037: MATT ARCHBOLD - Speed Style Longevity

SHOW NOTES:

Can you become a world-class surfer without coaching, cameras, or competition?

In a world obsessed with surf coaching and performance analysis, Matt Archbold proves that intuition, repetition, and pure passion can still be the ultimate teachers. Whether you’re struggling with style, stuck in small waves, or burnt out from overcoaching, this conversation offers a refreshing return to the raw roots of surfing.

• Discover why feel is the most underrated skill in surfing—and how to cultivate it

• Learn how to improve without expensive gear or surf trips, even in small, average conditions

• Get Matt’s take on style, speed, burnout, and how to keep frothing into your 50s

Listen now for a masterclass in timeless surfing wisdom, straight from the legend himself—Matt Archbold.

Matt’s surfing advice is simple, profound & wise.
https://archysgarage.com/
http://malibupopoyo.com/

Key Points

• Michael announces upcoming surf coaching trip in Nicaragua with Taylor Knox and Matt Greggs at Malibu Popoyo resort planned for September 15th

• Matt discusses his experience learning car mechanics through hands-on work and help from friends

• Matt explains his self-taught approach to learning surfing through observation and feel rather than formal coaching

• Matt shares insights about surfing Off The Wall in Hawaii and the importance of understanding wave patterns

• Matt discusses his approach to surfing both small and big waves, emphasizing the importance of being able to surf in all conditions

• Matt reveals his current work on launching Archie's Garage, a clothing line featuring t-shirts and hats 

Outline

Matt Archbold's Surfing Philosophy

• Matt Archbold emphasizes the importance of relaxation and enjoyment in surfing.

• Stress or taking surfing too seriously can negatively impact performance.

• Encouraging surfers to have fun often leads to better performance.

• This philosophy is applied to their own surfing and advised to their son.

• Despite a laid-back approach, self-criticism drives continuous improvement.

• Being present in the moment is crucial for both surfing and life.

Learning to Surf and Developing Style

• Learning to surf was primarily through observation and self-teaching.

• Watching other surfers and studying photos helped develop skills.

• Visualization played a key role in understanding wave maneuvers.

• An innate sense of what felt right contributed to a unique style.

• There is an emphasis on finding one's own style rather than conforming to others' expectations.

• Surfing should feel natural and authentic as an individual sport.

Surfing Technique and Wave Reading

• Understanding wave energy is essential, especially in smaller waves.

• Knowing when to stall, pump, and navigate flat sections is crucial.

• Adaptability in all conditions, including offshore winds and blown-out surf, is important.

• A good surfer should be able to perform well in any type of wave.

Off the Wall and Big Wave Surfing

• Success at Off the Wall comes from understanding wave intricacies.

• Knowledge of swell direction, wind patterns, and positioning is vital.

• Reading the ocean and recognizing incoming sets are key skills.

• The physical tolls of big wave surfing include back surgeries from compressions and poundings.

Equipment and Board Design

• Current favorite surfboards are designed by shaper Timmy Patterson.

• Riding a variety of boards, including different tail designs, suits various conditions.

• Board preferences remain consistent over the years, focusing on performance over design specifics.

• Giving new boards a chance is important, as initial awkwardness may lead to favorites.

Advice for Young Surfers

• Developing personal style and trusting instincts is encouraged.

• Patience is necessary for surfers to come into their own over time.

• Equipment should be given a fair chance before being dismissed.

• Forcing maneuvers that don't fit the wave looks bad and feels unnatural.

• Feeling comfortable and natural in one's surfing approach is emphasized.

Archie's Garage - New Clothing Line

• They are launching a new clothing line called Archie's Garage with their spouse.

• The focus is on t-shirts and hats, with screen printing done personally in the garage.

• Initial struggles in learning the process were overcome with help from a friend.

• Products will be available online and promoted through social media.

• There is excitement about sharing products with friends, family, and fans.

Transcription:

Matt Archbold
If you just relax, you know, when have you ever surfed good when you're just stressed out and take it too serious, you know? It's just so fun. If you're not having fun, most likely you're not surfing good. You know, even when you're not surfing, it's not that much fun. So maybe if your board's not turning, step back on it a little bit more or move up or, you know.

Michael Frampton
Yes, welcome back to the show. 2019 had a little bit of a break there. The fires that ripped through Malibu did throw a spanner in the works in all aspects of life. So glad to be back now, back in Malibu, back surfing, back coaching, and actually a trip has just been penciled in, looking to be confirmed soon. But here's some early bird notice. There's a surf coaching trip in Nicaragua and it is with Taylor Knox and Matt Greggs. Like a dream trip, surfing with Taylor Knox, being coached by Matt Greggs. I am going. I am looking forward to it. It's being hosted by Malibu Popoyo. It's a five-star resort. Check that out, malibupopoyo.com. And the trip itself, it's not finalized yet, but it's looking like it's going to be on the week of the 15th of September. So plenty of time to organize. Those that are seriously interested in surfing with Taylor Knox and being coached by Matt Greggs in Central America, then send me an email. I might be able to get you some early bird tickets. That's mike@surfmastery.com. Check out the resort. Looks pretty rad actually. malibupopoyo.com. There will be links to the show notes, and once the trip is fully confirmed and everything, I will announce that and spread the news on that trip as well. But if you are serious about it, do let me know. But I think, yeah, I think these tickets will sell fast. My guest in this episode is Matt Archbold. Archie. Legend. Archie has a new project, Archie's Garage, which is a line of clothing. If you're an Archie fan and you like his style, go and check out archiesgarage.com. That's Archie A-R-C-H-Y-S garage.com. Please enjoy my conversation with Matt. You've always been hands-on. Yeah. You're a hands-on guy. Like with your car, you said you've liked the ongoing project. Yeah, that, I mean, how did you learn about like how to fix it up?

