Two-time world champ John John Florence usually keeps a pretty low profile.
He escapes the North Shore winter circus for stealth surf trips, free surfs with his brothers, and messes around behind the camera, creating short films like Haleiwa.
But duty calls, and Florence has been out and about a little more lately. He got a coveted invite to the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational and took first place in the 2023 Vans Pipe Masters while pitted against his brothers.
And according to the video above, Florence got off the rock and to the Mainland, where he visited his surfboard shaper, Jon Pyzel, at his California factory.
Pyzel captioned the clip:
“We were stoked to have John visit our Pyzel California factory to talk shapes & glassing with the Oceanside crew. Our Pyzel boards are built by local surfers around the area who are some of the most qualified hands in the business. It was great showing JJF around and talking on new designs we’ve been working on!”
In the short video, Florence cruises around the factory checking out boards and saying hello.
Eventually, he recaps on his “pretty cool relationship” with shaper Jon Pyzel and says to the camera:
“I can give my feedback and my feel about what I like in the board and he’s really good at articulating that and creating the shape from that.
“We can just be open and I like it because it’s hard when you’re creating a product if you can’t be open and truthful to the people that you’re working with.
Florence finds it helpful that he can “clearly tell him” if something’s not great, or just right.
“Being able to give those emotions, positive or negative, it’s always very useful.”
The take away? Healthy relationships are based on good communication, even with your surfboard shaper.
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