This is exactly why the industry is backing airs over everything else. Have you noticed how crystal-clear the stickers on the surfboards come out on these photos? I guarantee you that representatives from the big companies push these kids to do airs while filming/shooting in order to get more advertising dollars out of them.Originally Posted by rodndtube
granted. it has been turned into a spectator sport by the asp & surf industry who wish to promote surfing to make $$$.
that said, what is this focus on aerial surfing doing to the basic fundamental skills of surfing? you've got kids who can punt all afternoon but if faced w/ a situation where they need to cutback, they can't. i hope to have children one day & i hope that those children will take an interest in surfing. if & when they do, i will do as my father did...put them on somewhat over-sized boards that teach them to use the RAIL when turning instead of just the fins. i may not have progressed as quickly as many of my peers, but i sure learned how to really TURN my board & put some torque into it! that, & some time riding single fins...everyone should spend some time learning how to properly ride a single fin.
oh, & add mick fanning & parko to my list of aesthetically pleasing surfers to watch...
No airs here!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EK2ciUMSeo
I couldn't agree with you more...
What separates good surfing from great surfing is using the entire board, and the entire wave. Kelly can make it around a section by boosting over it, deep-railed bottom turning around, or literally doing a re-entry in it by climbing up the whitewater, turning at the top, and coming back down with MORE SPEED than he went into the maneuver with. And that takes not only great physical skill, but great wave knowledge, having your equipment wired, and a creative mental approach to surfing.
I think what we say in Taylor Steele's first (?) video, FOCUS, showed the real turning point... a renaissance... in surfing that was happening at the time. Guys like Pottz, and ever further back to guys like Buttons, certainly cracked the door open. But the \"new wave\" of surfing that shifted the focus from power to \"tricks\" happened around the time of FOCUS. And that's important, because when you have a guy who goes on to win 9 world titles, he sets the standard. Everybody wanted to surf like Slater.
But most missed the point. It's not ALL about tail slides and punts. It's about a repertoire of skills that includes all without excluding any... power PLUS. So for me, it's not an either/or. And that's what a lot of these One Trick Pony surfers need to learn, both approach wise, and ability wise.
Airs and all the skateboarding influenced tricks are like a whole other sport. If you can pull 'em off, good for you. It takes talent, no doubt. I just don't appreciate the aesthetics of it. Except for the very best pros, attempts at "above the lip surfing" lead to a kind of ugly, wide stance, non-functional result. Airs/tricks don't define surfing for me but they do sell boardies and sneakers to teens. That's why the mags/videos pimp it so hard. It would be great, though, if the mags only printed still photos of airs that were landed. I've heard that that is the rule at skateboarding mags.
I have to laugh at this. Back in the late 80s I recall alot of people complaining that surfing was too boring and that big turns were just no fun to watch
Oh yeah, go pick up some old mags from that era..boards were just as stickered up then.
right but how much more noticeable are the stickers in a photo of a board in the air? I'm just trying to think from a business perspective, because it seems like, like it or not, money is what drives the direction of sports in general.
Would a company rather run an ad with a photo of a guy getting shacked or digging the rail in a deep powerful bottom turn (where you might not even be able to see their logo) or of a guy boosting a huge air showing off the logo for all to see?
I'm not defending airs or anything, personally I find 95% of them lame, but I'm just trying to rationalize the reason behind the trend.
I see your point but will throw out another view. Most serious athletes want to progress in whatever they do. So you master the basics then you move on to big turns, 360s, floaters, etc and get them down. what's next? If you are the type that is driven to excel and progress in surfing, airs are the logical answer. Why do you think they put the big logos on the nose of the board? its one of the few places you can see it on a big gouging bottom turn or tube ride. It's really a chicken or egg thing. boards have had lots of logos for some time now (i'm talking decades) since the Lightening Bolt. Airs just make it easier to see them.
Last edited by aka pumpmaster; Jul 20, 2011 at 06:44 PM.
only people over 30 will know what you are talking about ,style is cool when common courtesy is extended guest and local both!only people with issues will mess with you !great surfers and issues go hand in hand!
Good point, I agree. Especially with the crossover between boardsports these days (Shaun White for example), it seems like the current environment is the 'perfect storm' for aerial tricks to blow up.
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