Matt Archbold
My car. It's learn as I go, but I've had a lot of friends that do mechanic, you know, in the hot rods and motorcycles and stuff.

Michael Frampton
Did you have a tutor or were you just like just jump in and learn as you go?

Matt Archbold
So I've always had cars, and I built a couple of motorcycles in my garage when I was a lot younger.

Michael Frampton
From scratch?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Wow. From like the frame up, basket cases. Like I'll go and, you know, look in the paper or whatever back then. I was like 30 years ago or something, and I would just buy like, you know, out of the paper, like they call it a basket case, which is like a frame, a motor, and like then you just kind of go to swap meets and pick out. It's super fun, you know, it gets kind of addicting and then just piece it together. Kind of have to know what goes where and what. Just this one friend of mine, we call him Biker Darrell.

Michael Frampton
But how did you learn that?

Matt Archbold
He helped me out with that and then he helped me build the first one. Then I built a second one doing that just by learning from him and just, you know, he teaching me kind of hands-on. I never went to school for it. And then from there I just kind of learned. I do a lot of reading and manuals and stuff. And then people coming over and helping me and teaching me, just from friends. And it's, that's its second motor in there.

Michael Frampton
As far as like rebuilding that vehicle, is that the same kind of thing?

Matt Archbold
Yeah, exactly. But the first one I had, the original flathead in it, and I yanked that out and had it all rebuilt and put it in myself and tuned it all up. And then this, and then I blew that motor up. I overheated it, but then I got this new motor and then I had to put in, this guy Bob Miller put it in. And then I drove it for a while and then spun some bearings and ended up having to take them out and put new bearings in. And my buddy Philibar, Tom Philibar, helped me with that. And then it's from there. Just recently just had it tuned up. A friend of mine, this guy Drew, helped me with it and we just fine-tuned it, just about three weeks ago. And now I'm kind of cruising it every day. I just picked up my daughter and her friend from school.

Michael Frampton
The hands-on kind of learning attitude, is that how you became so good at surfing?

Matt Archbold
Yeah, because, yeah, that's what I kind of trip out these days because I see people getting taught how to surf and then they all have coaches and do all this kind of stuff. And when I was, I wasn't really taught how to surf. I just watched. I'd just see what people were doing and I'd go, went out and caught a wave and, you know, my brother would say, you know, he'd give me a tip or something. And then I remember catching my first wave and then kind of from then on I just kind of had to figure it out myself. I didn't have anybody coaching me or telling me what to do. I'd look at a lot of pictures and magazines and then just kind of feel it out, you know, and I'm leaning too far forward. I'll have to lean back, maybe shift back on my board, you know, just kind of think it out and kind of visualize what I wanted to do.

Michael Frampton
But how did you know you were doing something wrong? Did you have people filming you?

Matt Archbold
No, nothing. I don't know. I guess that's a good question. I think by the feel of it, you know, if I, I always knew if I went like go fast, you know, and things look better as if you go fast, most things. And so, yeah, that's a really good question. I don't know. I think by just feeling a picture in what I was looking like, I think. Because I remember trying to like, I'd see pictures of like Shane Horan or Rabbit Bartholomew or those guys back in the day. And I loved their, I loved Rabbit's style and Shane's style. And then Martin Potter came out. And of course, he just blew everybody away in my eyes. And so I would kind of have him pictured. I'd kind of pick in my brain somehow, go, I wonder what he would do, but then do it my own way. I don't know if that's understandable, but, I mean, just, I don't know. It's just a feel that I get, you know, still today. You know, I have that feeling. Even if I do a cutback and just one little thing's wrong, I'll go, man, I blew that, you know. And it's just something that's been in me for my whole time I've been surfing. I know when something feels right and something doesn't. I guess it's something inside. You know when something's right and wrong. You know when you do a good turn or something and it feels just right. I guess to answer your question, I guess that if it felt right to me, I guess that's how you get your style, maybe. You know, that doesn't, does that make sense?

Michael Frampton
It does.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
But usually people will get confirmation of the feeling through footage and, yeah, and photos. Which you probably got later on in your career.

Matt Archbold
I did. I got, at first I got photos and stuff and some I liked and some I didn't, you know. Some I go, man, my hands are in the wrong place or, you know, but then you can't really, I mean, how do you...

Michael Frampton
When you started seeing footage and photos, that was, it sounds like that was more refining what you were in tune with.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. And it didn't really change. I don't think it changed anything. Even if I did see a photo and I wasn't concentrating on changing my arms or my style or anything. At all. I just think like everybody has their style. And I think these days it's lacking the style, because everybody's doing the same thing. So I think there's a lot of... Because to me, surfing is a, it's a lifestyle, you know, and it's expressing yourself, you know, and the way you surf. And back in the day, I mean, there were all these pro surfers like Mark Richards, John Thompson, like I say, Rabbit. And they had their... Everybody had their own style. And these days it's... I kind of... It's lacking the soul and the art of surfing because everybody should express... I mean, surf the way they want to surf, you know? And I think the coaches are kind of hurting that, you know? And I understand it's for the competition and what everybody wants to see, but let them... Like, sometimes it's, you know, you get used to someone's style and they go, wow, that was cool, you know? It's just different looking. I don't know. Maybe I wasn't... I kind of went off on that thing, a tangent right there, but I just think it's lacking right now.

