He became a pro in 1981 and in 1989 after 6 tour victories from 25 events he became "World Surfing Champion".
'Pottz' redefined competitive surfing with aerials and 360's only performed in free surfing.
He invented maneuvers like the “rock-n-roll", as done on a skateboard and promoted a new form of judging competitive surfing based on "risky surfing" (higher scoring being given to bigger and more critical maneuvering) presently standard on the World Championship Tour (WCT)
By the age of 15, he was surfing 20+ foot waves at Hawaii´s North Shore “Banzai Pipeline” surf break. At the time, he used a jet-ski as an alternative to paddling, becoming one of 'tow-in' surfing pioneers.
