85 Shane Beschen - The Fun of Getting Better
Frustrated by your technique? Digging rails on your cutbacks or flailing with no clear reason why? What if the fix was easier—and way more fun—than you think?
In this episode, pro-surfer-turned-coach Shane Beschen breaks down the real reasons recreational surfers plateau and how you can fix them using video feedback and simple tweaks. Plus, he shares bold takes on the WSL, surf coaching culture, and why wave parks might just save surfing—not ruin it.
Discover the 3 most common bad habits holding surfers back (and how to spot them on video)
Learn how surf parks like Waikai and Revel Surf are bringing back pure stoke and community
Hear why letting kids stay kids might be the best surf coaching advice no one talks about
Press play now to hear Shane’s no-BS take on surfing better, stoking harder, and coaching smarter—both in and out of the water.
Follow Shane on Instagram for loads of surfing tips: https://www.instagram.com/shanebeschen/?hl=en
More about Shane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanebeschen/
Wave Pools: http://revelsurf.com/, https://cannonbeachaz.com/ & https://atthelineup.com/
Key Points
Shane Beshin's relationship with surfing has evolved to a place of gratitude and enjoyment, similar to when he first began.
Being on tour can lead to a loss of the initial fun and excitement of surfing due to the mix of pleasure and business.
Contests serve as a motivator for improving surfing skills by pushing one's abilities to perform confidently in any conditions.
Recreational surfers can significantly improve their technique by focusing on key aspects such as weighting the back leg during turns and minimizing unnecessary movements.
Video feedback is crucial for learning and correcting surfing habits, as it allows surfers to see and understand their mistakes better than verbal explanations alone.
Surfing technique should be adapted to the type of board, though core principles remain consistent across different boards.
Shane Beshin advises against taking surfing coaching too seriously for young kids, emphasizing the importance of letting them enjoy their childhood.
Shane Beshin is involved in developing wave pools and surf parks, aiming to create events that celebrate surfing legends and provide a fun, inclusive environment for all surfers.
Shane Beshin plans to offer coaching clinics at the wave pools and surf parks he is involved with, sharing his expertise and creating a coaching system for these venues.
Surf parks are expected to reduce crowding and negativity at natural lineups by providing guaranteed riding time and a fun, inclusive atmosphere.
Outline
Shane Beshen's Journey and Relationship to Surfing
Shane Beshen, a former professional surfer from the 1990s, now works as a surf coach and shares detailed surfing techniques on Instagram.
Shane's relationship to surfing has evolved from a fun, exciting activity to a professional career and back to a fun, free surfing experience.
Shane believes that contests were a driver for improving skill sets and that the better one surfs, the better they compete.
Shane uses contests as motivation to improve and believes that the better one surfs, the more confident they will feel in any conditions.
Coaching Recreational Surfers
Shane finds coaching recreational surfers to be fun and believes they have the most to gain from the tips and knowledge he provides.
Common mistakes among recreational surfers include not weighting back or sitting down more on the back leg when doing turns and carves.
Shane emphasizes the importance of balancing trying and allowing in surfing and the need for surfers to work on their body parts working together.
Shane suggests that recreational surfers watch their favorite surfers to observe common techniques and styles.
Surfing Philosophy and Evolution
Shane believes that most people surf for fun and that the desire to evolve and improve is ingrained in human nature.
Shane observes that some surfers, especially youth, may take coaching too seriously due to the mainstream nature of surfing and the influence of parents.
Shane encourages parents to let their kids be kids and have fun, rather than focusing too much on a professional career.
Shane notes the evolution of surfboard design, with user-friendly boards making it easier to learn how to surf.
WSL Changes and Surfing Culture
Shane expresses dissatisfaction with the WSL's changes to the tour format, particularly the final five format and the elimination of the triple crown.
Shane believes these changes are unfair to athletes and detract from the sport's heritage and culture.
Michael agrees with Shane's concerns and suggests that the WSL should return to its roots and celebrate the sport's magical and spiritual aspects.
Wave Pools and Surfing Events
Shane is involved in two wave pool projects: Waikai in Hawaii and Revel Surf Park in Arizona.
