longboarding is beautiful when done properly, meaning with small steps, and pivot turns. even in the tube, executed properly, simply amazing looking.
but to me, surfing is so pure and natural and open to interpretation that loggin takes away from the creativity part some.
if anything, you can be more creative on a longboard then a shortboard, but what i mean is refering to technique.
surfing a non longboard is like surfing a magic carpet, climbing and falling in the pocket, doing what works for you.
longboarding is more along the line of there is a way to do it that works better then all the rest, so do it that way or dont log well. cross stepping isnt done just because it looks good, but it actually makes it much easier to control a 9 foot board. its a lot less squirely. where riding mid range boards that are your very own shapes gives you the chance to ride them however you can think to ride them.
Yeah, I get you. What comes through loud and clear, is that you don’t know, how little you know, about the subject. You have much to learn. Opinion is no substitute for experience.
…surfing a non longboard is like surfing a magic carpet, climbing and falling in the pocket, doing what works for you…
Well, a lot of your fellow “magic carpet riders” around these parts resort to the elegant, “pure and natural” technique of planting their rear foot on the tail of their thrusters, and making the front of their boards repetitively bounce up and down at the first suggestion of a mushy wave, instead of creatively searching for the juice. So perhaps you should begin your lectures with short board riders, then come back to educate us neanderthals when you have that group all straightened out…
surfing is surfing it dosent matter what you ride as long as you enjoy it i have ridden almost every board out there eg. twinny’s thrusters, single fins, mini mals and longboards. i love surfing all of these boards because that is what feels fun to me. i ride a longboard competivally but this dose not mean that i am a full-on longboarder, in the words of beau young ‘‘im a smorgusboarder’’
and there are alot of guys that probelly could ride a longboard better that you could ride a shortboard
I always like to think of it this way… When you longboard, you ride the board. When you shortboard, you ride the wave.
Longboarding is all about getting the board in the right spot on the wave…and doint what it takes to keep it there…and doing it all with style. And make no mistake, there are an infinate number of ways to do a drop knee turn, noseride, stall into a glassy tube… You just gotta figure out your own body mechanics and see what feels good for you.
Shortboarding is more like riding the wave itself because there can be so little medium between the rider and the water. Most of today’s shortboarders, especially the young guys, try to ride the smallest board possible, for all the obvious reasons. But because short boards respond to the wave so much quicker, and can fit into places longboards can’t go, I feel like I’m more connected to the wave itself.
All this coming from a guy who, like most of us, wants to do it all!
I practise both, longboard and shortboard. Also because we do not have much shortboard days in belgium :(.
But I really like longboarding too.
The must ugly surfing I’ve ever seen was on a longboard.
It was a contest but the waves sucked. Everybody took a longboard in the club, just because it was impossible to shortboard. And have you ever seen shortboarders using a longboard? It was terrible, they were raping that longboards! They were pumping like fools. Never saw something ugly like that!
Don’t get me wrong, not all shortboarders longboard like that, it were kids 14-15years old. It think they wanted to be cool (if you know what I mean).
There’s an artist named Robert Ryman who does nothing but white paintings. He’s demonstrated that there’s an infintie number of ways to do all white paintings.
The board certainly doesn’t limit a person’s creativity. Their minds do. Kepp yours open.
Don’t really get what the problem is. Any equipment, ridden well, looks good (include wave skis, body boards, short, long retro in that statement). Its all about what you get out of it. Ride what suits the conditions if you can, and don’t be limited by the thoughts of the current trends.
Personally I kinda like the flow of longboarding. But check out the really good shortboarders, say the top ten, they flow too! None of that bouncy, monkey imitation stuff we see every day at the local beach!
DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MY WAY IS THE RIGHT WAY??? YOU CAN’T HAVE ANY FUN UNLESS YOU DO IT MY WAY!!!
It’s so simple…
Let’s have more threads like this and just as they are about to die everyone should put their $.02 in so that we can never forget about them and they keep floating to the top forever.
While we are at it we should probably change the name of the board from “Swaylock’s Surfboard Design Forum” to “Short boarders 4 Eva” or “My Way or the Highway” or “If you don’t Surf like me you aren’t Cool” or just plain ol’ “Surfermag.”
DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MY WAY IS THE RIGHT WAY??? YOU CAN’T HAVE ANY FUN UNLESS YOU DO IT MY WAY!!!
It’s so simple…
Let’s have more threads like this and just as they are about to die everyone should put their $.02 in so that we can never forget about them and they keep floating to the top forever.
While we are at it we should probably change the name of the board from “Swaylock’s Surfboard Design Forum” to “Short boarders 4 Eva” or “My Way or the Highway” or “If you don’t Surf like me you aren’t Cool” or just plain ol’ “Surfermag.”
Sorry, my intent was to provide a counterpoint to the example of the original post so that the poster might see how it ridiculous it looked when turned around, not to sustain a black/white debate thread. I’m neither a longboard nor a shortboard bigot.
I always like to think of it this way… When you longboard, you ride the board. When you shortboard, you ride the wave.
i think you’ve got that one a little backwards. longboarding gives you so much appreciation for positioning on the wave. it’s the shortyboarders who just use the wave as a launchpad. show me a longboarder who, when the wave mushes out, kicks the tail around 180 just for shits and giggles…hmmmmm…is that riding the wave, or riding the BOARD?! pump pump pump and then you bash the BOARD off the lip?!..that’s riding the board. now, if you hit lip off the board, that would be riding the WAVE…something i often do on my LONGBOARDS.
Well put… and I totally understand your comparison…
What I was trying to relate is the physical feeling of riding the board vs. riding the wave. Shortboards are thinner, smaller and more flexy than longboards, and the feeling I get on a short board is that I can actually feel the wave under my feet more. Tuberiding, for example… you can get into those really small barrels, where your tucked in and the board is flexing like crazy, and it almost feels like your not even on a board.
Longboards are all about that understated style, grace and sometimes strength that’s required to actually do what you say… position the board perfectly where it should be on the wave. So I feel I have to be much more in tune with the board, using its own subtle design features to achieve what I would call the ultimate “board-wave” connection. I feel like I’m trying to angle this big log just so… weight the rail…the tail…the nose…just perfectly. Hell…you even have to walk around on the thing! To me, that’s riding the board.
What I was trying to relate is the physical feeling of riding the board vs. riding the wave. Shortboards are thinner, smaller and more flexy than longboards, and the feeling I get on a short board is that I can actually feel the wave under my feet more. Tuberiding, for example… you can get into those really small barrels, where your tucked in and the board is flexing like crazy, and it almost feels like your not even on a board.
exactly…it’s all about that physical feeling. it seems like you view the board as an extension of yourself (because your feet remain stationary), such that you feel like you’re riding the wave THROUGH the board. on a longboard, that same feeling is amplified. i ride bigger waves, little waves, tubes, chop, mush, and everything in between…and i’ve never found myself wishing for a potato-chip shortboard. just imagine what it feels like to hang ten…nothing in front of you…no board…just ocean and air…and the tips of your toes leading the way…a shortboarder told me he loves doing air cuz it’s like flying…well this is better…trust me! i think it was herbie fletcher(?) who said that a stylish longboarder takes what’s difficult and makes it look easy, while a shortboarder takes what’s easy and makes it look difficult.
Quote:
Longboards are all about that understated style, grace and sometimes strength that’s required to actually do what you say… position the board perfectly where it should be on the wave. So I feel I have to be much more in tune with the board, using its own subtle design features to achieve what I would call the ultimate “board-wave” connection. I feel like I’m trying to angle this big log just so… weight the rail…the tail…the nose…just perfectly. Hell…you even have to walk around on the thing! To me, that’s riding the board.
what the board does happens on its own…it’s the wave that gets all my attention. walking the board would be “riding the board” if that is the source of your pleasure. if taking two steps up and two steps back gives you your kicks, then i say “ride the board”…but that’s not how it is. when i’m on the sweet spot of the board, it’s to accelerate with the wave. when i’m off of it, it’s to drop back into the pocket. …ALWAYS ABOUT THE WAVE, NEVER ABOUT THE BOARD! i’m never thinking about digging a rail in deep for a hard cutback or throwing the board off the lip…that’s shortboard mentality…i’m way too busy riding the wave to even give a thought as to what i’m doing with the board.
