Nate Florence has taken a lot of waves on the head. You can’t surf without taking waves on the head, but Nate? Nate’s taken a few more than most. And the waves he takes on the head are often a lot bigger and heavier than the ones a regular surfer takes, because he spends most of his time chasing waves that are a lot bigger and heavier than the ones a regular surfer chases.
Growing up on the North Shore creates a certain type of surfer. A surfer who has drank deeply from the cup of that famous Hawaiian juice; a surfer who uses the power of the waves in a very particular way. One of the best examples of a North Shore surfer at the moment is, of course, John John Florence, but Nate’s on his heels. Nate’s not strapped to the tour (although just how long JJF will be is up for debate) so he’s free to follow the biggest swell wherever in the world they may go. With all that water time, he’s gotten pretty damn good at duck diving, a skill that most of us could probably get a little bit better at. But if you’re surfing waves like the ones Nate surfs, you need to be really, really good at diving deep. Otherwise, you’ll never make it out the back. In the video above, Nate gives the viewer a brief tutorial on how he does it and when he might choose to bail his board instead.
