Mick Fanning, D-bah, Australia

Attitudes on Mick Fanning’s aerial game are varied, undoubtedly, but this is a solid and well-gripped slob, make no mistake. A little while back we posted a clip of Mick surfing around his home in Tweed Heads, and the comments lit up with furious commentary on the “tired and slow” look of Mick’s surfing. This may not be the highest of airs, but it also ain’t a bread-and-butter grab. And hey, it’s controlled. Hardly tired or slow.
Mick’s preparing for the Quiksilver Pro, which starts on the Gold Coast in three days time. If he can work his steadily-improving aerial game into his knowledge of the points (Snapper, Kirra, Burleigh), then he’ll no doubt be as big of a threat as he has in past years.
Following a trip he did with Mick recently, Joel Parkinson told the ASP: Mick’s surfing on the trip we just did blew me away. You can see he’s been working pretty hard on big airs and stuff the judges will really notice.”