Begginers + No Leash = Danger?

General Discussion
21

If you surf without a leash you would learn slower. You would not try to do stuff where you might fail, always surf within safe limits, etc. For a beginner IMHO the leash keeps him closer to the board giving him more time to actually surf and learn faster. No matter how well you swim, you’re not gonna swim well through a surfzone. I’ve seen surfers go out and pick up swimmers that were only 10 yards from the beach in Biaritz that couldn’t get to shore due to the strong rips.

I think the idiots that are not safe in the water would still be reckless without a leash.

regards,

Håvard

22

Here we go, I drag this back up because of how crowded it is nowadays. Back in the early 70’s we used to cut “kook cords” in OB parking lots because we felt it made the lineup more crowded. We learned to control our boards or swam regardless of the size. Lately, I see a lot of longboarders who are moving away from leashes. I love and prefer to surf without a cord, but it is usually too crowded. There are a lot of people who can’t control their boards and put kids as well as anyone paddling out in harms way when they take off on a closeout and fall off without trying to grab their boards. Sorry, had to rant.

23

regardless if you are wearing a leash or not

please do NOT ditch your board instead of duckdiving.

far too many people do this and it is VERY dangerous.

and, on a failed duckdive, please hold on to your board.

also, if you are paddling out, please paddle wide of the

takeoff zone. that way if someone is going for a late

drop there is less chance of their board hitting you.

it’s proper etiquette (spelling?).

24

Heh heh…

Good topic! I tell ya the worst thing to get mowed by;

A goat-boat (kayak) riderless and FULL OF FRICKIN’ WATER. Yes folks, this can turn this sometimes kooky waveriding tool into a partially-submerged torpedo of death. The outcome involves dings, raised voices and in my case, the goat-boater never coming back. Ever.

As for leashes, I reckon it could do no harm to the surfing population if, upon gaining profficency, a beginner has to give up the ding-string for 1 year (exept in rocky situations). They would get surf-fit fast, have a better understanding of duckdiving and turning turtle, and (best of all) quite a few would get sick of it and quit!

25

In Virginia Beach, the land of tourism and absolutely no tolerance for surfers, you better wear the “kook cord” unless you can afford a $500.00 dollar fine. They raise it every year and yes they inforce the rule. Don’t get me started about when they brought out the helicopters because a group of non-leashed surfers refused to come out of the water. You got to love your home break :slight_smile:

Troy

26

they have a a leash law at wrightsville

27

im astonished that they actually regulate leashes in some places! amazed!! i’d be saving my pennies for a one way ticket…

28

i see were there coming from but it should be people that can’t control their board have to were them and people that can swim fast and control their board should have to

29

Newport Beach, CA has a “blackball” law in the summer. When the lineup gets crowded with swimmers (tourists) they make the surfers leave the water. Maybe a leash law could extend the surfers time in the water?

30

We’ve all seen a lot of scary people in the water… beginners, and the experienced-enough-to-be-dangerous. When I think back I never remember it really coming down to whether or not someone was wearing a leash. Either you’re being a bonehead, or you’re careful and know your own limits…

I don’t use a leash when on my longboard… in fact I was still using one occasionally last year until I ran off the front of the nose and instead of my board sitting nicely behind me, the leash pulled it straight back in my direction. Felt the leash tug, and popped up just in time to get knocked under the eye… 10 stitches :frowning: Wasn’t the leashes fault, but like you said… it becomes a crutch… I guess instead of popping up hand-first I was waiting to feel a tug on the cord. Trouble is… that only means the back of the board is 10 feet away :slight_smile:

I’d lose my longboard on steep 5 foot take-offs a lot too! If I wanted to ride it in conditions that I was going to lose it regularly in… I’d wear a leash those days. Maybe you could compromise with yourself and wear a leash when it’s over 3’ or so?

I agree that surfing without one when it’s safe to do so is a really great way to build some good habits (and swimming muscles!)…

31
Quote:

The whole dynamic would be different if all were leashless

It’s a nice Sunday morning where I am, with nearly no surf…read through this thread and chose to post this after Proneman’s comment rather than attach to any one partcular post…

The next time I surf on a standup board will make it 36 years for me. My formative years were spent surfing the points in and around Ventura, California…lots of rocks, pieces of rebar sticking out of concrete dumped to shore up the shoreline, and occasional reefy places with long paddles. What in retrospect are probably my prime years in terms of time/waves/quality/performance/progression were spent pre-leash, or certainly pre-before I used leashes (I held out for year and years). I still absolutely hate using a leash, but the influx of so many people in the last decade pretty much forced me into using one just to protect the clueless who have never known another world where leashes were not used…on long or short boards I would see them dumbly floating in front of me, not even bothering to paddle any direction, safe and secure in their experience that they had enough room in front of me that my cord would protect them…assuming I was wearing a cord.

Assume: makes an ass out of you and me…

It was a brave new world, and being ignorant isn’t the same as being stupid. I bought a leash- my 4th or 5th leash in my life- and joined the legions. Hate 'em hate 'em hate 'em…the leashes, not the leigons. I just try to be a good citizen.

I’m disturbed by some of the comments posted that make it sound like any surfer can possibly be 100% “in control” on the wave and of his or her board 100% of the time. It can’t happen, folks…it can’t even happen in golf, much less surfing anything bigger than 2’ surf. If it was possible I bet a lot of us would quit on the spot, which would no doubt improve the morale of those remaining. This total/100% is an unrealisitic thought/goal/expectation, and hopefully isn’t what the various writers intended to mean.

32

I took my shortboard leashless in the 3 foot surf, and it was fun. I had to chase my board alot and it did get a crack (time to get some epoxy resin) but I felt great.

