There’s an old saying that goes “the best surfer in the world is the one having the most fun.” It means that surfing isn’t really about performance. Instead, it’s all about plain old enjoyment. The purpose of surfing is purely to have fun. Unless, of course, you’re a professional surfer with contracts that depend on event wins, social media engagement, etc. If you’re one of those… well, the meaning of “best” is a little different. If someone were to ask you if someone else is a “good surfer,” however, you likely wouldn’t consider how much fun they’re having. You’d consider their speed, power, and flow.
“Don’t try and tell me that the kid stink bugging out on the shoulder is the best surfer in the water,” wrote Rory Parker a few years ago. “He isn’t. The guy sitting deep, driving hard off the bottom before murdering the lip is better. He rips. Pretending surfing is all about fun is just a beautiful lie you tell yourself so you don’t feel bad every time someone paddles deeper than you and then rips the best wave of a set all the way to the beach.”
But is that a “good” surfer? Sure, it’s a surfer who is good at the act of actually surfing, but if the end goal of surfing is simply to have fun, then that old saying holds true. If you’re a person who has fun winning or improving, however then the whole notion of what “fun” is gets a little murky. One surfer that we can all agree is a good surfer, though, is Dave Rastovich. And Dave’s got his own definition of what a good surfer is. “A good surfer is sincere but not serious,” he says. “Someone who knows how to eat shit and come up laughing. A good surfer knows there’s always another wave.”
The short video you see above examines what a good surfer is, and the folks over at Patagonia have their own definition. “Good surfers pass the stoke, bring people into the community, protect our peaks, teach ocean safety and mentor future generations,” they wrote. “They haven’t forgotten why they surf or the fun. Let’s redefine what it means to be a good surfer.”
