Surf for Your Life

Mick Fanning might only be 27 but he already knows how a lot of things feel that most of us never will. How does it feel to lose a brother? Win a world title? Rip your hamstring muscle clean off the bone? Weave through a zippering Superbank barrel for 20 or 30 seconds or paddle over the ledge at places like Pipeline and Teahupo? Have scoliosis so bad you can't get off the floor? Mick is young but he already exudes a quiet wisdom beyond his years, and now he is ready to share it with anyone wanting to further their surfing, whether competitively or for sheer pleasure. Mick tells his life story candidly - in turns funny, sensitive, thoughtful, self-deprecating - with practical tips on surfing technique, fitness, nutrition, board design, travel, competitive strategies and mental clarity. Mick has overcome personal tragedy and career-threatening injury on his way to claiming the 2007 world surfing title. Universally acknowledged as the most focussed and driven competitive surfer of his era, Mick's approach to surfing, sports psychology, life and relationships makes fascinating reading.

Tim Baker is a freelance writer based in Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. He is a former editor of Tracks and Surfing Life magazines, and co-author of "Bustin' Down The Door," the biography of surfing champion Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew (Harper Collins, 1996, now in its sixth print run). He has also edited and contributed to an anthology of Australian surf writing, "Waves - Great Stories From The Surf," (Harper Collins, 2005) and wrote "High Surf," which profiles the world's most inspiring surfers (Harper Collins, 2007). His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GQ, Inside Sport, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, the Bulletin magazine, The Australian Way, Playboy, as well as surfing magazines around the world. He has received the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame Media Award and been shortlisted for the CUB Australian Sports Writing Awards. His last book was the mega-successful OCCY, written with surfing legend Mark Occhilupo.