"It's a circus ride underwater," says big-wave world champ and ESPN "hellman" Grant "Twiggy" Baker…
<strong>My Dad was a professional golfer and he always
used to talk about the yips</strong> and how they can knock
you right out of contention on any given day.
But what about big waves? Can we kill 'em? Or can we at least avoid
'em? Who wants to be trembling with fear when a big-wave comes,
anyway?
The fear of drowning is always present but for me, I figure,
everyone has to die and does it really matter in the big picture if
it's today or in 30 years time. So rather then letting that fear
govern what you do, use it in positive ways. Use it to make smart
choices in surfing and in life and use it to push yourself as far
as you can. For me the fear of serious injury is more apparent then
the fear of death. I hate being injured.
When I see a 30-footer about to land on my head, I stop thinking.
What happens is a trance-like state comes over me and I click into
a head-space that's hard to explain. One where everything slows
down and you are acutely aware of yourself and what you need to do
to survive. Instinct takes over and all the experience and training
you have, helps you to the other side. Or, uh, not.
For a lot of surfers it's not so much a fear of the wave they're
going to ride but the fear of the unseen clean-up set. But getting
caught inside is not nearly as bad as a wipeout even though it
seems that way. Durning a wipeout you only get a quick breath and
you have no control over your body while being caught inside gives
you time to breathe up, fill your lungs, calm yourself and control
your body position.
My first foray into big-wave surfing was done at Bawa in Indonesia
in the early 90's. I would spend a few months a year camped out on
the beach and it would get… <em>big</em>… often. So
much so that eventually I had a quiver of
nine-foot-plus surfboards stored there. I had some days
looking back now that were easily in the 15-foot-plus range and my
time there really prepared me for what was to come later.
The biggest wave I've ridden tow is 70-to-90 feet on that
infamous day at Cortez in 2009 when Greg Long, Brad Gerlach, Mike
Parsons and I went out between two huge storms on photographer Rob
Brown's little boat and scored bigger waves then I have ever seen
anywhere else. We were surfing the end section of the wave and up
the reef it looked twice the size. This session made me believe
that the 100-foot wave is easily achievable.
Paddle, I've ridden 50-to-60 feet on occasions: Mavericks during
the 2010 event, Dungeons during the 2009 event, Pe'ahi in
2013 and Cortez last year. I still believe my tallest-ever wave was
at Dungeons but unfortunately no photo of it exists which is a true
fisherman's story. My goal this northern-hemi season is to break
the current paddle record held by Sean Dollar at 61 feet.
I've found that if you have mental issues with big-waves you can
overcome 'em with physical conditioning. For me, it's all about
being as physically prepared as possible so that you have no
excuses mentally. In the past we have been far less prepared, and
have managed to survive, so nowadays it seems like we are readier
to tackle the waves we do.
Hold-downs that come very close to being grave existential crises
do happen, however. And the best advice I've had was "Don't panic
after you panic" which came from the legends of Waimea Bay. I try
to remember this underwater. There will always be a
certain amount of panic wanting to flood your body but if you
can recognise this and focus on it, then you can change its course
and stay calm.
Breath training is important, too. It ain't just a gimmick. It
teaches you to be comfortable underwater and to know your limits
which are, in fact, way further then you can imagine. In turn, that
teaches you to stay calm, control your panic and enjoy the
sensation of being held down by one of the most powerful forces in
nature. It really is the ultimate circus ride!
That said, my record static breath hold is five minutes which I
believe will give me around 40 seconds on a hold-down which is
between a two-and-three-wave hold-down. Any longer then that and I
will need to rely on my safety team to help out. An average
hold-down would be around 12 seconds but even a medium-size wave
with a long period will hold you down longer.
As for our limits, and particularly paddle surf, I don't think
there are any. We are just setting the standard for future
generations to shatter. New waves will be discovered, better
equipment designed and fitter, stronger surfers ready to go. I
can't wait to sit on my couch and watch them do it. Maybe it's
you!
