In Defense Of Surf Dads (Sort Of)

Surf dads are a particular species and they deserve much of the flak they receive.

There’s something nauseating about seeing a grom being hovered over, preened, regulated and leashed as if they were physically incapable of doing so themselves, despite being able to land backside air reverses before developing body hair.

Surf dads pack gear, cameras, lunches, drive to the beach, wax their children’s boards and shadow them so closely they might never have to develop survival skills. They’re like birds pre-chewing food before regurgitating it into their offspring’s bald little beaks. More often than not, this behavior stems from love. Other times, financial aspiration. Either way, it’s a little much.

Kyan Yang is a 21-year-old with Korean heritage from Encinitas, California, who grew up with a very present surf dad. His dad, Robert, is a clinical nutritionist, a strength and conditioning specialist, and a CHEK Level 4 Practitioner, which is essentially a martial arts belt system for people who know an alarming amount about gut microbiomes. He also coaches golfers, athletes and ordinary humans who have a desire to outlast their bad habits.

And while Robert works regularly with Kyan to improve his chances of surfing success — filming him, training him, guiding his nutrition — none of it feels like a means to an end. At least in terms of surfing alone.

“I’ve always told Kyan, it doesn’t matter what you want to be — an astronaut or a professional surfer,” Robert explains. “But you have to have the burning passion. That’s what matters. My main goal is to make him a good man of integrity.”

Kyan started surfing at 13, which is late by modern prodigy standards but early enough to catch the bug and develop to a level that gets him noticed (see fellow teenage-learners: Dane Reynolds and Yago Dora).

Originally screened at Taylor Steele’s Solento Surf Festival, Burning Desire‘s most redeeming factor may be that neither Kyan nor Robert cares what you think. They’re living how they want, with enough self-awareness to see this dynamic as a building block for a balanced adult life rather than something that lives or dies on the next sponsorship contract.

It’s a reminder that behind every success story is someone willing to believe in you longer than the rest of us do.