After eight months out of the water, Mark Mathews is back surfing his favourite slab again - paddling into it too, which is good news for a fella recovering from a separated shoulder. He's also been doing a few trips north and south with designs on surfing Jaws again by next January.

While out of the water Mark's sponsor Modom released their shark deterrent legrope, a product that's shaken things up in the wake of recent shark attacks. Some have questioned efficacy, but shark deterrent products are coming off a low base. 

Here Mark talks about his preparation for big waves and how the leggy helps him when surfing the hot zones.

Swellnet: How's the shoulder injury coming along?
Mark Mathews: Yeah it's getting there. I've started paddling sort of normally.

Sort of normally...?
Well, the range of motion isn't quite there. I still get kinda stuck, I've gotta do this weird sort of paddle or it gets too sore.

Will you get all your range of movement back?
Yeah, they reckon it wont come fully back for a year and a half - so mid next year. But I'm aiming to surf proper big waves again in January. I'll be ready for a Jaws swell by January.

What are you gonna do if presented with another wave like the one that injured you at Jaws? Swing and go...?
No. No way. It was a dumb decision. But I had to go in, the [Peahi Challenge] comp was gonna start and I needed to leave the water. Think I might paddle in next time.

While you were out injured Modom released their shark deterrent leggy. All other functions aside, how does it work as a legrope?
I don't even notice it to be honest, so I just wear it every surf. I thought it might annoy me. And I thought I'd only be using it when I had to travel, say down in South Oz or sharky spots up north, but I don't notice it so I'm using it all the time. I'm not actually doing anything different.

Do you use it in the big stuff? What about bailing out?
Yeah fine. You just unscrew it and put on a bigger cord if need be. Like when I surf Ours I'll attach a thick 8 foot cord, then switch back for the beachbreaks. Works the same as a normal leggy then.

I've heard you say that your fear of big waves isn't always the waves itself but the environment you find yourself in. I'm assuming you were referring to what's swimming in the waters below you?
100%. When things cant be controlled is when I get scared. I can train and prepare myself, mentally and physically, to ride big waves. I've got control over that. Whereas sharks are uncontrollable, an X factor, so to me that's scarier.

I can do breath hold training for those big, deepwater waves, so they aren't so scary. Shallow water waves can be scarier 'cos there is an uncontrollable element, say if you wipeout you could hit the bottom. But again, that's what we train for.

To me, the most nerve-racking thing is not being able to control a situation.

Hence no more spinning late and blind on 60 foot waves?
Nup.

The fellas at Modom have been surprisingly upfront about the limitations of their leggy, as in what sharks it's effective against. How do you feel about that?
I understand it and I'm comfortable with it. They've been straight up about saying it's a deterrent, that it may not work all of the time. And they say it's not going to stop a hungry great white in attack mode. But I'll try any sort of deterrent that doesn't effect performance.

I don't know about exact probability but if it lessens your chances even by a bit then I'm happy with it.

You seen many sharks from the water?
Yeah. A lot of the time they'll come and kind of look at you first. I've heard of them nudging people and swimming around them before anything happens. Those are crucial moments, and anything you can do to fool the shark into thinking your not a fish is a good thing by me.