South African Championship Tour star, Jordy Smith, talks about the pro surfing hype machine, surviving the spotlight put on him at a young age, never crumbling under the weight of expectations, and how the media drives sponsorships. He looks back at his eventful quarantine, in which he experienced the birth of his child, was home for a South African winter for the first time in years, and got deep into shaping surfboards. He discusses how other surfers have influenced his surfing, from working to match Dane Reynolds in video parts to pulling inspiration from Taj Burrow’s airs and Joel Parkinson and Tom Curren’s style. Finally, as he prepares for the upcoming Australian leg of the tour, Jordy breaks down the obsessive work and the intense (and secretive) training regimen that goes into his pursuit of a World Title.