whos got the best style?

[leethestud]

John John. Even kelly tips his hat to him.

All time- Gerry lopez... stay low and go!

[surfsolo]

Lopez and Tom Curren - All time

Machado

[LBCrew]

Of those listed...

Rob
Kelly
Dane

(An American bias????)

Not listed...

Rasta
Tudor
Clay Marzo

Old School...

LOPEZ
Curren
MR
Buttons

In a class by himself...

Greenough

Of the top 6 I listed from the modern era, only one has been World Champ... 11 times! Just goes to show where style counts, and where it doesn't...

[respecttheocean]

All time-Shane Dorian. However, I really enjoy watching Craig Anderson surf! He just has a timeless style that I think will get even better with age. He style reminds of a lot of Craig kelly's timeless smoothness and style. Craig's style will forever the best in snowboarding to me.

[kielsun]

i never was able to get into machado's style - i think it has to do with his personality. regardless, not into him/it. i think he tries too hard to fit that "soul surfer" mold

slater's style in my opinion is as textbook as it gets. tons of power, flawless technique, no wasted movement - exactly what has led him to 11 titles

dane has a lot more looseness/playfulness to his style and i hate to use the cliche term 'soul', but it described him well. a big reason why he wasn't able to fit the 'tour style' of surfing

mick i'd say is similar to kelly - big, strong turns and overall powerful surfing. also more of a textbook style, perfectly suited to the tour.

mOtion732's post pretty much gets to the heart of the deeper discussion that someone mentioned earlier: How do you define "style?" Sounds like he defines it as the characteristics displayed by the successful tour guys.

I, however, would define "style" as looking super smooth, loose, and relaxed while absolutely flying down the line, making it look easy. Also, style is being able to shred almost any type of board in almost any condition. That's why Tudor gets my vote when just considering the modern era.

[LBCrew]

kielson... I totally see what you're saying. I say there's a difference between skill and style. Skill is more about what you can do... style is how you do it. Skill might mean something like the most massive air, or the most rotations, or the most turns on a wave. Style is more difficult to quantify, because it has more to do with aesthetics. Ironically, I think, you can have skill without style, but you can't have style without skill.

I'd also argue that style has a lot to do with body mechanics... kinesthetics. What I mean is, there's "style" as in an aggressive, powerful style, vs. a more passive, "move with the wave" type style, but that's not the kind of style I mean. I'm talking about the visual aesthetic of someone surfing... the dance, I guess you could say. Some people, simply because of their build, look better than others when riding waves. Maybe some people can't see the difference, but some people can... like looking at a piece of art.

[mOtion732]

I, however, would define "style" as looking super smooth, loose, and relaxed while absolutely flying down the line, making it look easy. Also, style is being able to shred almost any type of board in almost any condition. That's why Tudor gets my vote when just considering the modern era.

that's how YOU define GOOD style. others may have a totally different outlook on what defines good style.

i'd have to agree with LBCrew in that style isn't what you in terms of maneuvers but how you do it. how you move down the line, pumping like a madman with arms flailing or calm, cool and relaxed or a combination of both, are good examples of defining a style. this will always be preference-based

[HurryCane]

All time - Tom Curren

Modern day - Joel Tudor, but I really like Al Knost.

[kdiddy8]

i love how Mick has noooooo style at all

[kielsun]

that's how YOU define GOOD style. others may have a totally different outlook on what defines good style.

i'd have to agree with LBCrew in that style isn't what you in terms of maneuvers but how you do it. how you move down the line, pumping like a madman with arms flailing or calm, cool and relaxed or a combination of both, are good examples of defining a style. this will always be preference-based

Definitely. Everyone's personal definition of style is OK by me. I think it makes the conversation interesting that they don't match up. I don't think your definition is "wrong;" it's just different from mine.

We're also sort of comparing apples to oranges. Guys like Machado, Tudor, or Knost (good call, HurryCane) approach surfing from a completely different angle than some of the more "progressive" style surfers you'll find on the tour. Both styles are fine, but I personally enjoy watching the less "progressive" guys take a nice, smooth line on a wave more than I enjoy watching a handful of huge cutbacks punctuated with a big air.

Lastly, I feel like music has a lot to do with my experience as a viewer of surf films and therefore it also affects my perception of a surfer's "style." Would watching Tudor surf feel the same way if hardcore music was playing behind his sections of a film? I don't know. Obviously music doesn't determine anything, but I think it definitely produces a "mood" that is undeniable.