I think it has a lot to with not having to paddle as much, with the jetski towing back to the line up the pros don’t need the extra paddling. it certainly is a factor.
When I really notice the inadequacy of their equipment is the Huntington hopping and flapping trying to connect sections in mediocre waves which is used by all of them and is bloody ugly. Need to have the judges deducting points for lack of style.
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I think it has a lot to with not having to paddle as much, with the jetski towing back to the line up the pros don't need the extra paddling. it certainly is a factor.
I noticed that too. In golf the pros arn’t allowed to use golf carts. part of the game is being able to walk to all the holes. I think it is crap that the surfers get carted around on effing jetskis. That said, I don’t believe that the pro’s would be riding anything different if they had to paddle. look at round one where they don’t get the jetski. they are still riding the same boards.
hang ona tick there mate
you sounded like roy stewart there for a minute
one one thing i can say for pros
they are masters at finding the barrel and making insanity drops
fcuk i was getting a hammering this morning
when theres so much water pulling you up the face and if you angling it takes a lot of concentration to keep the tail in
i can see purpose in common designs for late angled drops
and also for the reduced swing weight and ease of turning
i never understood the leadweight in the nose thing for taj B
why not just use more foam
its better
im with you there steve. i think if you drop in to most of the names shapers around here they will have the quiver of shapes inc small wave weopons. i think your on the right track when you mentioned slater and merrick together. its the time spent together communicating and educating each other which give them the knowledge to put the right tools together. most mainstream shapers dont want to phuck with thier riders thinking or std contest board design. seeing them once a week or 2 and handing them another 10 boards after a phone conversation or 2 isnt going to cut it these days. kelly knows intimatly what he wants in a board. most of the other guys i have had much to do with know basic measurements and thats it… one major label here doesnt even put dimensions on the team guys boards so he doesnt give them preconcieved impressions of the boards.
someone spoke earlier about flow… maybe the asp mean connecting manouvres . i think style is lacking a lot of the time.
one of the big things that keeps pro surfing stale is the lack of diverse equipment (no plug intended). most every day surfers have 3-4 boards all different styles. but all we see of the pro’s is 6’2" potatoe chips…
I’ll just start at the top,
This argument has been raging around some times in the foreground but mostly in the background since Bob Mctavish and Nat young were the surfing supremos.
Bet Kelly uses Aku or SurfCad or BoardCad Or Shape 3d to refine.
Boardbumps
Kelly isn’t a freak. No more than Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Mike Schumacher, Bjorn Dunkerbeck and many more are. Top Athletes abound, yet a top athlete with a stable mind set and good dose of intellect are the ones that make the headlines. I would bet that any of the above mentioned could swap sports discipline and be at the top within no time. IMHO, much of the “top 44” is filled with filler, the “hey I’m so stoked brah” yahoo crowd that fills the broadcast time and talks the sponsor talk, it’s not much of a contest but for a handful of them.
Your first three sentences were very well thought out.
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IMHO, much of the “top 44” is filled with filler, the “hey I’m so stoked brah” yahoo crowd that fills the broadcast time and talks the sponsor talk, it’s not much of a contest but for a handful of them.
It takes far, far too much competitive attitude, skills and determination to consider the majority of the top 44 as ‘filler’, though there may certainly be different levels of talent in different conditions among them. Sure, some of them will never reach the top 10 and some are just ‘stoked to be there’, for the most part they do try their best to win. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have qualified to be there in the first place.
Kelly seem to show his human side from time to time with bad wave choice like in France at the end of the last season. I’ve seen footage of him generating speed in 10"(yes, inches) surf on a regular shortboard, I wonder if anyone else of the top 44 could do that… But above all, Kelly seem to be the most focused and competitive of the bunch.
regards,
Håvard
I still think Kelly is a freak, not in any physical sense but in his overall ability. He has freakishly good surfing ability and a super freakishly competitive “game.” He has the ability to win a heat before even paddling out. Look at that he did to Andy a few years ago in the heyday of their rivalry, walks up to him right before they paddle out and tells Andy that he loves him. Instant win, Andy’s out of the game. And then look at this freakish patience. How many heats has he won in the dying moments because he simply sat there convinced that the right wave would come, and it did. I think it was J-Bay few years ago in his heat against Andy where Andy caught a wave with less than minute left, leaving Kelly to have to score something like 9.5 to beat him. Andy paddled in did a little shotgun claim at Kelly and then Kelly caught a bomb and got the score he needed with seconds left.