Michael Frampton
I agree with you. Yeah. It's good to teach people perfect techniques so they know what a good bottom turn should feel like. But once you got that feeling, then add your touch to that.

Matt Archbold
Exactly. Yeah. I mean, it's a cool thing. Everybody should look different, you know?

Michael Frampton
But if we go back to what you said about the feeling. And you said if you did a subpar cutback, you felt it.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
Even if it was just one little part of it.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
What do you feel? Like a loss of speed?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Like, you know, yeah. Like, where like, say on a roundhouse, I'd come up and like do a bank. And, you know, when you're reading the wave, I know where I should be at to get, you know, the most, like the rebound off it, you know? And if I didn't come back all the way back up to where I would need it or, you know, just a little bit, you know, it could... Someone else might not know, but I do, you know. I don't know how to explain it, but it's... I'm gonna... Someone goes, That was sick. And I'll go, Thanks. You know, but I, in my head, I'll go, God, I could have just done that much better. But I think that's what keeps surfing so exciting because no two waves are exactly the same. And it's so, like, it's so addictive, you know? Like, I know I can do it better. I know I can get a better wave. It's always... You always are trying to get that better wave or do a turn better. And, you know, and I'm older now and I'm still trying to do that. You know, I don't think if it ever changed, I probably wouldn't...

Michael Frampton
Look.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. It would be boring.

Michael Frampton
Exactly.

Matt Archbold
You know? So that's where surfing just gets me, you know, because I know there's always room for improvement, you know? So I just love that part of it.

Michael Frampton
The need for speed. And then speed is like the feedback, right? If you can maintain your speed, you know it probably looks good and you're on rail.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
Yeah.

Matt Archbold
Going fast and powerful, those are huge in my world. I mean, you could do a nice slow cutback, but then when you bank around, you want to kind of snap back and around. I just... A friend of mine said that to me a long time ago, this guy, Jimmy Hogan. He's like, Man, the faster you go, the better it looks. And then I've always... It's always stuck in my head. Like, you know, everything looks better faster.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. I mean, you're known for one of the fastest surfers of all time. Yeah. So, and you obviously like fast cars.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Built for speed. Yeah. That's my tagline, pretty much.

Michael Frampton
Do you think that you see things in slow motion?

Matt Archbold
Yeah, I may, it could be because when I'm on a wave, everything, it does, it doesn't go that fast. Maybe I do. I don't know. That's a good question to put that in my brain and think about sometime.

Michael Frampton
Do you sometimes look at surfers that are going slow, but the expression on their face looks like they think they're going...

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
Fast?

Matt Archbold
Yeah, totally.

Michael Frampton
Kind of the opposite. You're like flying and you just relax and visually you're taking everything in and...

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I know. It's the expression. Surfing Magazine back in the day, I think they had like a funny expression part, like where they, people's face, close-up on people's faces. I don't know if you remember that. They’d do funny face, like shots of people thinking they're just blowing the tail or ripping super hard and their faces... it's just funny faces.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Rob Baines started putting photos of himself like that on his Instagram. That's rad. It's actually pretty funny. What is just... he's grandmasters champ now.

Matt Archbold
He... what's he up to?

Michael Frampton
He just won.

Matt Archbold
Really? He just won? He won?

Michael Frampton
Nice. So there's masters and there's a grandmasters?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Sick.

Michael Frampton
I think over 55 is grandmasters.

Matt Archbold
Okay.

Michael Frampton
And then there's a masters too, right?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I think that's over 45.

Michael Frampton
Okay. I have to look that... It sounds like you learned a lot of your surfing from watching others.

Matt Archbold
Up. Yeah. I don't even know. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. We didn't have videos back then. I mean, we had surf movies that would come out like maybe once a year if we were lucky, but yeah, I watched, well, I studied a lot of photos because that's all we had was the magazines. And then when we finally did get some videos, I'd study, studying pretty hard.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Would you try and stand in front of the mirror and put your body in those positions? How deep did you dive?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I would do that. I would just, you know, skateboarding, a lot of skateboarding, you know, I still do it today. It's sort of like you get on a skateboard and pretend like you're surfing. Does that... those car... we have a Carver board, you know, those Carver... those things are so sick for that.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. They are.

Matt Archbold
They're so fun.

Michael Frampton
You still skate?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I still skate. You know, I'll skate. I just, I'd go up to... just recently I went up and saw my nephew Wiley over at this place and where he works and he had a little half pipe up there and I'm like, this is sick. And just jump on it, started grinding. But I like that. I mean, but I won't get super into it, but little mini half pipes and like, that's fun. Yeah. I don't think you're ever too old for that. Yeah. It's hard not to, when you see something like that and you're like, how could you just sit, not do that? You know?

Michael Frampton
Well, you mentioned that surfing's kind of addictive.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Very. For me.