Well it was at lesser known spot and I had a stretch of beach and peaks to myself.

I’d go with Benny’s idea . . .wear one and surf like you’re not wearing one . . . in crowded conditions . . .

I usually shortboard so I go leashed, and most of the areas I surf are crowded.

I notice if i bring my longboard, if I fall off of it (it is volan’d) and I’m leashless, it usually stays put or cruises not too far. But shortboards, they’re tossed and go away pretty quick.

Beginners should always have leashes.

33

Paulo, I commend you for not wearing a leash. I wish more beginner’s would try to learn without it. I’d be willing to dodge a few loose boards. I have to anyways when they bail or wipeout complacently knowing their kook cord will hold their board for them anyways. at least if they were learning without a leash I’d know that in a year or so they will know how to control their board.

My biggest complaint about leashes is aesthetic. I was watching one day at a local pier and every surfer on every wave would “twang” their leash. Some were even decent surfers but they would end every ride with a “twang.” To me it just looked ugly, really ugly.

I started surfing in the early 70’s in a part of So Cal where leashes were frowned upon (yeah, anybody remember the black wetsuit white board code of ethics?). In a way it was kind of ridiculous because we have a lot of rocky point breaks around here. But it all had to do with an ideal we called being a WATERMAN. Being a waterman meant knowing how to control your board. It meant paying the price when you lost your board- swim for it brah. It meant knowing how to body surf over the rocks. It also meant knowing how to fix your dings.

Paulo my recommendation to you is don’t wear it if it’s not too crowded…but don’t go for a steep take off if there are people in front of you paddling out. Or, especially, if there are little kids playing in the shorebreak inside. If there’s no one inside of you go for it any way. If you wipe out, so what, swim for it. Learn to enjoy the bodysurf in. And, like Joel Tudor says, “You’ll get in better shape.”

34

dont apologise

bryan

unless its for taking such a tempting Bait

35

I haven’t used one for ten years or more, if it starts to feel dangerous I go in, don’t go out, or don’t take off.

I always assume that the other guys are leashless and are going to lose their boards, so I never paddle behind other people.

In spite of all this I frequently surf leashless in relatively crowded conditions. . . (with my own children on the inside) and I think that it’s possible to surf safely without a leash, so far so good anyway !

Wear a lid !!

:slight_smile:

36

Tom, I wish I could go leashless too, but in southern cal it’s very crowded. When I surf in Baja or northern cal I go without a leash if the conditions are OK, but when I surf in Newport, Huntington or Bolsa, most times it’s too crowded. My kids can fend for themselves, they’re 20, 21 and 25.

My point when I brought this issue back up was safety; When it’s crowded, control the board. if you can’t, wear a leash.

37

It seems pretty clear to me that you should do what feels comfortable. I’ve never been hit by a leashless board in nearly 20 years, but that I think reflects the skill of those who go leashless.

Beginners ought to use a leash if it’s crowded, which of course raises the question as to whether they should be out at all.

I go leashless in uncrowded beachbreak less than head high. Otherwise, I strap up…

38

hey thanx for reviving this tread

i read along thinkin’ it was new stuff

then I saw I posted

and was interested to read a post o’ mine

before I started using the return key.

I edited it and have reprinted it.

thanks.

other wise,

oh so much could be said that is derogatory

about the leash,cord ,tether,umbilical

pull string.

these unkind comments are injurious to those who love surfing but just cannot bring themselves to swim or learn to swim or hold on or

to contemplate retriving another surfers board.

cutting comments are best left unsaid.

in an instructional vein somthing must be said

to reveal what has been lost

with the increase in tether popularity.

the brave new world Nazi life guard mentality

turning free surfing into a felonious activity

is deploreable.

god bless our dear surfing…

look what they have done to my song.

…ambrose…

they may have sold their ‘‘surfing’’

I didn’t sell mine

they will never get theirs back.

I still have mine.

if they think they are entitled

to any of my surfing

they are mistaken.

the leash?

it doesn’t entitle

the user to a larger share

surfing with no leash is its own reward.

39

I think that most of us who predate leashes would come down on both sides of this issue: Surfing without a leash develops some essential skills and knowledge that may otherwise be difficult to come by; In many of today’s surfing situations, not wearing a leash is likely to be dangerous and may be borderline irresponsible. Ironically, as you imply, the first point applies not only to the surfer without a leash, but to those around them. I constantly see beginners lying prone on their boards inside and parallel to the beachfront in significant swell. That has to be based on the assumption/prior experience that most or all of the surfers outside of them are in near-perfect control of their boards. If 10’ lumber was tumbling by on a regular basis, I doubt that those learners would stay there for long.

-Samiam

40

In the past week I saw 2 incidents in crowded surf. First day, a guy on a longboard with no leash shoulder-hopped and took off in front of 3 other people on a head high wave. He lost his balance and his board which then hit one of the other riders, a shortboarder who had taken off much deeper. The shortboarder tried to avoid it but got hit around the knees and came up yelling at the longboarder, who was swimming in (no apology offered). The shortboarder was really really angry.

The second day, pretty much same scenario, except the longboarder took off even farther in front of someone, buried the nose of his 10 foot rockerless tanker, and the board proceeded to shoot up and out of the wave, tumbling thru the air toward the shore. There was a 14 year old kid inside who just missed getting slammed in the head by this projectile.

Both days, the crowd was 30+ people, and the surf was head high or better.

In my opinion, both of these guys are reckless and dangerous. Neither one of them paddled back out after their incidents or I would have said something. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but that was just luck.

The real problem, I think, is not so much beginners who don’t wear a leash, but intermediate surfers who don’t. Most of the beginners didn’t make it outside that day.