http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/f...ve-jaws-to-motherhood-bethany-hamilto_142765/ Slide 13 says it all (and the Jaws wave). She is so young and so impressive as a human IMO. I know she has been a topic here but she continues to progress in so many ways. How is the picture of her diving with Tiger (I presume)? Talk about facing your fears.
I can dig it I like how she doesn't give a **** about the set back. She could use the one arm as an excuse, like so many with a handicap do (wether it be physical, mental, or financial), but she embraces the suck and charges on like a winner. in addition, eveybodys missing something when it comes to being great. It's when it all comes together that magic happens... you know the list in sports. The ones that were almosts were missing something; Bo Jackson would've been the greatest athlete of all time if he had a hip Bethany Hamiktin would be the best female surfer if she had another arm And Dane Reynolds would be the greatest surfer ever if he didn't have a vagina!
Dude I watched this video from the 80s of some dude getting sodomized by a woman's leg stump. That's all I have to contribute to the conversation.
Thanks, now I'll have that image in my head all day at work. Is that even possible? Bethany surfs better with one arm than I can with two. Respect.
Yeah, I posted a thread about her a while back for one of the contests she was competing in as a wild card or w/e. She's amazing dude. Makes my shoulder issues seem like i'm just complaining compared to her. If I only had 1 arm IDK what i'd do, hopefully charge on as she does, but that's life changing for a person. She's strong mentally more than anything for overcoming and charging on.
I guess one of the things I find the most challenging (after actually getting to your feet), is no use of the arm. I am goofy foot and tend to use my left arm/hand a lot to interact with the wave (not just balance). Especially when I do a backside turn off the top, I have a tendency to use my hand in the wave to sorta grab on and push the tail through the turn. Her ability gets to the depth that LB was breaking down in the style thread...and how she has transitioned and maintained style.
Yeah, I know what you mean, the whole balance thing, I gotta think that's something that had to be worked on after the loss of a limb. I'm goofy too, and not being able to put my left hand down on / in the wave face when doing a big bottom turn or just using for balance would drive me nuts.
I brought that you in the tread about her DP started awhile back. Forget paddling and popping up, that's obviously hard with one arm. But to pull of turns the way she does. Man. I don't get it. Especially since it's her lead arm. It is her lead arm right? I think so. Regardless, maneuvers require the whole body. Imagine what some of her hacks would look like with two arms
Now don't twist my words or take this out of context. Popping up and paddling with one arm is obviously difficult and impressive. But I think it's reasonable if that makes sense. I think the average surfer could pull it off. Not the fat out of shape guy. But the guys who are athletic and fit and have that can do attitude...if they were to lose a arm, I think it's an achievable goal. Hard as hell and would take allot of time. Like years. But achievable. Granted, not in bombing surf she surfs. But for average east coast surf I can see it being done. Again, not easily, but can be done. Once up and riding, that's where I get really impressed, especially considering the waves she's surfing. What's even more impressive than that, she's not an average surfer. She's surfing against the worlds best and winning. That contest that started DPs thread. She finished in the quarters or semis. That's mind blowing to me. And she looked good doing it. It's like there was no drop off of skill. No handicap at all. It's just incredible. On top of that. If I were to lose an arm, I'd want to stay in the water. But my first thoughts wouldn't be too learn to surf with one arm. It would be how else can I ride waves with one arm. The fact that she didn't look for a crutch to continue riding waves, and instead did what she did. As far as I know she's the only person doing that. Like I said before, I think given the right type of person learning to pop up and paddle with one arm is an achievable goal. But to come up with that idea without ever seeing someone do it before. That's a very diffrent story.
I was just going through the slides again. In # 6 she is actually using her hand ( which is her leading hand) to grab the wave on her backside hack. Since I use my trailing hand under same circumstance it seems counterintuitive to me. Maybe like hitting a golf club left handed or a tennis racket lefty after playing right handed.
True...improvise. Also noticed some of her boards don't have the handle. I guess when you have a lot of duck diving it's needed or when a ton of water is moving around???
I wouldn't consider that handle a crutch. Just what you got to do in a situation like that I suppose. Only place to grab a board with your hand is the rail, and with one hand...kinda off balance. I'm sure over time she just got the muscle memory down the the point where she didn't always need it. I think she uses it during pop ups to. Ever adjust during a pop up to make the drop without eating it? When I said crutch, I meant as in resorting to a form of wave riding that would be easier with one arm. I don't see the handle as a crutch. Some times you need more volume in a board. Sometimes you need a quad. Sometimes you need a handle.