Michael Frampton
How nowadays would you describe your relationship to surfing?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Well, I... same as when I was a kid, you know, I just love surfing and that's... I'll just pretty much think about surfing all the time and trying to get to that... get to the ocean when I get some time, free time, which is... you know, I surf... I'll try to surf once a day at least.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Yeah. Is it... do you think just keeping that level of froth, is that what's given you longevity?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I think for the love of surfing. I never... I always surfed because I love it, and I didn't really look at it like a job. I think a lot of these guys look at it more like a job and a way to make a living, and... which I probably should have. But I just do it because I love surfing. I love the... I love everything about it. Like the... just the ritual of just getting ready, prepared to go surfing, and getting psyched up, and being in the water and just feeling it. Like, it's like when you jump in the water, you just instantly turn into a... or I do... turn into a... like a kid again. You know, it's just so... it's like the fountain of youth for me or something. You know, just weightless and just everything. I don't know. And the salt water... I love salt water and I don't even like to rinse it off me when I get out of the water. You know, some people are freaks about like, I gotta get the salt water off. I love it. You know, I'll let it dry on me, especially in Hawaii, where it's clean. But I just... everything about it, you know. Just testing new boards, just looking at boards and just... I don't know. Just going to the beach. Just saying everything about surfing, I just... I really love. And that's why I think that I'm still doing it today, and I'll do it as long as I can.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Well, you're still doing it at a high level.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Try it. It's...

Michael Frampton
Like watching you and Taylor when you went down to Birds.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. That was fun.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. That was...

Matt Archbold
Ripping those boards.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. That was...

Matt Archbold
Hard, but that was fun. I wish I had another go at that. Because I would... I think I could get more into it. You know, he kind of caught me off guard a little bit. But yeah, it was definitely fun.

Michael Frampton
Why did you have such a fascination with Off The Wall?

Matt Archbold
Well, I think because I grew up here in San Clemente, there's a lot of beach breaks. It's a lot of fast-moving waves. So I take like Off The Wall, it's like pretty much a beach break on steroids, you know? So I was just kind of used to it. And the beach breaks, you have to be really fast, you know, and you have to kind of, you know, when it's bigger, find your way to paddle out and stuff. And I don't think a lot of people want to deal with that, you know? And I didn't mind dealing with the poundings and, you know, the longer paddle outs because you're getting pounded. And because if you knew where to sit and you know what wave to pick, you're going to get the wave of your life, you know? And I just... it was, you know, a lot of it had to do with, you know, backdoor's... it was so packed all the time and Pipe that I'd just come in and just, you know, when it was bigger, I'd go down Off The Wall and just wait it out. And there's always those waves that were going to come in that, you know, when everything lined up right, it was going to... and you just had to wait it out and, you know, the knowledge to pick that perfect wave.

Michael Frampton
So Off The Wall is not so much about the shape of the reef. It's looking for the right wave that's coming in that's going to give you a corner?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. The direction of the swell, you know, and just... you know, Wai is always like shifting around at this little spot. But you got... you know, you can kind of... it's hard to explain, but you can kind of figure it out. And when you do figure it out, you know which wave, when it's coming in and it was lining up, you know what wave is going to be good and which one's not. So the more time you spend out there, you know, just like anything, you know which one's going to be good. And a lot of people, you know, they go out there to get pounded. And I kind of... I figured it out. It took me a long time to where, you know, I know where to sit and I know where to paddle out. It depends on the different swells. You know, if it's a North, Northwest, or Northeast, right? It depends on the swells, where to sit at different... you know, just by looking at it, I can tell. Yeah, okay. I know where to go today. Where to paddle out today, you know? So there's just so many variations of it. It would take a lot to explain, you know?

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like you're very detailed first.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Yeah. Super. It's, but it's hard for me to explain those details, but they're in here in my brain. But yeah, I pay a lot of attention to that kind of stuff. Well, you have to, I mean, especially when the waves are huge, you know, and you're like... it's like life or death, some of those situations, and it's getting... knowing what you're doing, how to get out of those.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Cause I'm sure you dealt with a lot of gnarly wipeouts trying to figure out. Yeah. That's a skill in itself, right? Is learning how to fall and how to...

Matt Archbold
Wipe out. Yep. How to get through those sets. Like, when you're paddling back out and timing, you're like... just the whole breathing and breath in between, I mean, it's gnarly.

Michael Frampton
Did you have any gnarly injuries from that learning...

Matt Archbold
Curve? Just wear and tear over the years. I've had a couple of back surgeries and just like, almost blacking out a few times there. It's... yeah. I mean, think, just none that stand out from Off The Wall, that I can think of. I mean, of course, just cuts and stitches and stuff, but I think all the compressions and poundings... it's what my wife says. At least I say it's from carrying heavy stuff around the house, but she says it probably could be those poundings at Off The Wall for my back, you know. Because over the years, my back has been giving me a hard time, but I think I got it figured out now.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. How did you figure out that?

Matt Archbold
I got a good doctor, Dr. Vokesher. He put my back together a couple of times. It was kind of scary. I had like... I don't know if you ever heard of drop foot. It's like, my back was hurting and next thing I know, I was dragging my foot. And I was like, God, I gotta go to... I used to go to Tim Brown a lot, and I called him up and I told him what was happening. He goes, no. He goes, hold on, I'll call you back. And I'm like, what? So he called me back and told me to go to this place called Spine, I think it's called Spine or Disc Spine. And so I went to them, and they diagnosed me with a drop foot. And so they got me into surgery like next day. Wow. So there was like a chip in my cord, and it was just thrashed. It's hard to explain. But so they got it, they figured it out, and I was out for about four months. It was like a herniated disc and a couple other things. And then I was back in the water in about four months. And then I went straight to Hawaii and I redid it. So I had two surgeries within a year, in less than a year. I was like... so he said one... then I rehabbed it better this time. Cause I kind of rushed it last time. And then, so after I rehabbed it the second time, he did this stuff, he like grinded some bone or something and sprinkled it. I don't know, it's like high-tech stuff. And so now, knock on wood, it's been holding up and it's been, I think, three years now. So I'm pretty solid.