Waikai features a 100-foot wide standing wave, while Revel Surf Park is part of a larger venue called Cannon Beach.
Shane plans to create events, such as a Mastery event, that give back to surfers and provide a fun experience for spectators.
Shane will offer coaching programs and clinics at these venues, either personally or through trained coaches.
Transcription
Michael Frampton
Welcome back to the Surf Mastery podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you be a better surfer in and out of the water. My guest for this episode is Shane Beschen. Shane was a pro surfer on tour back in the '90s. His best result was second place back in 1996. He is now working as a surf coach for athletes of all levels. Shane has an incredible library on Instagram of detailed and articulate breakdowns of all things surfing. I strongly recommend you follow him at @shanebeschen on Instagram. Links in the show notes. And without further ado, I'll give you my conversation with Shane Beschen. I mean, I grew up watching you surf on the tour and of course in all those old school VHS movies. Yeah. And then to see you, you know, develop and go into the coaching world and start articulating some of surfing's, you know, maneuvers and et cetera, in such a detailed way. It's pretty awesome to see. And through Instagram, just for everyone to see, that's so awesome. And then, but to see you, I mean, on your Instagram. First and foremost, you label yourself as a husband and father, which I think is great. It shows a lot of maturity. And so the first question I wanted to ask you was, how has your relationship to the ocean and to surfing changed, evolved, and matured over the years?
Shane Beschen
I feel like I'm at the stage now of where I first began, you know, like when you first began, it's like this really fun, exciting thing that you do and everything. Everything's really new and it's just like, you know, you're not thinking about being professional or having a career or like, you know, all these goals yet, you know, so you're just really enjoying the sport and the feeling and the ocean and everything. And that's how I feel now. You know, I feel like super grateful to just be a free surfer.
Michael Frampton
Interesting. So was there a time where in between, like, obviously you felt like that when you first discovered surfing? And so was there a journey where you kind of lost that?
Shane Beschen
I think just being on tour, you naturally lose it, you know, because you're mixing pleasure and business and they can tend to get convoluted, you know, and throughout your career, you know, you'll find times of like questioning, like, do I still like doing this? Like, you know, so it's just an interesting thing. Like I, obviously I'm super grateful I was able to be a professional surfer. It gave me so much in my life and stuff, but there's, you know, there's another side to it that's really taxing, you know, and it's just a very emotional roller coaster career to have. You know, there's no, there's basically no job security, like within the events, within sponsorships, like just the whole, your whole career is kind of, you know, living on the edge and balancing that, you know, pleasure and business aspect of this really cool sport or art or, you know, feeling that you have started because of.
Michael Frampton
Do you think part of that was... in some ways necessary for you to surf at and progress to such a high level with such good technique?
Shane Beschen
Yeah, I mean for me, I always used contests as just that, you know, as a driver to improve my skill set, you know, and for me it was always about having like really good control over very difficult maneuvers and making difficult things look easy. You know, that was always like, my goal and my mindset was always the better I surfed did equal the, you know, the better I compete, because I'll be able to, if I can do certain things with certain ways that other people can't, then I should have an advantage, you know, so that the contests are really cool in the fact and in the sense that they really motivate you to improve, you know, so that's a really positive aspect of competition is, you know, just pushing your skill set to a point where, you know, you feel confident in any conditions that you will go perform on a dime.
Michael Frampton
How do you infuse... some of that way of thinking into and to help the non-competitive surfer improve?
Shane Beschen
Well, actually, I've done a lot of coaching with non-competitors and it's really fun. I mean, and honestly, the recreational surfer has the most to gain from like the tips and kind of knowledge that I bring to the table because there's certain key things in surfing technique where if you're not doing them, you can be really frustrated. And if you do change these little things, then all of a sudden, you can go from like digging rail on your cutback all the time to having a really nice feeling cutback. And just that alone is just such an upgrade and feeling, you know, like, surfing is really interesting in that way. It can make you really stoked or it can make you really bummed. So like, and I just use that as an example because that's a really common thing, you know, that if people get too excited, they tend to lean more over their front foot and dig a rail, you know, and that feeling of digging that rail, you know, water going up your wetsuit leg and you're just like, you know, like it's just not a good feeling. So yeah, I think the, you know, the recreational guys have the most to gain, and just in the sense that if they're able to change a couple things they can see drastic improvements.
Michael Frampton
How do you help people to balance out that, okay, on this wave or... for this space of time or this session, I'm going to focus on my technique. And the other times I'm not going to think about it. I'm just going to sort of free surf and enjoy my progression. Do you find, is there any equation or ways of talking about that that's helping people?
Shane Beschen
Well, video is key. Like one thing, especially with recreational surfers is most people have habits within their body. Like the way they move their arms or legs or stand or just any bodily habit. Most people have habits that they don't know they have. So like awareness is the first like key to learning. So the video, I really try to never, ever coach anybody without showing them because it's so much easier to see what you're doing wrong in slow motion than to have someone just, I just feel like no matter how good someone retains information after a while of only talking, it just becomes like Charlie Brown, you know, it's just "wah." They just, their thoughts, their own thoughts take over and they only really retain so much. And I was actually, we were testing some waves at one of the surf parks I'm working on in Arizona. And I had one of my friends out there, you know, and that was the first time I really realized why I use video so much because he was learning how to pig dog, or he's trying to learn how to pig dog, and I kept—I was in the water with him so I didn't have the capability to show him any video—but I kept telling him in different ways the best I could, you know, how to improve his technique. And he just kept going over the falls and kept doing the same thing that I was trying to help him correct. And it was really, it was a really interesting exercise because it made me realize like, wow, that's exactly why I never tell anybody anything without showing them footage of themselves. Because once they see it, they're just like, I was doing that? And it's like, yeah. Like they literally do not feel what they're doing because it's just a habitual pattern.
Michael Frampton
Are you seeing a lot of commonalities with surfers? Common mistakes?
Shane Beschen
With like recreational surfers, yeah. You know, like definitely. There's just a few key things that, you know, recreational surfers don't do, you know, and that's what I was telling you, like if they're able to change these couple small key things, then they can, they can actually improve a lot. You know, they can surf a lot better.
Michael Frampton
What are some of those?
Shane Beschen
Well, one of like—so for front side, there are different things for backside and front side. So one of the most key things that I tell basically everyone I work with to work on is to learn how to weight back or sit down more on your back leg when you're doing turns and carves. And like, that's one of the key mistakes that people make. Surfing is a balance of trying and allowing, you know, and when you're surfing really good, you're like right in the middle, you know, like you're in this sweet spot and, you know, it's called—people call it the zone or, you know, everyone has terms for it. Surfing is really interesting in the way where the fact that if you—the second you start trying too much is when you start digging your rail and falling and start, you know—so it's like this really interesting balance of allowing and trying. And so, anyways, on—for instance, on a front side carve, the most important thing is to, as you're coming off your bottom turn and you're kind of leaning up on your front foot, you want to weight back on your back leg so your back leg becomes bent more than your front leg. Which basically makes your front leg become more straight, and that does a variation of things. It lifts the board, the front of the board, out of the water when you push the weight back. So that allows the board to wrap around cleaner. But then as your leg's bent back and as you're turning, then this back leg has the leverage to push forward and that really enhances that middle part of the turn. And then, you know, just control over your head, you know, like having your head and front arm work together, you know, and that's one thing I've really been telling people lately too is just to make sure that your body parts are working together, you know, and basically that means eliminating movements that aren't necessary, you know. So with surfing, every time you move and throw your arms in one direction, maybe too much, it creates an off-balance effect that you have to bring them back the other way. So if you're not throwing them too much, then you just become more centered and you'll really see the guys with the best like styles and flow. It looks really effortless. It's like very minimal movement, you know. And like I was saying, like especially with recreational surfers, a lot of people are doing stuff with their hands and arms that they are not aware of, you know, so it's really just showing people that and then giving them the other option of doing it better.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. Often less is more.
Shane Beschen
Yeah.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. I love that—the straight leg with the, and sitting down into the back leg—like it makes me think of, I mean, Joel Parkinson does that so beautifully all the time. Yeah.
Shane Beschen
I mean, and that's the thing. That's when I'm telling these people that I always tell them like, you know, go watch any one of your favorite surfers and you'll see them all do the same thing. You know, there's a standard kind of line that goes through every great surfer. And even though their styles are different, the overall techniques are very similar when they're doing the turns that we all like to watch.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. What about in terms of, like on a deeper level, like the way that surfers maybe are thinking about surfing, their perspectives on what surfing is or how it should feel, or even their philosophy around being in the water. Do you see any commonalities that are holding people back in that way for the average surfer?
Shane Beschen
I feel like most people, they surf to have fun, you know, and I just think it's within our DNA as humans to want to evolve. And I think it's just, as you improve, it's fun. You know, like you have a feeling that feels better than the last time, or, you know, or just feeling that you've learned something and you've adapted and you've improved, you know, I think is a really fun feeling for people. So, you know, whether you're Kelly Slater or John from your local break says, incrementally improving your skill set, I think is just a fun thing to do for most people. I think it's just bred into humanity of, you know, just wanting to improve and get better, you know, and then once you learn something, you know, the next thought is how do I improve it?
Michael Frampton
Do you ever see some surfers sort of dive into the coaching side of things and start to take it too seriously?
Shane Beschen
Yeah, you know, like, you definitely see that, you know, especially with the, you know, the youth and the fact that surfing is such a kind of mainstream sport compared to when I was a pro surfer, you know, so I think, you know, coaching and, you know, young kids getting coached and all this stuff, I think it's definitely... like full on. And like for me, like with my kids, we always videoed. Like with my kids, I always videoed them and just always tried to keep it really fun. Like we were just talking about, like the fun of getting better, you know, like, I like that turn and this is how you did it and just keep it like really fun. And I think that does get lost these days with, you know, parents wanting their kids to be professional surfers when they're, you know, when they're 12 or just starting and can't really see their actual success talent, you know, so it's just... Yeah, I think it's just the evolution of surfing as a sport now, you know, it's just become—and especially at the Olympics, it's really becoming a legitimate sport—so there's a lot of parents that are coming in. There's a lot of kids now being raised by parents that didn't surf, so, you know, they're coming in and looking at surfing as a sport like soccer or whatever. And they're like, yeah, coaching, you know, practice and stuff. And it's just, I think it's just the evolution of how the sport's grown.
Michael Frampton
In some ways it's an evolution, but in some ways it's a de-evolution. Yeah.
Shane Beschen
Well, I will say on the other side of that evolution, I feel like the recreational evolution has become really cool. The standard board now is some sort of hybrid fish that people are riding and they've kind of let go of—I feel like recreational surfers have kind of let go of trying to surf like pros or wanting to surf like pros—and I feel like a lot of people are riding just funner boards that, you know, you don't have to work very hard to get going. And I think the surfboard industry has definitely made learning how to surf easier.
Michael Frampton
Yeah.
Shane Beschen
There are so many user-friendly boards now. When the Slater era of the really narrow, rockered-out boards was so rough to go through—those boards were so hard to ride—and I think that was definitely a small setback for surfboard design. But nowadays, you have all these hybrid fishes and wide points are a little forward. You stand up and they're just gliding down the line and all of a sudden... guys who would have never thought of doing an air have enough speed that they're thinking about like, maybe I should try an air on this wave, you know? So I think that aspect is really cool. And even myself, I ride, you know, like a hybrid—not fish—but little wider outline in the nose, real glidey, very easy, user-friendly board to ride. I think that aspect's come a long way.
Michael Frampton
Do you think that your technique changes at all, or is it something that stays the same no matter what type of board you're on, within reason?
Shane Beschen
I think... every board you have to adapt to slightly. If you go from a longboard down to a fish, I think your surfing will adapt to each board. But I think there will be a chunk of it that will stay the same as well. Like the principles will be the same, but you'll just have to work your way around different aspects of each board. They'll just ride differently.
Michael Frampton
What's the worst piece of advice that you've ever received as a surfer? And what's the worst advice that you see out there in the surf coaching culture?
Shane Beschen
I was a pretty stubborn kid, so I didn't ask for a lot of advice from people. The people I did ask advice to, I really respected. I didn't get too much bad advice. And if I did, I probably wasn't listening to it. And on the other side, if there's—what advice do I think is bad that kids are maybe getting out there from coaches? I don't know. I've worked with a few kids that were taught a couple of things, like with their arms or doing a couple of different things that I disagreed with. I can't generalize. Like if there's a themed... message that people are using too much. I would just... definitely just say that especially with the kids, to me, it's more like a parental thing. Like with parents, I would not negate your son or daughter's childhood for the hopes of a professional career.
Michael Frampton
That's great advice, yeah.
Shane Beschen
Because you only get to be a child once in your life and it's such a special time, like to have no worries and have fun and play games and have sleepovers and surf too and do everything, you know, so I think for me, that's the most important message I would give is really like for the parents to let their kids be kids and have fun and play with their friends and not take the coaching and everything too seriously. Because every kid, human, is born with certain skill sets and some kids will just never be pro no matter how much they want to. They just don't have the DNA or whatever it might be. And that goes across the board with like mental toughness. There's all these aspects that have to come together and it's not that everyone gets to do it, you know. So for me, I think it's really let the kids have fun. And if they start excelling at it and they want some certain coaching on different things, then yeah, you know, look for the right people that blend with your kids and, you know, give them that support. But—and especially like those first 12–14 years—like that's just such a special time for kids to not be worrying about a career.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. What's the future of surfing look like? Where's it heading?
Shane Beschen
I don't know. It's definitely interesting. I mean, the WSL is a big force in the direction of our sport. So they've made some big changes this year. I don't know if they're good or bad. I think I personally don't like the way they changed the tour into the final five or whatever, because basically just because of what happened last year with Carissa losing the world title, but still being more than 10,000 points ahead of Stephanie Gilmore, which is absolutely crazy to me. Like to have someone dominate a full year and then not have it go right for a heat is—it's a really easy thing to happen, whether it's at Lowers or Pipeline. Like anything can happen with a heat. And surfing has always been different in the fact that you have to perform all year and all these different spots to be the world champion. And to take that away and to try to make the final day more exciting or whatever, I just don't think it's fair for the athletes. And the situation that happened with Carissa last year, I think, is the most perfect example because she dominated and was so far ahead of everybody that no one could catch her, but then she didn't win the world title. So I think that's just a really unfair thing for all the competitors.
Michael Frampton
I agree with you and I would use far stronger language than any of what you just said. Toledo was a world champ. He just won't even charge Chopes. Anyone—that makes no sense to me. The world champ is a rounded surfer who is just going to master every aspect of surfing and that's how it used to be, and they have lost it. I think that this year, surfing's this magical, spiritual pursuit as well as a sport, and the WSL is sort of removing itself from that aspect of it. And I think we're seeing the ocean respond. I mean, look at the waves that they got in Hawaii. The ocean just said no. And then look what—and then the Da Hui Shootout took it in the right direction. It's like, you guys, you're not even going to wear jerseys, but go out there—and look at the waves they got.
Shane Beschen
Yeah, I mean, it's... it's tough. You know, the other side of things, like just on that note. The other thing that I don't think is good for the sport is taking away the Triple Crown. You know, that was such—everyone put the Triple Crown right up there with the world title. And to turn it into a video contest, I think it was just a mistake, really. It was such a prestigious thing and it was a historic thing. It was historical heritage. Like it was one of the most sought-after goals amongst pro surfers. And to eliminate that, I think, was a big mistake as far as just holding the sport in a really good place of progression and heritage and culture. Yeah. Because, you know, that was just a... yeah, it was just a really special thing to have the Triple Crown. It was a massive part of surfing history and to just eliminate it, I think it's done something to the sport here, especially in Hawaii. I think it just feels jumbled now, the way the tour is.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, it is a shame. I hope the WSL realizes a few things this year and gets back on track. And I think if they don't, eventually someone will come in and reshape it hopefully, and bring it back to its roots. Anyway, what about—so I asked you about the future of surfing and I see you've got some involvement within the wave pools. How do you think the wave pools are coming along, and where do you see that heading?
Shane Beschen
Well, I think it's gonna be great. I think it's gonna be really cool for events. I'm working on two projects right now. I'm working on a project called Wai Kai here in Hawaii, and that's actually going to be opening March 25th in a couple of weeks here. And that wave is a standing wave, so it's a Citywave technology. It's like a deep water standing wave, but it's 100 feet wide, so you can actually go down the line across the wave, which is really cool. You get a lot of speed and there's actually sections that hit. We'll be releasing some video here probably tomorrow. But, so that's one project. And that's really cool because everyone's so close, like for events and everything, like you can almost reach out and touch the surfers. So it creates this really intimate environment. And that's going to be really fun for different events and stuff like that. But then in Arizona, we're building Revel Surf. It's Revel Surf Park, and that's going to be within a bigger venue called Cannon Beach, which will have hotels and restaurants and some other like different really cool activities. But within that venue, I'm planning a Mastery event. So I'm excited for the venues to come, give back, and like do really fun, cool events because within the controlled environment you can now sell tickets, you can sell VIP packaging, you can create hardpoint data for potential sponsors. And I think there's a way to really create a cool event that people are really psyched on, but that gives back to the surfers of the sport. So I'm really excited to put together some events, especially the Masters, because I went to the Masters WSL event a few years ago, and it was on an island off Portugal and no one really knew about it, and the prize money was pretty low. And I was just like, just looking at it as like, wow, you know, like these are the absolute legends of our sport. Like they created our sport. And I feel like there's just such a better way to celebrate them. And yeah, now that I'm part of these venues, I'm looking at it in that aspect of, how cool would it be to be able for someone to buy a VIP package to hang out with MR and Michael "Rabbit" Bartholomew? But then how cool would it be to have those guys surfing and, you know, everyone gets to watch them modern day? Because it's cool, like surfing is such a new sport that most of our legends are still alive. And there's so much value. I always loved how skateboarding just has such a high regard for their legends. They still have legends events. They still have their deck models, you know. And surfing, I don't—for whatever reason, I don't know why—but they've always had the history of just disregarding their athletes, you know, once they retire or move on from the tour. And it's almost like at that moment in time, they bring the greatest value. You know what I mean? Because they've lived through all this. They have so much experience. And I mean, I just, like, some of the events last year, they had Rabbit commentating. It's just so cool to listen to him talk and tell stories and just see how intuitive he was about performance and even progressive surfing. Like a lot of times, they're asking him what he thought about moves and he was like on point. And like, I didn't—this guy, you know, he didn't really get it on that one. But, you know, like just breaking stuff down.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, it's so cool. Barton Lynch is really good at doing that, and Potter. And now a lot of these guys aren't commentating, and I don't know. I just think it's so cool that the legends are still alive and surfing and ripping, you know. Like Michael Ho was in the Eddie, 65. Yeah. And he was in the Shootout too, just pulling in a huge plane.
Shane Beschen
So yeah, I'm super interested in like creating events that really give back to the surfers and but create like a really fun time for spectators.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, I'm looking forward to watching that. Yeah. How do we keep up to date with, you know, the details on that event? Is that just through your Instagram or?
Shane Beschen
There's an Instagram—@RevelSurf. I can email you some of the tags, but @RevelSurf, @CannonBeachAZ—those are the two Instagram pages for Instagram. And then, the link on Revel Surf, it takes you to a website. You can sign up for a newsletter. So we'll be doing a newsletter and keeping everyone up to date on the stuff. Revel Surf is probably going to be opening early ’24. So this will be all the stuff we'll be planning for next year. Yep. But yeah, no, it's really exciting. And I always—I love the phrase win-win, you know, so I want to create events and situations where everyone feels like they're winning, you know, and that means everyone's having a good time, everyone, you know, feels valued. And everyone leaves with a really good, positive feeling about the event.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. That's awesome. And what about in terms of, with your involvement with these wave pools and parks, are you going to be offering anything to the general public at all in ways of coaching clinics or anything like that in these facilities?
Shane Beschen
Yeah, for sure. So I'm going to be... So all the free tips I've been giving over the years and just like all the information I've been giving out, I'm basically going to be creating like coaching programs for these venues and so that people definitely can come and get it. Basically buy coaching for sessions and stuff at the venues.
Michael Frampton
Awesome. Okay. And those that are listening and want to keep an eye on this, what's the best way for them to stay up to date with what you're doing in that space?
Shane Beschen
Well, I'll always be posting stuff. But... So @thelineupatwaikai or @thelineupatwaikai. And www.revelsurf.com is the other one. But yeah, I'm going to—if it's not me coaching, it'll be people that I have taught how to coach. Yep. So basically, I'm going to be the one creating the whole system for coaching for the venues that I'm involved with.
Michael Frampton
Awesome. Well, that's exciting. We'll just make sure that whenever you inform your Instagram followers of these new things that are happening, just tag me, tag Surf Mastery, and then I'll just share it through my platform as well. And I just encourage everyone listening to—if you don't already—start following Shane on Instagram. I will have links to his Instagram and all the other things that he just mentioned in the show notes section within this episode and the Instagram post that is relevant to this episode when we release it.
Shane Beschen
So are you based out of Oz or New Zealand?
Michael Frampton
I'm back in New Zealand now. Yep.
Shane Beschen
Cool. Well, if you get... once these places are all open and you get out to America, I'll get you over and get some waves.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, man. I mean, I want to be bringing groups to these places to get involved with this sort of stuff. That's what the future is. One thing I want to tap on too with the surf parks is that I think a lot of people, like, get worried like it's gonna make, you know, the lineup so crowded and this and that. I think it's going to be honestly the reverse because the energy and the vibe of the surf park to me is really why we all started. It's like pre-localism. And thank you. Like the other day we were doing a test session at the Wai Kai, you know, and we had Kai Lenny there, myself. There were people that had never surfed before in their whole life that were riding in the same session. And I was just watching how stoked everyone was and, you know, like, the better people are helping the people that aren't as good and just—and once you've learned how to surf to a certain level, like giving that back and watching other people improve is really the only way that you can get that stoke again. Because as you progress, you kind of lose that first feeling, you know, because you're searching for these other feelings. But when you see that first feeling, it brings it all back to you. It's such a cool thing to go surfing knowing that everyone's going to get waves. There's no, like, if you're next to me, I have no thought of like, this guy's trying to get my next wave or, you know, all that negativity is eliminated. And it really just becomes like pure stoke. And I think that's something that the surf parks are really going to bring to surfers and first-time surfers and surfers that have been surfing forever. I think it's the same in the fact that they'll get to go to these places. And it's a guarantee. There's no trips or vibes or weirdness. It's just pure fun, surfing with your friends, high-fiving. And that's really the energy I think that brought us all to the table.
Michael Frampton
I love that. And it's a great take. It might even take some of the crowds away from the nature lineups too.
Shane Beschen
I think so. I honestly believe so because, you know, you're guaranteed so much riding time. And so many people are just—you know, especially like California, it's just so crowded, you know, and a lot of times you go surf for hours and catch a few waves, you know—like where you're going to go surf in Arizona at Revel, and you're going to—you could potentially get barreled 15 times in one session, you know. So, and paddling back out watching your friends get barreled. And so like, it's this whole thing that's going to—I think people are going to be really stoked on it. And I think it's going to actually take people from the lineups.
Michael Frampton
Awesome. I'm so excited about this whole new wave park and wave pool future. It looks so exciting.
Shane Beschen
Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. All right, Shane. Well, thank you so much for your time.
Shane Beschen
All right. Have a good day.
Michael Frampton
Awesome, man. Massive thanks to Shane for doing the show and for providing the content that he puts out there on Instagram at @shanebeschen. I've got Devon Howard coming up next, so make sure you're subscribed to the show. I am designing a surf trip and I would love your input. What is your dream surf trip? Email me: mike@surfmastery.com. Until next time, keep surfing.
85 The Fun of Getting Better at Surfing - With Surf Coach and Former Pro Surfer Shane Beschen
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.