Dan Mann: Secrets to shaping for Kelly Slater and everyday surfers
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- Опубликовано: 26 июн 2024
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In this week's podcast, the shaper behind Kelly Slater’s magic boards, @dan__mann, joined me to talk about the secrets of making boards that are high performance enough for the pros but also super user friendly for the everyday surfer.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:42 The Design Principles of the Dominator Boards
14:40 The Influence of High-Performance Shaping on User-Friendly Boards
26:09 The Role of Paddling Skills in Surfing
28:06 Finding the Right Balance: Volume and Planing Surface for Small Waves
39:03 Collaborating with Kelly Slater: Designing High-Performance Boards
53:09 The Importance of Physical Fitness and Paddle Speed in Surfing
55:53 Embracing the Process: Trying Different Boards for Optimal Performance
Subscribe for more interviews with pro surfers, coaches, shapers, and everyday surfers like Victor Bernardo, Matt Parker of Album Surf, Matt Meola, Ryan Lovelace, Noel Salas of Surf n Show, Kassia Meador, Clayton of Ombe Surf, Dylan Lightfoot, Derek Dunfee, Magnum Martinez, Isaac Stant, Nakoa Decoite, and more!
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Sign up for our free surfboard guide for sizing down, video library, and newsletter 👇
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The Dominator 1 for me was the life changing board. Touching on what "Dan the Mann" said about the wide point being back, it allowed me to actually surf a bigger board way out of my liter range but have it feel like a smaller one. Me personally, I like the wide point either at my front feet or in front which is why I think I connected so well with the 5'8 Dom. I normally surf 27L so the 5'8 Dom put me at 31L. I can and have surfed less volume on the Dominator since I owned smaller versions but the benefit for me was that it made 31L feel like 27L. I was able to catch way more waves, surf longer, but yet it didn't hinder my performance. In fact, I think it helped my performance.
Looking back at all my boards, my favorites have been mostly Dann Mann boards: 5'8 Dom, 5'8 Spitfire, 5'4 Potatonator, 5'1 Baked Potato, and now the one that rules them all for me, the Mashup. Half Dan Mann half Machado though. :)
The one board that I could not jive with was the Chumlee, but maybe I bought it to big. I knew it had to be me because I watched this other guy rip on it. I was so jealous because I was in between boards. My Baked potato was falling apart and I had not discovered the Seaside yet.
One thing I have to request, can you please bring back the 5'1 Baked Potato in Helium, for a limited time and in a different color. Please please please. I want to ice it. :)
The original Dominator changed my life!!! 5'8. I rode that for 3 years and it set me free. the next Great Leap Forward for me was getting on Tomo boards. Vanguard, then the EVO...
I've ridden a 5'6 spitfire at 28 liters and a 5'5 chumlee at 31 liters. I'm 5'10 and 145, similar to thomyesurfs. The 5'6 spitfire felt great when the waves were clean, but it was difficult to control the wide/thick tail when the waves were bigger and bumpier, it's not a super grovel board though, so that was the tricky part. The plus was how snappy and quick it was in the lip. I would love to try a 5'8 dominator 2. The wide point is a bit more forward which would balance things for me I think. I love my chumlee when the waves are tiny and have a nice shape, a little punchy. But it does have a pretty narrow sweet spot. I have to focus on getting my foot all the way back on the tail. But if you get the trim right, the thing absolutely rips. Sometimes it's easy to catch the nose with the thin rails. I agree with Thomye about the helium tech. In small waves nothing else comes close.
@craigphillips6496 So for me, I'm heavy front footed. So surfing a board at my prescribed liters, which would be 24 to 25 would put me on either a 5'2 or 5'4 Dom2. That puts the wide point between feet, just behind my front foot. That made the Dom2 feel a bit swively. Also, with my heavy front foot, when setting a rail for my bottom turns, frontside or backhand, i would dip the front rail which would bog my speed.
On the mashup, even at 5'4 length, it's put the wide point right at my front foot which I like. I feel like it helps me keep the nose up and for me to be a little more back footed on my bottom turns which engages the back rail and the fins.
Most people that I have talked to and or have had the Dom or Dom2 rode that board bigger because they were intermediate surfers. I don't often see high level advanced buys surfing the Doms. Likely because, they would have to surf it really short to be in their liter range. So, the popularity of those two boards came mostly from intermediate surfers to low end advanced guys. When you oversize that board, you get all the benefits of the extra liters but then when surfing it, it feels like a much shorter board. That extra 3 to 4 inches of hose isn't really part of the swing weight. So that's the Doms 1 & 2.