Michael Frampton
You got some exercises you do just to maintain, or...

Matt Archbold
A lot of work around the house. I'll do like a lot of gut wheel stuff, and I just do a lot of like ab core stuff. So I think that's... I mean, and then try to stay fit, trying to get over weight, cause I think that has a lot to do with it as well. And a lot of surfing. Yeah. And swimming. I swim. I do laps in this pool a lot.

Michael Frampton
How fast does the hot rod go?

Matt Archbold
That thing... it'll probably do 110 maybe. I haven't driven it that fast, but I haven't. I just like doing burnouts like loads in my driveway. I don't know if you were already here when I came in.

Michael Frampton
No. You just showed up when you saw me.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I always... cause I always... when I pick up my daughter, she lets me do like one burnout every time. So I do... my poor neighbors, all the stuff at the bottom there, and I just see how far I can do a burnout out of my driveway. She loves it. Now she loves it. She goes, burnout! But I'm just waiting for my neighbors to say, can you... do you have to do it every time?

Michael Frampton
No one's said anything yet?

Matt Archbold
No, they're all pretty easy. Neighbors are cool. Yeah. Pretty cool. But... yeah.

Michael Frampton
Pretty relaxed town.

Matt Archbold
San Clemente is pretty cool. I mean, we're pretty good. We're not that loud here. But my... I think that burnout, it might... maybe they'll get used to it.

Michael Frampton
So when you say you're still trying to get better at surfing, what does that mean? Like...

Matt Archbold
I don't know. I just still try to get better. I mean, there's always room for improvement, you know? Yeah. Cause I go... I fluctuate. I'll go up and down. It was like... like lately I've been trying to... I've been starting to get more back into airs, you know. For a while, I wasn't doing them because everybody's doing all these spinning things. So I think just lately I've been trying to focus more on just doing some like straight airs instead of those... everybody does the spinner things. And... smaller, small wave surfing probably. Cause it took me a while. Cause I've only been back from Hawaii for what... four years now. It's kind of took me a little bit to get used to the smaller waves and beach breaks again. It's just fast little...

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Surfing small waves is hard.

Matt Archbold
It's way more... work goes into it. I mean, once you get bigger waves... you know, not big waves, but bigger waves down, it's easier than small waves. It's just so much work. I think it's more wearing on your back and everything. But I think I've been trying to improve on my point break surfing. So I go down Lowers and that kind of stuff. Cause I haven't been... I didn't surf Lowers that much growing up, but I think that's... I can improve on that kind of stuff, you know. Yeah.

Michael Frampton
Getting back into it is inspiring.

Matt Archbold
It's kind of fun. You know, for a long time... cause I broke my leg a long time ago doing an aerial. And ever since then I've been kind of... not afraid, but just kind of, you know, in the back of my mind, I don't want to do that again. Yeah. And so I think I'm pretty solid. I'm... in the way I feel these days to start doing some... a lot of airs again, you know, in my mindset and all that.

Michael Frampton
With the small wave thing, like there's such a big difference between the average surfer and the good surfer. It's really exaggerated when the waves are small and soft. Like you go and watch a pro surf, you know, waist-high slop and they're doing roundhouse cutbacks and on a shortboard. The average person is struggling to catch the wave on a fish. How does that... like any advice for people that are struggling with...

Matt Archbold
That? Geez, I don't know. That's a hard one. I don't know. That's a really good question there. Just trying to, I guess, read the wave maybe. I guess your equipment... a thicker board. But like you said, I think once you get used to trying to find or read the wave, like where the... where the... when it's smaller, the best spot to be in the wave to generate the most power. You know what I mean? Where the most energy is in the small part of the wave, you know? It's like sometimes you can be going fast, you can kind of stall out, wait for it to catch back up to you. It just... instead of just racing in front of it, you kind of have to use the... next to the curl, you know, like the... it's hard to explain. I don't know. I wish I could explain it better to people. But I guess just finding where the energy is in the wave, you know. So... yeah.

Michael Frampton
I mean, I think you nailed it. Like learning to read the wave.

Matt Archbold
Learning to read where on the wave where you can get your speed and where you need to... like, if you see a spot in the wave where, you know, it's gonna get flat or something, where there's no energy there, depending on what the bottom is doing. But, you know, save up that last couple of pumps and then make it through that section to get to the next section, you know? I don't know if you understand what I'm saying, but, you know, and you can see that coming down the line. And, you know, it's... I guess it's the more you surf, the more you figure out reading the waves. And that'll, you know... studying the waves, I guess, is what people need to do. And enough surfing and you'll get there. I mean, I've done a lot of surfing.

Michael Frampton
Yeah.

Matt Archbold
When I was a kid, that's all I did.

Michael Frampton
Yeah.

Matt Archbold
You know, and trying to get to that level of understanding the waves and what they're going to do.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. You know, in your documentary, it sort of starts out by people saying that you learned... you picked it up faster than most.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I didn't start surfing till I was about 11.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. But is that true or was there a lot of hours in the water that they didn't see?

Matt Archbold
Well, yeah, I mean, all I did was, besides go to school, all I did was surf. I goofed around with my friends, but, I mean, I'd surf three times a day, every day—like before school, after school, and then during the summer, I’d be surfing and then I’d come home and eat some cereal and go back, surf. That’s all I did, you know, for years. And so, yeah. And then, so I turned pro when I was 16. So that’s only about five years.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Yeah. That’s pretty quick.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. It was a lot of hours in the water though.

