SURFER Interview with Rob Machado

The one big irony behind Rob’s surfing is he makes it look so easy it’s impossible to grasp his speed without modern instrumentation.

So many people still have barriers in their mind about that, though. They don’t want to be seen with one type of board or another. Yeah. I’m over that. You can’t restrict yourself like that. It’s completely pointless. You’re only hurting yourself. Why not open your mind and explore other avenues?

Are you happy with the progress in performance that you see in the younger guys? It’s crazy. It used to be it was rare to see a guy who did a 360 air and stuck it. Now it happens everyday. Guys do them in their sleep. But the fundamentals still separate the good guys from the best guys.

As in, who can link those moves together best. Exactly. The turn is good, but it’s about how you get from one turn to the next that really counts. That’s where 99 percent of the artistry is. You watch someone like Skip Frye ride a wave and it’s beautiful. He finds every pulse of energy that will give him any thrust or speed and he taps into it, milking the wave all the way to its very end without even trying.

Who are the guys blowing you away today? See, that’s the problem. I wish I was around these guys surfing more. I can’t remember the last time I saw a guy like Parko ride a wave. That’s something you miss about being on tour. Those sessions. There’s something to be said for being there. When somebody really talented is riding the same waves you’re riding, it’s that much more impressive. That’s why Taylor Steele’s original movies were so popular. He filmed them at crappy beachbreaks.

And everyone could relate to it. They’d be like, “That’s Oceanside!” An average, crappy little day at Oceanside and they’re just going bonkers. Now every movie is about finding the craziest waves again, it’s lost that. I can’t make a video part in California anymore.

You were one of the first pros to hold an annual event for kids. Now it seems like more kids are giving back earlier on. Yeah, I think you reach a point where you start believing in karma. You start giving and you see it come back. I get approached by schools all the time for auction items, something they can raise money on. I can’t give away boards, so I give away a surf session. I’ll meet the kid, we go check the waves, I figure out how long he’s been surfing, and off we go. Basically my goal is to put that kid into the wave of his life. And it happens. It’s insane. You see him in the parking lot afterwards and he’s just glowing. I probably get more out of that than he does, because I know what he’s in for.

Ten or 20 years from now, when you’re sitting at the dinner table with the family on holidays, will you be remembering contest stuff or the stuff you’re doing now? Some contest things you talk about and remember, but they’re very few. But going on trips, exploring, pitching a tent and seeing a break that you’ve heard about; being able to unzip your tent and look at a 6-foot left point with no one out, that’s why people start surfing. Those are the things you remember and talk about for the rest of your life. That’s what we should all be doing.