So what have all the pros been up to in the 'offseason'? Well, the Billabong Pipe contest ended back at the end of December and the Quik Pro doesn't start until early March down on the Gold Coast; so what's a pro to do with all this down time? Get arrested? No! Sign some new contracts and create web clips of course! You don't have much time for 'business' when you're running around the world chasing a 8.5 in the dying minutes of a heat. By now you've probably heard John John Florence's contract ended with O'Neill recently and Nike, err, Hurley picked him up for a few million a year (and to think, back in the day Tom Carroll's Quiksilver contract was a million dollars total for something like 5 years). Kids got it good nowadays. To celebrate all that moolah, Hurley has put together a cool little John John history lesson. The final turn he does on the clip is legendary- one of the biggest cleanest rotations you'll ever see. Not sure how guys in the future are going to top that turn.
Dane of course is always in the 'offseason' (actually his offseason is when a sponsor offers him a wild card into an event). Anyway, the clip above is Dane Reynolds and Taj Burrow from last summer, just before the US Open madness, and Dane's crew just got the editing down and posted the clip recently. Story goes something like this- Taj calls up Dane and says let's get some surf before I have to kiss hands and shake babies (or something like that) at the US Open. Dane says let's surf Lowers. Taj says let's surf that jetty down the street from your house. Dane says it's going to suck, Taj says I don't care. After watching the clip- both were right; the surf sucked but Taj and Dane killed it. The only guy who can surf crap better than that is probably Slater. Long story short, Taj gave in and surfed Lowers the next day with Dane.
And for the boy who would be king, Julian Wilson, he's put together a clip of some of his best turns during his 2012 freesurf sessions. You can view the video here. Basically his trip to Indo last year is one big mind bender. His surfing was definitely on par with John John's and Dane's last year during this trip.
And last but not least, a clip from the 2012 World Champ, Kelly Sla... What?! He didn't win? Parko did finally? About time. Hailing from the Gold Coast of Australia, dubbed the best surfer to never win a world title (Taj now owns that distinction), Joel Parkinson has put together a highlight reel showing how he won the title last year. Joel was on fire- never getting worse than a quarterfinal finish and topping it off with a win at the Pipe Masters. Pretty impressive.
So there you have it. Some of the best new clips on the web to get you amped to surf. Except the surf has been flat lately. Go figure. Better go take a cold shower.