Michael Frampton
Yeah.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. But I mean, later on, you know, and as I turned pro and I progressed, you know, I learned a lot putting myself on the tour, you know, that young, and seeing all those older guys and experienced a whole bunch of stuff and got thrown into having, you know, to charge bigger Hawaii and stuff. Cause you know, I was in the Pipe Masters. I was in the Sunset Beach contest, Haleiwa, all that—no matter what. You know, it didn’t matter. You didn’t have to... I was going and I was in it. And so I had to figure it out and figure it out quick, you know? And so...

Michael Frampton
Pressure makes diamonds.

Matt Archbold
Yeah, exactly. A lot of pressure and just the way you dealt with it and just kind of fake it till you make it. I know what I’m doing, just charging, you know, just kind of reading it and get your lineup spots on the beach and everywhere. You know, different spots, different... over wherever you are in and around the world, you know, you always have your markers. Yeah. And it just... I don’t think a lot of people notice, know, like behind the scenes, you know, what... cause every surfer probably has their behind the scenes in their brain, you know. It’s in, you know, here we are, I’m at Pipe, you know, I’m going to line up with this, and everybody’s got their little things they know and do. And so for the average surfer, I would say, you know what, you know, do that. You know, at your local spot, or I’m sure they... maybe they do. I mean, but if you don’t, I would suggest it. You know, just pay attention to all that little details and all those little things add up, you know, and you know what to do in a situation and get yourself through shitty waves and good waves and just figure it out.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. The details.

Matt Archbold
I mean, just like anything, to figure out how to get better. And I could try this or I could do this, or maybe if your board’s not turning, step back on it a little bit more or move up or, you know... cause back, I mean, when I was growing up, we didn’t get five boards a month, you know. You didn’t... you know, this board’s not turning, you just had to figure it out. And we were riding, you know, three-inch-thick boards. And, you know, I started on a single fin. And I think these kids these days, it is... everything’s just boom. They’re just handed a board that’s, you know, so finely tuned. They don’t, you know, they don’t know any better. So different. But that’s just the progression of surfing, you know. That’s just the way it is.

Michael Frampton
It’s so interesting to hear you say that, like, you’re still frothing on small waves.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
I would’ve thought like, you know, being as good as you are and being in Hawaii, you’d be kind of jaded on small waves, but...

Matt Archbold
No, I like... I don’t know.

Michael Frampton
Small waves. Where does that come from?

Matt Archbold
I like big waves. I like small waves. I like any kind of wave, really. It’s just... it’s what keeps it so interesting to me. Because I like small waves. Small waves, you can do different things on. You know, you can punt airs or do big layback snaps. You can bring that into bigger waves too, but I mean, bigger waves sometimes don’t allow you to do something that you’d want to do on a smaller wave. And so if you do a lot of big wave surfing, maybe you want to... and I think knowing both ends of it, like the bigger, more powerful waves and the smaller waves, kind of... you can use those and mix them together, you know, and mix it all up and just use all your knowledge in every situation. So then the more you surf, the more you’re going to... you know, a good surfer should be able to surf in any kind of waves—big, small, blown out, glassy, hard offshore. Like, I used to hate when it was hard offshore, like, you know, it’s hard to turn, you get blown out the back, but you got to figure it out, you know. When it’s really blown out, you know, it’s hard to surf. But if you can figure it out, you’re that much better than the... you know, I forgot, someone told me that a long time ago: a good surfer should be able to surf in any kind of wave. And I agree. I totally agree with that.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. And it sounds like you’re excited by any type of condition anyway.

Matt Archbold
And you can make fun out of any kind of wave. I mean, you know, if you don’t take it too serious.

Michael Frampton
So you’re not trying to put expectations when you’re driving to the beach? You’re not like, I hope it’s four foot and pumping. It’s just, yeah, it is what it is.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Now there’s Surfline. So it’s like, everybody knows, I got a wave, it’s pumping. And then I even get... sometimes I look at them and go, it’s not that good, but I’m going to go anyways. And then I get down there, it’s way better than it looked on the camera anyways. So I mainly just look at the tides and stuff. But cameras don’t do it justice. You know, once you get out there, it’s a whole different story. Yeah. And yeah, I love it.

Michael Frampton
Cool to hear that you’re still surfing small waves.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Yeah. I love to surf with all the kids here. My daughter will go surfing with me. And I think the kids are fun to surf with because they don’t... well, most kids, they don’t take it as serious. You know, a lot of these pros, they get too serious in the water. And I tell my son, I have a son named Ford, and I tell him, you know, just... if you just relax, you know, when have you ever surfed good when you’re just stressed out and take it too serious, you know? It’s just... it’s no fun. If you’re not having fun, most likely you’re not surfing good. You know, when you’re not surfing, it’s not that much fun. So relax, have some fun. Don’t take it too serious. And you’ll probably end up doing better. I do, personally.

Michael Frampton
But you obviously take... sounds like you take some things seriously. Like, you’re talking about that one part of the cutback wasn’t quite right, and you were disappointed by that. So that’s kind of taking it seriously in a way. It’s not like... philosophically, it’s a serious pursuit.

Matt Archbold
I take it serious, but I have fun while doing it.

Michael Frampton
It’s just surfing. But at the same time, you still want every turn to be...

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I’m my worst critic, you know. But I can... I’ll laugh at it. I’ll go, I blew that or something. That’s all right. I’ll put it in my head for the next time.

Michael Frampton
So it’s like you’re going to learn from it, but not hold onto it, kind of thing. Keep... and is that an attitude that you bring into outside of your surfing life?

