Learning to Surf Is Hard. Having Laird Hamilton As a Personal Coach Helps. (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated 3/14/24

In a very basic analogy, surfing is somewhat like riding a bike.

Once you learn, once you ride that first wave all the way to shore, or once you successfully make a loop around the cul-de-sac on two wheels, it clicks.

Sure, you gotta get back on a board, or a bike, every now and then if you wanna maintain the skill. And there’s always room for improvement. (Bigger waves, steeper hills, etc.) But that entry level first ride is key; once you’re in, you’re in.

And so, when it comes to surfing, lots of folks hire a professional.

For Tim Ferriss – a self-help author, podcaster, etc. – got one of the best in the biz for his YouTube series in which he attempts to learn very hard things; he got Laird Hamilton.

Here’s how Ferriss explains the concept for his video series:

“This is episode #11 my TV show, The Tim Ferriss Experiment! The show is like MythBusters meets Jason Bourne. In every episode, I partner with the world’s best and most unorthodox teachers (e.g., Laird Hamilton, Marcelo Garcia, Stewart Copeland), who train me for a final gauntlet. Shocking breakthroughs, injuries, epiphanies, and disasters are all part of the journey. Along the way, I show you how to replicate results in an attempt to prove that ‘you don’t need to be superhuman to get superhuman results… you just need a better toolkit.’”

How’d he go?

Well, after a week of surfing with Laird – including some bodysurfing and standup paddleboarding – Ferriss stood up on his own, on a knee-high wave, crouched down low like a stinkbug, and rode the wave all the way to shore.

Pretty much the equivalent of a wobbly first ride without training wheels, no?

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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