Joel Parkinson

STERLING SAN FRAN

JOEL’S J-BAY INTERVIEW

Joel's last taste of J-Bay two years ago was a good one. //Shorty

Talk to me about the contrast between how you feel today, getting on a plane to J-Bay, and how you were feeling 12 months ago sitting on your lounge with a few dozen stitches in your foot?

My mind is pretty much the same – I think I dealt with the disappointment of the injury pretty well – but at least I’ve got a foot that’s not in two pieces. I’m so excited to go to J-Bay. I’ve wrapped myself in cotton wool this week and made sure I didn’t do a repeat of last year and got on that plane healthy.

Does it seem like 12 months ago since the injury?

Not really. I mean everything still feels kinda fresh for me, but so much has happened since then. It doesn’t feel like that long ago, but when you look back and realise what’s gone down since, there’s a bit in there.

How has your seven-week holiday from pro surfing treated you?

Awesome. I went to Bali for a Billabong boardshort shoot and got some amazing waves at Deserts, and I’ve just had an amazing week in Fiji. I had really nice Cloudbreak two days of epic waves, then the rest of the time just cruising and relaxing and enjoying island life with the family before I got stuck into 10 days of training at home getting ready for J-Bay and the rest of the year.

So your backhand tuberiding is probably going okay after Fiji, how are you going on your forehand?

I’ve gone right enough in my life for that to always be there. My backhand tuberiding is the one I love working on.

What’s the one thing you’re most looking forward to at J-Bay?

Everything. After two years everything about J-Bay excites me, but the one that’s in the forefront of my mind is that wave. I’m so excited about getting there and surfing that wave again after two years away. So excited, just the sensation of going so fast. My first wave when I get there I’ll probably just fly along it without doing a turn and just soak it all up. I‘m really excited about going back to J-Bay, but feeling really relaxed about going there at the same time, if that makes sense. Once you get there the whole vibe of J-Bay will take the edge off it and relax me.

Is surfing J-Bay instinct for you now after doing it for so long?

I guess so. The more you can rely on instinct out there and let the natural stuff take over, the better it is for your surfing. Better for me anyway. Trying to force something for me doesn’t work out there. It takes a little bit more time at J-Bay to assess the day – the direction of swell, the break between sets, which waves are hitting the reef just right – all those little things. But once you know in your head, which waves are the better ones, when you find the wave you want you can just go with it. Where you do your turns is the most crucial thing with J-Bay. Too early and the wave will take off without you. You just really need to be in a rhythm with that wave to surf it well.

What kind of surfing will win J-Bay?

That depends on the conditions, but in pumping J-Bay full rail surfing and monster turns with a couple of barrels will usually do the trick.

Given you’ve won here twice, how important is a result here at J-Bay for you?

I guess it is. We’ve had a break, we’ve had a bit of time off, and so it feels like we’ve just come out for the second half. No one can say they’ve got momentum. You haven’t surfed a heat in months and your mind drifts away from competitiveness when you have seven weeks off, so you have to get back in that zone and in that routine of getting ready for your heat and building that confidence again.

And there are a few unknowns at the back end of year.

I guess so, definitely. New York, I suppose you can prepare yourself for some pretty small beachbreak stuff. You never know, it might get some waves but from what I’ve heard it’s going to be pretty hard to run a good contest up there. You might have some moments, but all up it mightn’t be so good. San Francisco I have no real idea. I’ve heard it can get okay. I’m not sure what we’re going to get at either, but the one thing I know is that we’re all in it together. If it’s ordinary we’re all surfing the same thing. It will be one of those things that whoever adapts to what we get the quickest will win.

Looking at the ratings at the moment, do they mean anything to you? Guys like Taj and Mick have surfed as good as they can at certain stages but sit fourth and eighth. Do you give any weight to the ratings going into J-Bay?

Not so much. I think Adriano has been surfing out of his skin this year, but I think Taj has probably been the best surfer in the world with Mick not far behind, but their results haven’t been there and so they’re not up there. But there’s no point in looking at the ratings right now. Once the routine kicks in and these back-to-back events start to go down, that’s when you’ll see some shuffling and you’ll see who’s going to make a challenge. They’ll be worth a look then.