Matt Archbold
Learning. Yeah. Always learning. Yeah. I still learn things. Still learning how to be a father and a husband and all these things. I mean, I don’t think anybody should stop trying to learn in life. There’s way too much out there to know. You don’t want to be close-minded.

Michael Frampton
What has surfing taught you about being a husband and a father?

Matt Archbold
Patience, I guess. You can’t always have it your way. It’s just... you can’t really plan anything. You got to just kind of roll with the punches in life. Like when you’re being a father and like that kind of stuff, you know, you just kind of have to play everything. It’s hard to plan everything. You don’t know what somebody else is going to do. So you kind of have to, you know, just as it comes out, you just figure things out and think it out a little bit more. I used to just react without thinking when I was younger. And now I think it out a little bit more.

Michael Frampton
It’s kind of like being mindful. Have you heard of that expression? Mindful?

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
Like always just sort of being in the present moment.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Staying in the now. Yeah. Yeah. That kind of thing. Absolutely.

Michael Frampton
Is that something that just comes naturally to you?

Matt Archbold
No. Sometimes I get, you know, I get ahead of myself. I do. I’m at my best when I’m just like, right, you know, like just being right here and right now instead of projecting and thinking too far ahead. And, you know, I mean, I know that’s good to set goals and yada, that stuff, but you don’t live right now, you know? And, you know, sometimes I’ll find myself doing that and I can’t even enjoy the moment I’m in right now because I’ll be stressing about, you know, my God, what is she doing in there? Or what my wife wanted? You know, it’s like, I can’t control that, you know, and you can’t please everybody all the time. So you just kind of do your best in life, you know?

Michael Frampton
And how did you learn...

Matt Archbold
That? I don't know. Over all the years of stressing out, I guess. You know, I guess I don't stress out as hard as a lot of other people, but I try not to. It'll kill you, man. Stress is not fun.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. It sounds like you've kind of just figured it out. Yeah. On your own. Like a lot of people nowadays are, you know, meditating and trying to develop that.

Matt Archbold
I can't. I tried to do that. I have too much energy to sit there and meditate or do yoga and all that. Too hyper for that, you know?

Michael Frampton
So how do you channel that when you're sitting out the back? It's... and waiting for a set.

Matt Archbold
Hard.

Michael Frampton
How do you channel that?

Matt Archbold
The energy? Yeah. Yeah, it's really hard, you know? I just... by thinking, you know, always looking to where the wave's going to come in. It's really hard because I'll miss a lot of waves because I'll just start paddling around. So it's hard to sit still and it's hard to be patient. So that's one thing surfing's helped me with is patience.

Michael Frampton
So if you're sitting out the back, are you like, there's a piece of horizon that's about there. Are you just looking for like any little signal that a set's coming from there instead of there?

Matt Archbold
Yeah, always.

Michael Frampton
Yeah?

Matt Archbold
Depending, you know, especially if I'm in Hawaii or something. If I'm down here like at T Street or somewhere like that, not as much. Or I'll look around, other people surfing or just take my mind and just kind of relax or just look at the ocean. I can never get sick of that.

Michael Frampton
One thing I've always noticed is great surfers. Everyone will be sitting there, and I mean, I remember surfing North Narrabeen and everyone's just sitting there and Hedgie just starts paddling like an animal and everyone... and then five seconds later, everyone else starts scrambling because they see a set. Yeah. Hedgie saw the set five seconds before anyone else. Yeah. And he's already in position paddling for that wave. And it's just... he must just be... have just the level of detail. He's looking on that little sliver of horizon and just seeing... thing. Do you relate to that?

Matt Archbold
Yeah, definitely. You know, sometimes it depends on what swell direction is. You can see, if you look out, you can kind of see a set coming from this way, south or north. Cause you can see if it's a south swell, you can see it coming from way down the beach. So you go, this set must be here in about 30 seconds. Or if it's out, like a little ripples coming off the outer reef out there, you go up. Cause it comes a little bit of a set, depending on the whitewash out the back of... you know, it can kind of depend, know how big the set's going to be. If it's a bigger one or a smaller one because of the foam off coming off the rocks out the back. You know, there's all sorts of little things you can keep an eye on that will give you a heads up, you know, mother nature telling you what's coming, just to be in tune with it.

Michael Frampton
So there is always something to focus on when you're sitting waiting. Yeah. There is always somewhere to channel that energy and to look for those details.

Matt Archbold
Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Always pay attention.

Michael Frampton
That's probably why, you know, Curren, famous for just catching waves where...

Matt Archbold
Yeah. The missed-out waves.

Michael Frampton
The waves come to him. Yeah. Kind of thing. I guess he's just sort of more detailed than others.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. He's super. And I think he was telling me, he knows like when, you know, the day before, like the winds are like, these winds are cold out. It's going to be good tomorrow. I've heard weird stories about him, but he's really in tune with his stuff. He's weird like that. But that's insane. That's good for him. You need people like that. That guy's crazy. He was... that guy's... I'll never be one... another one of him either, right? Yeah. He's insane. Growing up watching him, I got to, you know, I got to be on tour with him and watch him win world titles. And that was really cool.

Michael Frampton
There's a lot of groms listening. Any advice for the groms?