I was also a believer that maybe the rest of the competitive work was starting to catch up to his ability level, especially with Jordy and Dane making the tour, but all he did was go “oh well, I guess I need to start throwing some 360 airs now.” And he did, and he stuck them, and he won. It’s like he has this bottomless bag of tricks but he only takes out the ones he happens to need at the time to win.
This doesn’t imply that he is not human. He has certainly had his bad moments. In fact, if you look back any time he has recently gone through a relationship breakup he has tanked. I drop him from my Fantasy Surfer team if I hear that he’s broken up with whatever supermodel he happens to be dating at the time. No guarantee that his head will be all there.
I am also sure that his relationship with Merrick has been a significant factor in his success, This doesn’t mean that that relationship is going to pass on to anyone else though. If you are a pro surfer and you have found your “magic” board with your shaper are you gonna share it with your competitors? Hell no! Make them go find their own magic boards.
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I still think Kelly is a freak, not in any physical sense but in his overall ability. He has freakishly good surfing ability and a super freakishly competitive “game.” He has the ability to win a heat before even paddling out. Look at that he did to Andy a few years ago in the heyday of their rivalry, walks up to him right before they paddle out and tells Andy that he loves him. Instant win, Andy’s out of the game.
Kelly lost that heat (and consequently the world title), assuming you’re talking about the final at Pipe a few years ago.
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Sure Slater grew up surfing weak waves in Florida but how much time would he spend surfing them now?
He might spend a whopping 2 weeks in florida (per year) these days, and I doubt it’s all at once. Been this way for what? 20 years? That being said it’s more likely that he’s as good as he is from riding perfect waves all over the planet all year every year for the last 20. BTW it only takes a short amount of time (if your eager) to figure out how to surf small florida chop. Once you’ve figured that out it’s imbedded in your brain forever. Another thing worth mentioning is that little crap chop has ramps all over the place perfect for boosting airs. That’s where he learned it, and now applys it to bigger and better canvases…
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I am also sure that his relationship with Merrick has been a significant factor in his success,
Honestly, I think that is a two way street. They feed off each other.
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this is more about planshape and slight increases in area which give massive increases in planing ability and speed generation rather than length.
By having slightly more width in the planshape up front under his chest (and thus more parallel outline) Slater can utilise more of his rail line thus effectively enlarging the wave size range that a given board will perform in, whilst at the same time the board is still very manouvreable because it is so short.
Most of the pros boards are so narrow nosed that their effective rail line is diminished…the nose is out of the way for modern moves in the lip but cant’ have any pressure applied to it during a carving turn. The design works perfectly in clean waves with adequate shape but is limited in flatter faced waves where the lack of planing surface under the front foot causes them to slow down between moves.
It ain’t rocket science.
Surely Merrick and Slater aren;'t the only two guys to figure this out.
Steve
I’m on vacation and trying to avoid my cell phone, e-mails, and even sways; but I had to peek
in and finding this thread, had to respond…
That quote above pretty much pegs it, Steve. The changes to achieve more function in less-
than-ideal waves are not that great. I think after KS’ recent work, we’ll see more CT guys
taking a look at at slightly wider, more effecient planing, types of designs.
The state-of-the-art shortboard is much more highly complex and difficult to shape than many
believe. There are so many details and nuances that have to be JUST right; and many of them
are almost impossible to see unless you have a highly trained ‘‘shaper’s eye’’. All these things
have to be carried over into the wider boards, if not, the pros will reject them so fast it’ll make
your head spin.
