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February 25, 2009
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In the next week, the first heat of the 2009 ASP World Tour will take to the water on Australia's Gold Coast, and the season will officially begin.
For Taylor Knox, it will be his 16th. Knox's tour card has been punched more times than anyone's on this year's Tour, plus, at 37 years old, he slightly edges out Kelly as the oldest competitor. Knox's zeal for surfing and the Tour, however, is more what you'd expect from a surfer about to embark on his rookie campaign, than from a seasoned vet like Knox.
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'09 with a revamped competitive approach and in what he says is, physically, the best surfing shape of his life. Surfline caught up with TK the week prior to the season opener on the Goldy to catch up, talk pre-season strategy, get the skinny on the new boards he's riding, the direction he'd like to see the ASP take on the heels of an offseason that was anything but quiet, and how bummed he is that Trevor Hoffman isn't closing for the Padres. So, what have you been doing with yourself since the season ended? Well since the Tour ended, I took some time off and it wasn't really by choice. I ripped some cartilage under my ribs a week before Pipe so surfing was out of the question. The upside was being able to send time with my kids, Hunter and Jordyn. Tell me about the injury you sustained before Pipe. A week before, I took off a little late on a windy day. Made the take off, but was too late to pull in. so I straightened out and the lip hit the tail of my board and just flung me into the air and slammed me down hard on my ribs. It felt like I landed on concrete. After a long season in competition mode, how long does it take you to decompress? Do you come home, go on vacation, go on a surf trip, go MIA for a couple weeks? Basically I'm a homebody when I come home. I love where I live. It's nice to see your friends and family. It used to take longer to decompress, but now I'm more relaxed all around so.... Well, I do go MIA. Who am I kidding? You mentioned that you're more relaxed now. Were you more tightly wound before? Was that something that was brought on by competition? Talk a little bit more about what you've done over your career to strengthen the mental side of your game. Yeah, I was definitely tighter, but I can't blame it on competition though. Being a young guy, I always felt I had to prove myself, which after a while will only hold you back, and sometimes it's hard to let go of that feeling because you think it's what got you there. Practicing a simple meditation really has been the secret. And it's no secret. It's called the Kelee meditation, and if anyone is interested they can check it out online. I mean everyone knows the body follows the mind. So if the mind's tight....well. "I don't know how the other pros view the Tour, and I know it's not for everyone, but if you're going to do it, then commit. Surfing is such an amazing thing to experience that I don't take anything for granted."
Knox on the rumors that a lot of the surfers on Tour are over it
My boards are totally different than what anyone else is riding and have been for about a year. Al and I have been working on some different deep v-tails that have been working really well, and we just refined it more in the last week. The boards are so fast and loose. What do you do to train in the offseason? Do you tailor your workouts so that you're peaking at a specific time during the season? I work really close with my trainer, Paul Hiniker, and time everything around the start of the Tour. We know exactly what we want to work on a month in advance, so what we've been doing in the last week is basically core strength and rotation. I'm putting out my training program on a DVD before summer, so we'll have to do a launch on Surfline. You said in 2007 that, competitively, we still haven't seen your best nor have we yet to witness your biggest surfing accomplishment. Is that still true? Well, I know that I'm in much better shape for surfing than I ever have been, for one. Two, surfing is really a state of mind. So finding that place where you feel you're best on the inside usually transfers into great surfing. You'll turn 38 this year, your 16th year on Tour. How has your perspective changed over your career? Is your approach to competition, or even the sport, different now than when you were a rookie? My approach is so much different. Lets just say things have gotten smoother, and my surfing has changed from motivation to inspiration. Those two words are like worlds apart for me now. How many more years do you plan to stay on the ASP World Tour? Is retirement still a four-letter word, or have you given it some thought? One of the things that is a lot different for me is I don't get ahead of myself. Right now, it's about today. I'm ready and worked so hard to stay on top of my game and make myself a better surfer, that I know I can have a choice with where I want to go. I'm pumped for the Tour this year and we'll see about next year when it gets here. With Bruce and Andy leaving this year, do you think up-and-coming surfers still see the ASP World Tour as the dream, or has it lost some of it's shine? Do you still think kids think the World Tour is cool, when two of its biggest stars voluntarily opt out and there are rumors that a lot of the surfers on Tour are over it? I don't know how the other pros view the Tour, and I know it's not for everyone, but if you're going to do it, then commit. Surfing is such an amazing thing to experience that I don't take anything for granted. There's other avenues, for sure, that are incredible, like what Rob [Machado] has been doing the last few years. It's all exciting to me. Do you think the rumors of guys just not caring stem from a legitimate problem? Could it be that surfers are dissatisfied that the rules and judging criteria aren't conducive to contemporary, high performance surfing standards; that surfers are holding back in heats so they score better and don't fall on riskier, more progressive maneuvers? Yeah, I think some serious changes need to happen and the surfers are ready. Now it's getting everyone on the same page. Let's just say, some people fear change. I mean, there are other sports to model ours after, like the way tennis does their ratings; really simple stuff that takes forever for the ASP to get their head around. Yes, some people might not like the changes at the time because it doesn't help them, but if this sport is to grow, these have to be made and not just thought about for a couple of years. Change shouldn't take that long. How do you think the ASP will fare without Rabbit Bartholomew at the helm? Who would you like to see succeed Rabbit? I know Rabbit is an icon of the sport and we'll miss him a lot. I'd like to see someone based out of the U.S. because that's where all the marketing dollars are. The offices couldn't be in a worse place if you're in this business. I don't know of any big company's based there, Coke, Toyota, etc. It was 1993 when you and Rob qualified for the Tour. San Diego hasn't seen a World Tour qualifier since. Who do you think has a legitimate shot at making the Tour from San Diego? Well, I've been waiting for some of the groms here to make a charge, and would love to see that. I'm not really around the Juniors that much because I travel so I ask around a lot. I feel like there should be more than there is though. I know you're a diehard San Diego sports fan. How much are the Pads going to miss Trevor Hoffman? Oh man, I was so bummed that Trevor didn't stay with the Padres. I respect the way he approaches his career and modeled some of that to the way I approach mine. Want to see more from San Diego? Click here to go to the Surfline San Diego archive. MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |