Q&A

• You suffered a season-ending lower and upper ankle sprain while surfing Lowers last September. What was the recovery like? I was out of the water for two and a half months, rehabbing with physical therapy and cross training. It's not completely healed, but with a little duct tape, it's getting there. The nice part of it was it allowed me to take some time off. I'd been on the road for nine months and the injury grounded me. I was able to refocus. And the cross training was great for the rest of my body.
• How did growing up with Tanner and Dane affect your surfing? Surfing with my brothers my entire life, I'm always surfing with two guys who are at a high level. I'm always aware of what they're doing and trying to be better than them. We're constantly analyzing each other.
• How do you stay motivated? Ita's pretty easy. Every day we're so stoked to be doing what we're doing. A lot of our friends are waiting tables or sitting behind desks and although that's great too, we're traveling the world and putting some money away. Everyday is a party. I wake up and enjoy it. That energy comes naturally and I think it stokes everyone out.