When the ‘‘dream tour’’ gets back into ‘‘dream waves’’, this’ll all be moot. But for the ''rest of
us’’ that live our surfing lives in day-to-day conditions, I think it’s worth noting that even the
very best can ride a 12’‘-18 3/4’‘-14 1/2’’ and flat-out rip on it.
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I am also sure that his relationship with Merrick has been a significant factor in his success, This doesn’t mean that that relationship is going to pass on to anyone else though. If you are a pro surfer and you have found your “magic” board with your shaper are you gonna share it with your competitors? Hell no! Make them go find their own magic boards.
Many of Slater’s magic boards have been Simon Anderson’s for a while i think…
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I was also a believer that maybe the rest of the competitive work was starting to catch up to his ability level, especially with Jordy and Dane making the tour, but all he did was go “oh well, I guess I need to start throwing some 360 airs now.” And he did, and he stuck them, and he won. It’s like he has this bottomless bag of tricks but he only takes out the ones he happens to need at the time to win.
Don’t know what 360 air your talking about Kim…the only air I saw him pull was the double grab forehand air which won him the Bells Final. This manouevre has been around since Davey Smith. Martin Potter, Archy and others had this shit perfected at least 20 years ago now. This isn’t about performance leaps in contests…just Slaters ability to utulise marginal condidtions more effectively through better design.
Steve
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kelly knows intimatly what he wants in a board. most of the other guys i have had much to do with know basic measurements and thats it… one major label here doesnt even put dimensions on the team guys boards so he doesnt give them preconcieved impressions of the boards.
My guess is that it’s a combination of Slater’s knowledge, his opportunities, and his position in surfing…HE can ride anything He wants to without having to worry about getting dumped by some of his sponsors. How many others on the WCT can say that? Maybe 10 guys total? As to pros packing 10 cookie-cutter boards for contests…maybe if they were built to last they could mix it up, eh? I know, I know…
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someone spoke earlier about flow… maybe the asp mean connecting manouvres . i think style is lacking a lot of the time.
one of the big things that keeps pro surfing stale is the lack of diverse equipment (no plug intended). most every day surfers have 3-4 boards all different styles. but all we see of the pro’s is 6’2" potatoe chips
Notice that “flow” was the last of three aspects of surfing the ASP considers in judging criteria. I’ve jabbered before that judging is eaeier to do and for spectators to understand if everybody is riding similar equipment. It’s to the point of standardization, which maybe is why a burnt out old guy like me who detests surfing competition can accept it as it is today.
Conversley, and I’ve written this before too…somebody like Slater or Curren or Tudor could develop an ultimate modern board in the 7’-8’ range that would allow them to do the 6’1" thruster shorty manuevers and also allow them to utilize the trim and style of longer boards and an earlier/non-pro surfing ethos…nobody has effectively melded the two schools yet…and could ignite a new dimension in surfing.
Nels
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Don’t know what 360 air your talking about Kim…the only air I saw him pull was the double grab forehand air which won him the Bells Final. This manouevre has been around since Davey Smith. Martin Potter, Archy and others had this shit perfected at least 20 years ago now. This isn’t about performance leaps in contests…just Slaters ability to utulise marginal condidtions more effectively through better design.
Steve
I’m pretty sure he pulled one near the end of a wave at Winkipop, but your point is right on.
I was talking about the air at Winkipop. I’m not saying Kelly reinvented the wheel here. The point is that prior to this season there was MUCH talk about whether he had the game to keep up with new kids on the block (Jordy and Dane). So Kelly uncorks a solid win at Snapper and then throws a 360 at Winki. When was the last time Kelly had to throw a 360in contest to win, if ever. I was just saying that he must have a bag of tricks that no one has seen simply because he hasn’t had to use them yet.
Sorry this thread has sort of morphed in to whole different thread, probably my fault.
I know he has had a couple off of simon anderson but al merrick is still his shaper. They get boards offered all the time.