I was just watching Pacific Vibrations ( 1970 ) when you look carefully at the boards being used some of them seem to have none or very little rocker totally flat bottoms single fins and yet the guys surfing were way better than many of the guys you will see at your local break on the latest gee wiz potato chip . Just saying .
Yeah, and Tom Curren surfs way better than anyone on anything he chooses to ride (and he rides a large varietly of old and new shapes). As you said, it isn’t the board.
Agreed , I saw Curren at el cap some years ago on a board I would not have carried down to the beach , magic .
I was just watching Pacific Vibrations ( 1970 ) when you look carefully at the boards being used some of them seem to have none or very little rocker totally flat bottoms single fins and yet the guys surfing were way better than many of the guys you will see at your local break on the latest gee wiz potato chip . Just saying
So what are you guys saying? Is Tom the only guy that can ride vintage machines or is it the surfers were just better back in the 70’s ?
so any board after that specific 1970’s flat-rockered, singlefin is pointless and only a piece of gee-whiz marketing providing no benefit to a current surfer?
ryan burch rides a square piece of raw foam w/ some dimples in it faster and in more control than 90% of any “local” surfers on their new boards. does that mean we should all ride raw foam sheets b/c anything beyond that is unnecessary?
#yawn
But I’ll jump in anyway. The couple responses take things to an extreme, this is recognizable immediately as simple hyperbole, a common rhetorical tool.
no everyone didn’t surf better back when, but the are a LOT of kooks out there trying to look as good as they think the board makes them. Boards too short, too thin, too narrow are it seems much more common than they were. Ah the terrible power of marketing, it’s become much more powerful than the ordinary persons ability to detect it. We need an app for that: call it a bullshitmeter.
What I find regarding the current day average rider vs those of the 70s is that young folks today are trying to do air reverses and other gee whiz stuff before they master some basic things like a solid cutback or full rail bottom turn. It’s ego driven. They want to be noticed more than anything else. I just ‘notice’ their lack of basic skills.
To clarify , the ability of the surfer is not dependent on the board . It has nothing to do with the decade the surfers were surfing in its just that the guys were surfing on boards that many people today would label as not worthy of being carried down to the beach and are most certainly not (fashionable) believing that you cannot surf at the level as shown in that movie without the latest gee wiz potato chip . Leaving out the surfing superstars . On my travels I have seen kids in third world county s surfing on boards that would be in the dumpster in the US and in my opinion were surfing better than many of the guys you would see at your local break and more to the point they without doubt were having more fun . Isnt that what its supposed be about . Its not the board .
^^^^^^^^^ This!! ^^^^^^^^^^
SNIPER’S OATH
“IT’S NOT THE RIFLE”
“IT’S THE SHOOTER”
herb
Agreed a bullshitmeter would go a long long way in the world today. That said most people learn something in time and its more than likely human impatience with others AND time that allows us to get torqued up. Find a break and surf alone if its an issue. People ride what they ride and yeah curren shreds but its really about how much fun youre having. I personally dont care what someones riding or if theyre riding something ulitimately ineffiencent design wise - if theyre having fun thats healthy. And its also good to keep in mind that reality as we know it is weird and chaotic, why would surf culture end up any other way - also - hasnt it more than likely always been that way? I’ve met other people who espouse the ride anything mentaility who after getting to know em a bit i find id rather not surf with that person or watch them surf simply because they’re either selfish, unintelligent or rude. So you just shrug it off to the cosmos and keep on rolling down the sidewalk of life…a perfect example - jeremy johnston - nsb florida, shreds a modern shred stick and not much else, never really seen him ride anything else - one of the nicest friggin guys you could meet - so what if someone doesnt know what pacific vibrations was, or if they dont ride “everything” = kinda a weak argument gbzausa - wiping out over and over again is fun - so is simply trying to paddle out and getting pounded - its not a performance its a way of life/event/excercise/mentaility/energy point
Having the experience of doing the wrong thing is extremely important - humans cant just go through life doing the right or appropriate thing. Modern surfing is innovative and a thruster is ulitmately a thing just like the single fin is a thing. They are equal. Their ontological nature is flat.
One of the reasons I like having a 7’ BZ in my quiver. At one time, I had this faded, ripped Aleeda wetsuit from the 80s with neon yellow sleeves and panels. I’d paddle out in a group of strangers on my BZ, wearing that suit and a faded Velzy baseball cap. I would get some real funny looks and could guess what they were thinking. I’d then proceed to sit deeper and catch more waves than all of the ‘visitors’ who were out.
Mr natuarlchapl , it was not an argument on any level , it was just an observation . Its not the board .
Well I am related to 7 living surfers (dad n 6 uncles) from the 60’s and 70’s era and I gotta say that they like to recollect out loud how cool they were, with their baggies and their joints and their style, walking to class in baggies barefoot et cetra et cetra, their bitchin noserides - so i dont really see a difference at all between that and a young guy today bustin an air over and over again and swiggin a monster before trying to have a threeway with some beach bimbos.
Ego has existed the whole time.
youre right, cause there are plenty of kooks riding single fins too. an experienced surfer is just that
kinda verbal diarehha on my part - way too much coffee this AM
Just a kook waxing philosophical myself
Mr naturalchapl , your " ontological " comment threw me , never heard of the word befor and now I have looked it up I still dont know wtf it means , please do not confuse the old geezers on sways with such deep thinking . T
im a geek, sorry, youre right - excuse my spewage
Really, naturalchapl. You should know better than to go using fiddy dollar words in this forum. Did you forget that (most of) the participants are surfers?
BTW…it’s a great movie…
my favorite of the period…actually a little before p.v. was ,“innermost limits of pure fun”…more raw i guess.
herb
Nice Chevelle Herb…
69 or 70?