The relationship between stretching and surfing is akin to eating your vegetables. When you’re young, you can probably let it slide. Just start paddling and pass the meat and potatoes. As you get older, you realize that not only does that other thing taste/feel good, but it’s incredibly important to your well-being.
“It’s interesting, my injuries over the years, how they’ve gone,” explains John John Florence in the video above. “It started with two pretty bad ankle injuries. And after that, it went to my knees. I think that was me just being young and not spending enough time thinking about the routine and actions after the injuries and really staying on it. (It led) to having stiffer ankles putting pressure on the knees.”
This connection between a healthy body and surfing longevity applies to everyone from weekend warriors to world champions. Take John, our current yellow-jersey wearer, for example. Very, very few people have come close to his wave-riding ability. And few have suffered the amount of career-threatening injuries as he has. After four ligament tears in his knees across five years, John has had to invest a lot of time in his health and figuring out how to surf his best without fear of ending up in the doctor’s office again.
Related: Is This John Florence’s Year to Take the World Title?
At last, that time seems to be paying off. In 2023, he finished his first full CT season since 2017. This season, he’s currently No. 1 on the 2024 Championship Tour and just locked into his first appearance at the WSL Finals at Lower Trestles, his first legitimate chance at a title shot in seven years. By making four finals in seven events this season (57%), John is producing his most consistent competitive surfing campaign in a long time.
This begs the question: How did John fortify his body while still twisting into those trademark hacks?
Frame: Vivobarefoot
Everybody’s got a different routine, and we get some insight into John’s approach in the video above, produced by Vivobarefoot, a company that specializes in building footwear that mimics the foot’s natural movement. In the 15-minute clip, John demonstrates how he usually warms up and cools down after his sessions. In John’s case, he’s a believer in less is more. Just a few minutes of dynamic stretches for feet and ankle mobility, opening up the hips and loosening the hamstrings go a long way.
A fun fact I took from this video: the left side of John’s back is twice as big as his right side, the result of wrenching his body a particular way over the years. See core stretch and stretching for corrective measures.
Screenshot
“Usually it’s like 15 minutes twice a day a couple days in a row,” John said. “I feel so much better.”
Though we can only hope to do a cutback like John’s, his goals on stretching and injury prevention apply to anyone who just wants to stay in the water.
***
Don’t miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We’re always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.
Whether you’re a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.