I surf the gulf so I ride a longboard so I can surf more days. The other day I was in a surf shop and a discussion came about old school and high preformance longboards. Now my question is it the board or the style of riding or both. I think I try to ride every wave to as best as it will allow me. For example if it has a long clean shoulder I will go for the cross step nose ride, but if it has alot of side swell I will fade off the lip and cut back so I don’t pearl out. Other days it is all head high barrels all you can do is get in and hold a rail for life. Is there an old school way to grab a rail?
My question what is, the difference between old school and high performance
From your post it seems like you should know the difference.
“Is there an old school way to grab a rail?”
“Old school”? If I remember correctly, once upon a time, grabbing a rail was generally frowned upon… poor form.
Yeah, like Dale said - I was tought that grabbing a rail was not proper surfing by my father. Even though I did it on heavy big breaks when I was on a shortboard.
how old is the school 30’s 40’s 50’s 60’s 70’s 80’s 90’s shuckins elephant boy the school is the basis of criterion …the guys that pay the band call the song…every overthrow of contest criterion stems from the disgruntled “hot est surf er " gettin’ twogether wit udder HOTTEST SURFERS and making over the rules…I.E. the NEW SCHOOL of thought…the revolutionary school brings back classic moves that have proven FUNCTIONAL taking for granted the greatest novelty move if executed well and in a timely fashion can be fuctional…prior to Dewey Webber’s disgruntled Makaha International appearance yes I too have been told that points were taken off for crouching the crouch and rail grab slowly became respectable through the 60’s ,Mike Burner could push sections from way back grabbing a rail underground hero status at our camp fire , Paul Straus didn’t do cheater fives …they were Strauses…if you grab a rail it could be any school. Just by articulating your execution it may increase or disqualify its respectability…Just because Col.Benson says you are throwing style like Phil Edwards,…there my be purists that may take exception and not agree…Dora even had jerky days…Phil told Corky” here ride this it will smoothe out your style"…some might say it didn’t work cause corky got a smaller board and he wasnt smooth,like Phil and Hynson and Frye…still photos make style impressions real smooth…as well as some ancient pharmeceuticals,not recomending just referencing…ah but I do drivil on dont I… this kid from Hatteras asked for an old school board acouple weeks ago…he meant 70’s 80’s …he was 20 years old…paying respect to the forbearers,Cooper asked the old guys to make him a hot curl because he felt he missed a part of the ciriculum and had studies to cover…grab a rail on a hot curl board and do the twist you throw the wave away… ambrose… the criterion = the school…the guys at the fire ,the good fire,call the criterion…
The Old School I made reference to was…
The difficult made easy
The angular made smooth
Insolent style as ultra cool
Narrow stance, arched back
Front hand lower, back hand higher
Minimum effort, maximum performance
Surfing alone, the sea as sanctuary
A dance, touching tight to the curl
Rider of waves as The Matador
i love that page, those guys all had the posters from the tijuana bull ring,the hero was Manolete…yes the school of the matadorial passes…and the crowd roars OLE…ambrose , on the same page…, a respectable school
Dale,
I agree with all but the overly narrow stance.
I like surfing that is a thing of beauty and dance, not a gyro butt wiggling magazine pose.
Of course everyone has opinions.
Maybe it’s just the burning of my eyes from the salt water, but what is this thread about? I thought it was about the differences of “old school and New school” longboarding. Compairing cutbacks, floaters, airs to tail whips, coffins, and drop knee turns, can cans and walk the dogs.
Besides how in the hell could you dropin in a drop knee style with out grabbing rail?
One of my fav. moves I’ve seen Tudor do is nose ridding the lip, grab rail, dive to the pocket for the barrel. They’d take points off for that? FFFFem!!!
a few months back i was sittin in a car in a carpark at raglan one afternoon …watching some free surfing during the oxbow longboard world titles…
tudor drops in …clean bottom turn as hes heading for the shoulder hes steping forward 5 then a quick 10 back to 5 slides to the bottom regains as he steps back ,clean switchfoot cutback then back to 5 ends with a helicopter comes out of that back to 5 then walks back to the tail but walking forward…then a switchfoot bottom turn walks back to the nose for another 5 …all this with style and grace…
redman drops in (in my opinion the most radical new schooler )no bottom turn runs up the nose 5 then 10 back to five comes back to the tail full roundhouse off the tail hits the wash up high and busts the fins…as hes coming out of that hes back up the nose heading for the lip doing 5 gets hang and drops it into a helicopter catapults out of the helicopter with speed back on the tail hits the lip at 12 oclock then hits the lip again at 12 oclock this time with a fin bust and some drift then finishes with a quick 5 on the pull out …all with speed power and style …
watching these two guys im saying there the best longboarders in the world but at the opposite end of styles …
tudor is flowing clean stylish and graceful …
redman is fast clean powerful and radical…
which one is better?? they both rip beyond belief…
those two guys in a heat together would be a judging nightmare…
and now with the judging criterea going 50/50 meaning 50% traditional 50% modern performance based surfing …
its not easy to go 12 oclock and then fin bust on a longboard…neither is easy to hang 10 for the length of time tudor does then walk forwards to the tail…
its all hot surfing…i think it all should count…you want the wow factor and progressiveness or people lose interest…
i say both schools one school …
while were on the subject i got the sickest backhand barrel today ,best ive had in about 5 or 6 years and it was on my longboard as well which made it more of a bonus…didnt crouch or grab rail,ye ol layback dig the elbow in to stall up a bit ,back skidding along the face ,twist your torso to adjust speed…it was one of those barrels that will be etched on my brain for life, i’d say it was now school…
my day was good
regards
BERT