Matt Archbold
God, I would say, you know, get your own style and kind of listen to your inner self, you know. Everybody's got that inner self, you know, and if you think you're doing something right, you know, give it a chance, you know, even if someone else tells you you're doing it wrong. It's not like you're at school. You know, be patient. You know, you come into your own, you know, and if the surfboard's not working, you know, give it a chance, you know, it could be your best board ever. I've had that.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Right.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. I've had that too. It's like, God, this board sucks. And then you figure it out and it's like, my God, so glad I didn't give it up. You know, give it a chance. I mean, it might even help your surfing. You never... that's why it's just never... no... give things a chance. Don't rush it. Don't rush it. You know, just... and don't force things. That's one thing. Just don't... you know, you ever seen someone force something on a wave that shouldn't be there? Like forcing an air? I've done it. You know. And forcing like a maneuver in a wave where it shouldn't be on a wave? Not only does it look bad, it feels bad. You know, do yourself a favor and just don't force things.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. Yeah. How do you define style?

Matt Archbold
God, I don't know. It's a good question too. Just how it feels. I mean, I was... I guess how it feels right to you. I was just... surfing feels... it's an individual sport. So I guess, however you feel right doing it is... I guess that's your way to... that's your style, I guess. I mean, some... I mean, if I tried to surf like someone else, I would feel weird, I guess. Yeah. Just to stay in tune with yourself. And so...

Michael Frampton
It sounds like you're very in tune with the feeling of surfing.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
And that's, for you, it's a reliable feedback.

Matt Archbold
Yeah.

Michael Frampton
And it's sort of what you're... yeah. It makes sense. It's like...

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Just the feel of it. I mean, I don't... it's something you can't really explain, but once you figure... you know, once you get that feeling, you'll know and you can work and then you can work with that.

Michael Frampton
What's your favorite board at the moment?

Matt Archbold
Well, I have a couple of Timmy right now that he made me, Timmy Patterson, and I didn't ride them for a while. And then now I jumped back on them and I wish I never would've got off them. Yeah. So that's been helping my surfing lately too. So, he's made me a round tail that's a super five-nine round tail that's insane. But he made me this one channel bottom, like he used to make me, geez, 20 years ago. It's a double wing swallow, like a six-channel bottom, super deep with glass-on fins, and the thing's super sick. Which he was... I just brought it to him like a couple of weeks ago to patch, and I haven't got it back yet. I'm kind of bummed out because he took off to the Canaries to shape. So I'm kind of bummed about that because we've had nonstop waves, you know. But so I mean... and then I rode... I'm riding this squash tail that he made for... it's... God, what's his name? Yeah. I always have a hard time saying his name, but... him. I got one of... he actually... one of his boards he was making for this wave pool. He let me try it out. So I've been riding that one. Sick for when the waves are smaller. I mean, it's pretty much the same thing I've ridden forever. It's just the same kind of board I rode 15 years ago. So it's just what you do on them.

Michael Frampton
Cool. You working on any edits or anything?

Matt Archbold
Not right now. Right now, well, right now I'm trying to... I'm starting this Archie's Garage thing. I had a surf shop back in the '90s, early '90s, and I'm just gonna... I'm not making a shop right now, like a brick and mortar shop. I'm just launching like t-shirts and hats and stuff right now. It's what I was doing earlier today. Me and my wife are doing it. And so that's what I'm working on right now. I just got a bunch of screens made and I'm actually doing them in my garage. But my friend John was... I was telling him I'd never done it before. I've not done it myself. So I was trying to do it the other night and I was having a shocker. And there's this ink everywhere. My wife was laughing at me. I'm like, come on. And so my buddy was coming over to tell me how to do it. This guy John, and he was teaching me how to do it this afternoon, right before I went and got my daughter. But he was laughing at me. I just decided... there's crap everywhere. This stuff's not bolted down. But I think I got it now. So just getting your hands dirty, you know, and just getting there and figuring it out.

Michael Frampton
Yeah. So you just jump in there and just try it. You're not scared of making mistakes.

Matt Archbold
I mean, you can't figure something out if you don't try it. You gotta just... I mean, sometimes I'll like stop myself and go, well, yeah... I'll think about something too hard. And I'll go, you're just going to jump... just try it. That's it. The other night when I was trying to do it, I just... what am I going to do here? Just start doing it, you know, and you'll figure it out. And now we kind of got it figured out. So we're launching it like now. It's the Archie's Garage and I'm super excited about it. We've got a lot of great ideas, and I'm just super stoked that I'll be able to share these and get them out there with friends and family and fans and anybody that wants to be a part of it.

Michael Frampton
Sweet. Yeah. It's Archiesgarage.com?

Matt Archbold
Yeah. It's going to be on... it's Archiesgarage.com, MattArchibald.com, and then of course through my Instagram. Yeah. So it's my name, Matt Archibald, and then Archie Garage.

Michael Frampton
Sweet. Yeah. Well, I would send listeners your way and yeah, for sure, through the show notes.

Matt Archbold
Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Frampton
Cool. Matt, thank you for your time. Really appreciate it.

Matt Archbold
Thank you.

Michael Frampton
I hope you guys enjoyed that. Please give us some feedback on Instagram and make sure you check out Archiesgarage.com. Until next time, keep surfing.

37 Matt Arcbold - Speed Style Longevity

For the passionate surfer—whether you're a weekend warrior, a surf dad, or an older surfer—this podcast is all about better surfing and deeper stoke. With expert surf coaching, surf training, and surfing tips, we’ll help you catch more waves, refine your paddling technique, and perfect your pop up on a surfboard. From surf workouts to handling wipeouts, chasing bigger waves, and mastering surf technique, we’re here to make sure you not only improve but truly enjoy surfing more—so you can get more out of every session and become a wiser surfer. Go from Beginner or intermediate Surfer to advanced.