Balyn McDonald 
The Winnner Destiny: has there been a more over-used word in professional surfing these past 72 hours? Maybe it’s just my jaded world-view, but destiny is a bullshit concept that serves to undermine the true elements that lead to success (like focus, hard work, talent and maybe a bit of good fortune). Destiny Attained was … Read more
Congratulations are in order: Keanu Asing has taken a formidable list of more talented surfers (Medina, Florence, Slater, Buchan) and soundly beaten them through smart-if-somehwat-conservative competion surfing. It was, as he admitted himself, his first event win since his junior days (including a history of no outright wins during his QS days), so we can … Read more
Drama? Check. Controversy? You bet. Cutting edge surfing at it’s best? Heck yeah! Step inside and let’s take a look at what went down at the Trestles Hurley Pro… Trestles was won on the rail. For all of the talk about ramps, new-school-above-the-lip surfing and high performance expectations, it was the surfers with solid turns … Read more
We’re a bit pressed for time on this article – given that we just got back from interstate – so this will be a pretty ‘lite’ version of the usual overview: Conditions Trestles gets called a playground, a skate park for surfers, a high performance wave and plenty more. What you can expect going by … Read more
We run through the numbers every contest. We make our projections. We post teams. We hope like everyone else that our 8 selections won’t crash and burn. The thing is, we don’t seem to be winning much. I mean, we do OK; we’re ranked in the top 25% of all teams overall in the WSL … Read more
JBay 2016: Florence and The Machine We’ve been ‘away’ from the surf-stats desks lately, travelling, catching some winter swells and watching a lot of contests on mobile devices. We’ll keep it short this time, but here’s the wash-up from JBay: • Mick is a machine. Never mind the busted ankle, unresolved shark issues, supposedly more … Read more
Wilko makes a statement, Slater finds some form, Mick returns to South African waters and it’s cold, so damned cold. Let’s pull in to JBay… Conditions There are a few key sections to the Jeffreys Bay point, described briefly by the WSL here and in greater detail by Shaun Tomson in 2015. The forecast will … Read more
“I love surfing big, left barrels; it’s my favourite thing in the world. And… to kind of show that I can match, match or beat these guys is, not, I guess, (it) shuts the critics up, but it also gets me feeling pretty good about myself” – 2016 ratings leader and Fiji runner-up Matt Wilkinson. … Read more
Fiji can’t come soon enough. Seeing those gorgeous waves being torn apart by the women this week has truly whet our appetite for clear, warm water, heaving barrels and elite surfing. Conditions There are two options for the Fiji contest; Restaurants and Cloudbreak. If you want a concise-yet-knowledgeable break-down of the two spots, read Nick … Read more
“I’m not going to lie; that was a lot of hard work” – 2016 Rio women’s champion, Tyler Wright. Was she talking about winning her third event for the season? Or was she referring to the effort required by surfing fans to stay interested in the Rio Pro? I’m not going to kill myself detailing … Read more