I still get scared every time I go out. I get scared taking off; I get scared on the wave, falling, everything. But, you know, growing up with it, I guess you're a little more comfortable.
More Quotes by John John Florence
When you start forcing things, that's when you get hurt.
That's such a common saying: Just be present, live in the moment. But there's actually really something to it when you really start to learn it.
The best version of surfing is not competing, I think. It's just... it's perfect. You're perfectly present. You're perfectly in the moment. You're perfectly not thinking about anything else in the world. You're just surfing. You're surfing away with your friends or your family, and that's it. You're just there.
I'd be in elementary school all week, and then on the weekend, my mom would take us to Kauai or to the Big Island or to California for a contest. That was really fun.
You just keep doing stuff, and one thing evolves into another. Then suddenly it's like, 'Oh, wait, I'm here surfing against Kelly Slater and all these guys I grew up watching.'
You go to a contest, and it's like, 'OK, I'm here for two weeks. All my energy, time, thinking, and everything is going toward that.' Everything you're doing is building toward the score at the end.