A quick scan over the titles in my bookshelf reveals our favourite surfing topics. The travel book. The big name biography. The photo special.

It says something about the cultural moment that, in two consecutive weeks, two surfing books were published, both focussing on a little-addressed topic - mental health. And while we’re running on a theme, they’re both written by ex-pro surfers who both address people as 'humans'.

Though from successive generations, Blake Johnston, who’s written ‘Swellbeing’, and Cooper Chapman, with ‘The 1% Good Club’, both cracked the top 100 in the world and both, at one point, were a lock for the Championship Tour.

It didn’t work out that way and each has forged a new path: Blake has been running a surf school, plus breaking the odd world record, while Cooper took a direct path into self-improvement and mental health.

They’re both now swimming in similar waters, sharing the lessons they’ve learned along the way. In this regard the titles are similar, you get a sense of each author’s history, but most importantly, why they’ve taken up the cause, and that’s what sets the two books apart.

Because of his world records, Blake’s story is already well-known, with the suicide of his father being the catalyst for his exercise evangelism. However, it wasn’t till five years after the event that Blake began making changes to his own habits then formulating them into a larger theory about health and wellbeing.

“I have more energy than most,” writes Blake, “and I’ve learned that my anxiety, the overthinking and the uncertainty, is just energy in the wrong place.”

Blake found mental solace in testing his body with breathwork, long-distance running, and various physical challenges.

The first time I spoke to Blake after adopting this new outlook, he’d just returned from a barefoot marathon across Sydney, from Chatswood to his Cronulla home. Moderation, it seemed, was not key to his new regimen which was part Wim Hoff, part Cliffy Young.

That said, there’s a method to his madness. “When I get out in nature, grind physically…I’m not attached to my thoughts, I feel more grounded.”

At the ’Swellbeing’ book launch I asked Blake if good mental health, at least as he teaches it, was conditional on making ourselves uncomfortable.

“Yes,” he replied frankly. “We have to get out of our comfort zone to train ourselves to be resilient.” It was as simple and as hard as that.

Hormesis is the practice of applying controlled stress to our bodies, such as ice baths or hard exercise, in order to mimic existential stress and build mental fortitude. 

“There’s no one way to claim back positive mental health,” writes Blake, “but there are many things you can do to feel better.” However, the reader shouldn’t expect aromatherapy or quiet time in the garden to figure in Blake’s plan.

I’m not sure if the message reaches across genders and age groups, but I’ve little doubt the lessons within ‘Swellbeing’ will find a willing audience in younger male surfers.

In contrast to Blake’s mantra of ‘grinding physically to thrive mentally’, Cooper Chapman approaches the same issue in what might be considered a more refined way.

Having been sponsored from a young age, Cooper was well remunerated but also had access to various athletic training programs. Not just phyical training prorams but mental help too. He was taught to peer behind the psychological curtain and understand, perhaps even control, his impulses. All in the service of winning more heats.

As Cooper’s pro career wound down he was exposed to the suburban realities of mental health which led to a breakthrough moment: The mental tools he was taught weren’t just applicable to winning heats, they could help anyone. The problem was not just anyone could access those lessons, so his life's work since retiring from pro surfing has been to make those lessons available.

Cooper began with school visits, progressed to camps, the speaking circuit, Instragram and podcasts, and now he's unified all he's learnt and published a book. Cooper's approach, such as it is, differs from Blake Johnston's in that it's gentler. Physical exercise is one aspect but he focuses more on patterns of thought. Also, whereas Blake takes a reactive approach to excess energy, Cooper is proactive in avoiding spiralling thoughts.

The hook that the book rests upon is Cooper's 1% theory. Taking just 1% of your day - or 14 minutes - to meditate and service the other 99% of your day. It makes clear the point that improved mental health is easier to attain than we think.

These days it seems almost every beach has a resident surf coach. An ex-pro or a capable PT, the good ones can make almost anyone a better surfer via technique and body awareness. Both Blake Johnston and Cooper Chapman are trading in awareness of a different kind. As mental health becomes less taboo, their lessons are vital to thrive or simply to survive.

For a more detailed explanation of Cooper's work, click to read his recent interview on Swellnet.

'Swellbeing' by Blake Johnston is published by Hachette
'The 1% Good Club' by Cooper Chapman is published by Wiley