Listen: “The Drop,” Episode 3, Jake “Snake” Paterson

While it’s looking more and more likely that the World Title will be decided in less than electrifying conditions, the conversation surrounding the title race, as well as the current state of professional surfing, is one Shane Dorian and Nathan “Noodles” Webster have been looking forward to having with Jake “Snake” Paterson. 

During his ten years on the World Tour, according to Kelly Slater, Snake won “all the best events.” 

“I got a pretty good poker hand,” Snake tells Shane and Nudes. “Two J-Bays, two Sunsets, and a Pipe kicker.” 

And while Snake’s talent actually riding waves has never been in question, his successful decade-long tenure on tour, Snake would agree, can be attributed to his remarkable competitive intelligence, which in his post-Tour career has made him invaluable as a coach, working with everyone from Quiksilver’s young turks like Kanoa Igarashi, Leo Fioravanti, Zeke Lau and Marc Lacomare, as well as (occasionally) Steph Gilmore and CT newborn, Griffin Colapinto. 

With Pipe running this AM, we were psyched to hear some insights from Snake, on the eve of what should be a radical, if conditionally underwhelming, Title Race. 

You can also click here to listen!