Ryan Callinan looks to Gabriel Medina for Surf Ranch inspiration

The Merewether goofy-footer stormed back from missing the mid-season cut on the CT last year to finish second on the second-tier Challenger Series and easily requalify, before surging to world No.8 at the halfway point this season.

A equal career-best CT finish of runner-up at Bells Beach catapulted Callinan from the fringes of the cut line to a strong position in the race for the world title finals with five events remaining.

The Surf Ranch Pro, held at Kelly Slater's wave pool in Lemoore, California, starts on Saturday night (AEST) and Callinan is aiming for an improvement on 17^th placings at his two appearances there, in 2019 and 2021.

He faces Ethan Ewing, Barron Mamiya and Kanoa Igarashi in heat five of the qualifying round and will warm up with a practice session alongside the event's undisputed king.

Three-time world champion Medina has won the contest twice and was runner-up in the other edition, and Callinan was keen to make the most of the opportunity to see him prepare up close.

"I haven't really had a good result there," Callinan said before leaving for the US this week.

"I feel like I've surfed pretty good there, but I haven't found that next gear to click in and get a good result. But I've got some good results this year and hopefully I can find something and try and push it a little bit.

"We get a few practice days beforehand and for my practice day I think I'm actually paired up with Gabriel Medina, so that will be pretty good to see where the level is.

"Just to watch what he's doing, because he's always the one who's pushing the limits out there and you see what's possible.

"It will be good to see from the get-go where I need to be and try to keep up with him.

"It's always an interesting event, just really unique and it's in a pretty strange place, and the whole atmosphere is really different to the normal surf comp."

The artificial wave presents a different challenge for competitors, who get two opportunities in both directions to showcase their skills during the qualifying round.

Callinan, who will celebrate his 31st birthday at the Surf Ranch, was focused on striking the right balance between instinct and planning.

"There are sections where you can think, 'I want to do three or four turns here, and miss this bit, and maybe try and an air here', which is pretty cool," he said.

"But I guess surfing is one of those things where you need to still be pretty instinctive. If you try to plan it out too much, it kind of doesn't go to plan.

"If you miss one little part, it can put your whole wave off, so I try not to lock in anything too much in advance, but have a rough idea what I want to do and the manoeuvres I want to do in certain sections, but also just stand up and see where it takes me."

Although keen to keep climbing the rankings, Callinan is also savouring his recent success after his roller-coaster ride in 2022.

"After last year there was probably a bit of a hangover, and trying to make it through those first five events - there feels like there's so much pressure," he said. "The last few weeks I've felt like I've had a bit of a burnout, I just put so much energy into them. As much as I want to do well, it feels more relaxing now that I've made it on and the pressure is off in a way.

"The goalposts have shifted a bit and I'd love to get more big results and push for that top five, but I'm just excited to go surfing and hopefully get some good waves and put in some big performances."