Oh, it’s got soul, baby. Lot’s of soul. Let me tell you this. As a person who is constantly swimming upstream in terms of shortboard surfing improvement, I would welcome a “training” pool, if they actually build the thing. I would definitely pay to use it, and I think that by getting better at a much faster pace, I would enjoy surfing in the ocean more.
The funny thing with me is that when I longboard, no matter how good or poor the waves are, I ALWAYS have fun. I honestly cannot remember, in the last four years, a longboard session in which I did NOT come in smiling. I LOVE longboarding.
I also love shortboarding, but ONLY if I perform to my best ability. I don’t know what it is, but the contrast of short to long, for me, is big. If I paddle out on a shortboard, I better perform BETTER than the last time I shortboarded or I am disappointed. My goal, when I shortboard, is to get as radical as possible. It only has to be one wave, but I want to make a turn that blows my mind. If that happens, just once, then I come in stoked, and daydream about it for days or weeks. I still have ONE turn that replays in my mind from the fall of 2001. I was at a reefbreak on the most northern end of Leucadia (with stairs. The place has a really grand view of the ocean). Anyway, it was about ten foot on the face, barely holding up, and super fast. On my tenth (and last) wave of the evening, I took off and gained as much speed as I ever had. I was riding a 6,7 high performance ultralight trifin from one of the best shapers on the planet, Rod Sorenson (Agua Surfboards). As I approached the shoulder, I bottom turned, and did a complete off the top, roundhouse cutback kind of maneuver that blew my mind. I heard people hoot. I am still stoked years later.
That’s what I look for everytime I paddle out on a shortboard. That one turn that makes me think, “Hey, I’m getting better at 36.” But five out of six times I bog when I shortboard, and it’s almost always because I’m out of practice.
This relates to wave pools, but I’ll get there in a minute.
Last year, at the end of the winter, I bought my first off-the-rack shortboard in twenty years. It was a, gulp, Rusty Pirannah. Yeah, I know. I bought from a mainstream guy when I should have stuck with my trusty local guys, but I couldn’t help myself.
I DON’T regret that decision. It was the best shape I ever rode. It was super fast and super loose, but held TIGHT to any steep wall seven foot or less. I was riding better than I ever had before. I went MONTHS without riding any of my three longboards because I was so stoked on the speed and turning ability of that board. It’s beat to hell from surfing combined with a crappy glassjob (I think), but I still have it. I love it.
What does this have to do with wave pools? I’ll get there.
When a surf company like Quiksilver or Billabong sees potential in a 14 year-old kid, they don’t just watch them. After they get them signed, they train them…in Indonesia. There are good waves all over the world, but Indonesia has consistency. You can take a kid out there to the Mentawais and in two weeks he will advance ONE YEAR over his buddies back home, because the waves come through with machine like perfection. The waves are so good and break for so long that it wears on the leg muscles. These kids, who were used to getting ten second rides back home are seriously surfing waves for a full minute, and are paddling back out to do it again for ten hours per day. They stop to eat, drink, and crap. That’s it.
THAT IS EXACTLY what these wave pools are going to do. They are going to improve the surfing potential exponentially of budding pros. We will see better surfing in the next few decades than ever before.
Talk to Herbie Fletcher. This is a guy with loads of credibility. He is stoked on what the kids are doing. He has a very open mind.
I, for one, will ride a wave pool if it is real. If it turns out to be three foot mush I won’t go near it. It better have power. I’ll be addicted. The reason is that when this 36-year-old paddles out and surfs better than 18 year-olds, it’s extremely addictive, and I thrive on it.
Don’t believe me? Go to Swamis next winter on the biggest swell of the year. Watch who gets the biggest, best waves. It isn’t the kids. It’s Dale Dobson and all the other middle aged chargers. They walk into the water at 38, 45, and 50 years old, but after dominating the lineup they leave the water feeling 19 all over again.
A wave pool, if made correctly, will bring that out. It will perfect the quality of surfing. I’m all for it.
Unfortunately, I think they are full of crap! I don’t believe it will be anything other than a touristy, mushy four foot wave pool. Six to eight foot barrels? If that’s true, I’ll eat my hat. I’m freaking serious.