I SWEAR

THE BACKYARD

BACK AT BELLS

On the way to winning Bells, 2009. //Frank

Happy with how you surfed at snapper?

Yeah I was. I thought it was unlucky that I got Dane Reynolds in that kind of form. All in all though I thought I was in pretty good shape, I had good rhythm. It was the best Dane’s surfed in a heat and it was unlucky that it was me surfing against him when it happened.

After getting so close to the title last year has it been hard to not feel deflated at the start of the new campaign this year?

Maybe I’ve felt a little bit of nervous pressure leading into Snapper, but that disappeared as soon as I surfed my first heat. After I surfed that first heat I didn’t feel any different to last year at all. My goals are the same and my focus are the same as they were in 2009.

Your thoughts on the surfing you saw at Snapper? Did you feel like it had lifted a couple of notches across the board?

Definitely. I really liked what I saw up at Snapper. The judges were really rewarding innovation and repertoire and going for it, which is a great thing. What makes a good surfer is someone who can do everything on a wave. They were rewarding that and I think that was all-time.

There’s a new head judge and a lot of new surfing in the mix at Snapper; did anything surprise you in terms of how that new surfing was being interpreted by the judges?

I think they were pretty much right onto it. Maybe the only thing I’d question is how bottom turns were being scored. Guys like Mick and Kelly were bottom turning right out, fading wide and deep, but their scores were on par with bottom turns that were being done halfway up the face. But at Bells that’s likely to change a bit, just because of the wave itself and the fact you can’t do those huge wide bottom turns.

And with the bottom 16 dropping off the tour after Tahiti, did you notice some more spice in your early heats?

Yeah, it put some extra zing in your early heats. Time will tell quickly after a few events, and the closer we get to that halfway mark the more important each heat is going to be for the guys in those spots on the ratings. Survival on the tour started at Snapper.

Is Bells a wave you can always learn something new about?

For sure. Unless you live there and surf it in every mood you can always keep learning something out there. You can get a good base knowledge of that wave, but fine tuning it is another matter altogether. Guys who have been on the tour a long time get to know it to a certain degree, but to really get to know it takes a long time. I’m happy with the relationship I have with it, and every time I surf it I try and pick up some knew piece of knowledge about it.

What’s the key to mounting a successful campaign at Bells?

Wave selection. That’s the key at Bells. First wave of the set? Second wave? Which one connects through? There’s nothing worse than you think you’re on a gem you get one good turn in and it dies in the arse and you end up with a couple of fat cutbacks. It all happens on The Bowl, and if you can pick that one that runs across The Bowl it makes winning your heat a lot easier.

What have you been doing since Snapper?

Surfing at home, training. I went to Margies and got used to surfing in a wetsuit. The last couple of days have been really good for me. I’ve been riding two boards and they’ve both been going amazing.

Have your boards changed at all this year?

They have a bit, yeah. The board itself, not so much, but I’ve been experimenting with my fins. Trying to find the drive and speed, more so my drive. I’ve had a pretty big off season training and have been working on my leg strength, and with my boards I’ve felt I’ve needed slightly bigger fins to turn that leg strength into drive.

This time last year you’d won two from two, but this year you’re in the chasing pack. Is it a relief the focus isn’t on you this time around?

Definitely. This time last year I felt all the eyes were glued on me every heat. Right now I have a really calm feeling about it all. I know what the job at hand is and it’s pretty simple. After the intense pressure toward the end of last year with me and Mick going for the title, now it feels like I’m a step sideways out of the limelight, just lurking in the shadows. But I feel like I’m doing my best surfing, I feel like I’m surfing better than I was this time last year.

And Taj is in the position you were in at this time last year, rolling heat after heat. What’s changed you think?

You never know why or what changes when you get on a roll like that, but it seems like his mental approach is really positive, and his surfing has improved a bit through the confidence. But his approach to an event and even a heat, he’s got a really good system going with it and he’s reaping the benefits.