BEST OF: Style Matters Entries - 2
While we wait for the judges to narrow it down to our Style Matters finalists, we connected with a handful of the surfers to walk us through their rides, what style means to them and how they define it. Come dive in with us. Today we have 3 big time favorites: Gabe Morvil, Lungi Slabb and Moana Jones Wong.
More to come over the next few days, so keep checking back.
GABE MORVIL
WHO IS YOUR STYLE ICON?
My style icon, other than an obvious surfing choice of Tom Curren, would be my brother on a skateboard…I get a lot of my inspiration from skaters but watching him skate gives me more inspiration and excitement to go surf than anything else. His ability to go from 0 to 100 without even trying, just cruising to grinding full pockets and boosting huge backside lien to tails. How radical but graceful he skates at the same time with so much style. I’m not the only one that would call him their favorite.
TALK US THROUGH YOUR WAVE. DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT WAVE THAT ALLOWED YOU TO SHOWCASE YOUR STYLE MORE THAN OTHERS?
When I take off I analyze the wave and see what potential sections are gonna get thrown at me and I usually make the maneuver choice at the last second. I feel the best maneuvers come out when they’re not planned, but the barrel wave in particular had a slower entry so I was able to take my time and rely on one rail to get me up into it.
I thought I was going over the handlebars when I shifted to the front of my board — kind of a black out moment.
Then next thing you know I’m getting a nice vision. It shot me out and I kinda came unglued. It was a fun ride.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE GOOD STYLE?
Style to me is letting your natural flow happen on waves and on land. Everyone has their own unique approach, and it’s important to stay true to that, because no matter what you want to surf like or be like, your true self and style will always show. Surfing style that appeals to me is fast smooth rail to rail surfing with an ability to be agile and aggressive at the same time.
LUNGI SLABB
WHO IS YOUR STYLE ICON?
This one is a hard one for me and it changes a lot because there are so many to pick from. I like watching people who make surfing look effortless, like Parko, Curren , M. Feb, Asher Pacey, Ando.
TALK US THROUGH YOUR WAVE. DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT WAVE THAT ALLOWED YOU TO SHOWCASE YOUR STYLE MORE THAN OTHERS?
This wave was at Snapper, everything sort of happened pretty fast on this wave, but my favorite part was the little tube at the end.
Snapper is pretty playful when it’s barreling so I love to mess around and try different things.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE GOOD STYLE?
Define good style…good style to me is someone who can make tricky things look effortless and easy.
MOANA JONES-WONG
WHO IS YOUR STYLE ICON?
My style icon is Gerry Lopez because his style is timeless and can’t be replicated
TALK US THROUGH YOUR WAVE. DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT WAVE THAT ALLOWED YOU TO SHOWCASE YOUR STYLE MORE THAN OTHERS?
This wave was unlike any other wave for me because it was the biggest, steepest, scariest and most dangerously impossible yet perfect wave I ever got.
I remember dropping in and setting my rail — a lot of people tell me I have a unique style and a style that has glimpses of Gerry Lopez and Derek Ho — put a lot of weight on my front foot and my arms move in a certain way that I can’t explain…it really is involuntary.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE GOOD STYLE?
I do think style can’t be taught, it just comes naturally. I don’t know how I got the style I have, maybe it’s from watching countless hours of pipe videos of Gerry Lopez, Derek Ho and all the greats of Pipeline.
To me, good style is something that’s eye catching and unique. You aren’t doing what everyone else is doing, you are doing what feels good to you and feels natural to you.
It’s really easy to see and detect someone who has good style. It’s timeless, it flows, it’s like a dance between you and the ocean.
