trestles a masterclass display of mind-blowing innovation.
1. Buzzer Beaters
The beauty of Trestles is that if you really want a score, you can pretty much find it at any point in the heat. Sure, your best bet is to sit and wait for one of the trademark horseshoe-shaped rights or lefts (the lefts being considerably shorter), but when time runs down and you’re left needing anything less than a mid-eight, there is opportunity everywhere. Boy, did it make for some good finishes.
Kelly Slater’s win over Taj Burrow in the dying seconds of round five was an absolute classic; it was also an action replay of their 2009 final together. Served a lumpy, crumbly Trestles wall, Slater threw the kitchen sink at it, punting over the first section, then going straight into a blow-tail reverse and finishing it with a couple of wraps, the score coming through as he showered in the competitors’ area. But it was Jordy Smith’s heroics in taking down the best surfer to ever surf Trestles (John John Florence) that will be remembered. He did it on the very last wave of the contest, stomping a hail mary end-section air reverse for the win. It doesn’t get anymore dramatic than that.
Jordy Smith’s last-minute heroics put him on the podium. Photo: ASP|Kirstin
2. What the f%$k was that?
That’s what Trestles is known for — the kind of mind-blowing innovation that tells us in no uncertain terms where exactly the outermost limits of performance surfing lies. But even I didn’t think these guys were that good. Filipe Toledo’s backside off-axis air reverse was just so fucking rude it defies description. Here, watch it for yourself.
Jordy was exceptional in the way he utilized every millimeter of the Trestles campus, sneaking in little fades you didn’t think were possible and showing remarkable athleticism for his giant frame. His three-turn combo to start the final against John John (scoring a 9.33) was as good a run of explosive, linked, technical maneuvers as you’ll ever see. But who are we kidding? It all paled in comparison to the masterclass this next kid put on…
3. The Artist, the Butcher, the Savant — John John Florence
Look beneath John John’s mind-melting performance at Trestles and you will also see the reason why it’s unlikely this kid will be a world champion anytime soon. Like Dane Reynolds before him, he is a surfer who is committed to surfing on instinct and little else. What he feels, he goes with, and for that reason, he is a clear head above the pack when it comes to progressive surfing in the competitive arena. No one holds a candle to him when he’s on, but inherent to his brand of surfing is a whole lot of misses too, which partly explains his hot and cold run this year. If he chooses to go with a more methodical approach, he will win a title at some point without question. The beauty of John John is that, unlike Reynolds, it appears to be more of a choice. Right now, he’s choosing to blow the fuck up, consequences be damned — and if that doesn’t make sense to you, then you don’t get surfing. He might have been beaten on the last wave of the event, but his performance at Trestles is now the yardstick by which all progressive surfing will be measured.
4. Anatomy of a Signature Move
Let’s look at what exactly did the most damage for the kid, because, really, it can mostly be explained by one signature move: his frontside power jam. It’s a move that’s been around in surfing for a long time, and as far as I see it, it is surfing’s equivalent of, say, dunking on someone, or throwing a clean knockout punch, or one of those big hits in the rib cage — the kind that makes you want to grab your crotch and grunt like Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor. Sunny Garcia and Tom Carroll were both great early exponents of the move, but JJF has taken the move to a place I didn’t think it could go — a functional, flowing maneuver.
Usually, such an explosion of force would render a surfer motionless – such is the amount of water being displaced. But JJF has found a way to angle his jam in such a way that he can flow through it, either by directing his turn back towards the foam ball or cutting it short and continuing down the line. Carroll was a master of this kind of hybrid turn and, like JJF, achieved it by finding the sweet spot on his back heel and exerting tremendous pressure while still maintaining forward momentum. JJF’s version, however, strikes me as more of a mix between the brute power of, say, Sunny and the fluency of Joel Parkinson. In any case, it’s fucked up. When combined with his uber-consistent punt game and these mind-boggling nose picks of his, the result is the five nine-plus rides he threw down in that outrageous masterclass against Kelly Slater and Adriano de Souza in round four.
5. The Title Race
Well, it’s still alive but not much has changed despite Gabriel Medina going down in the quarters and Slater one-upping him with a semi-final finish. The good news for Slater fans is that Medina is on a tight rope heading into the final three events. One early round loss and he’ll be counting a 13th in his results. Slater has an extra buffer, with only one 13th. If Medina finishes 13th or worse in the next event and Slater gets second, he’ll be a mere 250 points behind. If Slater wins and Medina gets a 13th or worse, Slater will take the lead.
Author’s note: These final calculations could be entirely wrong. And if it is, blame the ASP. I ain’t no mathematician and if no man of average intellect can figure out their convoluted scoring system, that’s something they need to address.