The Mashup with the widepoint center/forward can now be ridden shorter. But to me, it feels longer than a 5'4. when I surf it, it feel like it is 5'6 / 5'7. But since the 5'4 wide point is at my front feet, that is the correct size. The biggest difference is, the Mashup is super flat. It is thick in the middle but has thinned out rails. What I love about it is, it is 27L which helps with my weak paddle, it is flatter than the doms so handles softer waves, and it is swallow. tons of drive and projection as if most of the water is being jetted straight back.
Anyways, the dom's have more performance features than the mashup: rocker, outline, foil, etc. Regarding stance, I surfed by dom's early on in my progression so hard to say. Back then, I always stood too far up. I don't think it forced me to stand back, likely cuz the rocker. if you paddle too far back, then the entry rocker pushed water. And since my D was 4" longer, i was always more forward. Anyways, for me at least, outline seems to be the most important thing. Sorry if I didn't answer your questions directly, hoping my long windedness sort of does.
Awesome Awesome Pod Cast. I can’t believe I sat through the whole convo. But I love every second of it 💯. Much Mahalo & Aloha from another humble ripper from Oahu Hawaii Cheeee 🍒 🤙🏽 😎 🏄🏽♂️
Appreciate the comment 🤙
Bear Dawg 🐻
My mind blown after the move your hands back tip
Same for me. Dan has some great tips in this pod 🔥
Oh my goodness, my favourite shaper as guest on my favourite surf podcast, what a combo 🤯
Being a crazy low-int who jumped from a 8'0 foamie straight all the way down to a 5'6 Sweet Potato (the Helium one), I can only say that I love this board. I've a similar mentality to Dan when it comes to surfing in the sense that I like to surf by myself hence I end surfing things no one can/want to surf.
Grovelers have the reputation of not being good boards from transitioning to short boarding as they don't work well if you oversized them, but to be honest my experience with the Sweet Potato has been quite the opposite:
- it's wide and very low rocker (although the bottom has a continuous curve and never a flat spot) so it's really stable;
- the pulled in rails with the S2D bottom contour helps with learning rail to rail transition;
- it's super short and incredibly lightweight even if it has insane volume, but the foam is so well distributed and hidden you can still throw the board around and go vertical, even if the board is more towards horizontal surfing;
- as I was saying, the board shines in horizontal surfing and goes crazy fast down the line. I would say pumping, carving, cutbacks, floaters are some solid foundation to have and this board really helps you out, because it is so forgiving yet performant;
- it's a groveler at its finest, I was literally alone in the water surfing ankle height stuff but it also handles quality waves pretty well as long as it's not too big/too punchy.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to progress and surf that much with any different board, to the point that I'm thinking about just getting a 5'2 or 5'4 Sweet Potato if my current one will ever start to feel "too big". Thanks Dan for shaping this amazing board and thanks Van for bringing this legend to the podcast.
Yew 🤙
Forgot to mention: for reference, I'm 5'7 @ 68-ish kg
that's epic that you've found a board that works for you! thanks for the support!
The sweet potato changed my whole game up. I bought it to ride in small mushy South Florida waves, I love taking it out on bigger cleaner days as well. I ride it as a twin fin. I had an original dominator that Jimmy at local surf turned me on to in 2011. That was also game changer. These boards make me surf better and have more fun! My custom ghost is collecting dust, of course It's a great board. But I just don't have the skills, especially at 60 60 to make that board shine. But the sweet potato, and then Tomo's Revo bring out the best in me
that's epic that you've found the boards that suit your surfing!
Such a great interview!
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Outstanding perspective by one of the best progressive board shapers in the world.
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Great interview. Dan is one of the coolest people I’ve met. Thanks for having them on your show and sharing.
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thanks for the great interview! I have been riding his shape for more than 10 years now, starting from Baked potato LFT, Carbohydro, chumlee, Twice baked, and now sweet potato 2. Great boards. Cheers from Japan!
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Listened to this once then again a week or so later great podcast.
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Thanks Van this was a good one man. I learned a lot. I appreciate you and I appreciate Dan for coming on🤙🧜♂️❤️🏄♂️
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Great interview! Dan seems so humble and down to earth, love it. One of the questions you asked was about width, in very basic terms, a wider board will plane earlier.
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Man! I'm listening to him talk and listening to the birds in the background and he is in Central America for sure. Costa, Maybe Nica...Now I wanna go somewhere warm!
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I borrowed one of Kelly’s FRK boards at Jbay and it was life changing. Insane.
sick 🔥🔥🔥
Not sure why I didn’t get the notification, when I have alerts on