A Huntington Beach shaping-room original
Jeff “Doc” Lausch built Surf Prescriptions in Huntington Beach around a simple habit: keep testing. Performance shortboards, grovelers, twin fins, mid-lengths, and eccentric one-offs have all passed through what he calls the Mad Lab.
Doc’s first surfboard was a blue 9'4" Jack Haley that he received around age ten. The board was so heavy that his father and brother suggested sanding off the blue pigment to lighten it. Doc spent days working on it in the driveway. The board did not become meaningfully lighter, but taking a tool to a surfboard changed how he looked at the object.
From the family garage to the first shape
Doc grew up in Fountain Valley, only a few miles from Huntington Beach. His older brother Steve—known as Melon—worked at Plastic Fantastic and brought shaped blanks home to glass in the family garage. The operation grew into an early family label called Freedom. Doc watched, learned glassing, and found his own space in the process.
At about fifteen, Doc traded an old Weber Performer for a Skil 100 planer. He bought a blank and shaped a 7'2" diamond-tail single-fin. The board was almost completely flat because he had not yet learned how to work rocker, and he later discovered that he had positioned the template on the wrong end of the blank. Somehow, it still worked.
Learning from the Huntington Beach surfboard community
Doc learned by carrying blanks to local shapers and asking if he could watch. Some welcomed him; others made him stand silently in the corner. Every open door gave him another piece of the craft.
One important influence was Shawn Stussy, who became a mentor and pushed Doc toward more exacting work. As Stüssy’s clothing business expanded, Doc also helped shape boards. Back in the family operation, his younger brother Greg—known as Stork—made fins and helped carry Freedom into its next phase.
Surf Prescriptions and the Mad Lab
In 1982, the Freedom name gave way to Surf Prescriptions. The medical language grew out of Doc’s foam-covered shaping-room persona and the nickname that followed him. He has been the Mad Doctor of Huntington Beach surfboards ever since.
Surf Prescriptions describes its work as pushing the limits of both high-performance and alternative surfcraft. The current range reflects that: performance shortboards, hybrids, grovelers, twins, mid-lengths, and step-ups rather than one narrow category.
Doc Lausch surfboards at Just Surfboards
Surf Prescriptions boards by Doc Lausch are coming soon to Just Surfboards in Huntington Beach. Call the shop or stop by to ask about timing and upcoming inventory. The page will be updated as boards arrive.