Why most pro surfers come from the south.

good surfer but he's a san diego local. i've been surfing ac on a regular basis for about 40 years
and i have seen him in the line-up twice.

 

Pretty sure aging surf pros move to places like Hilton Head to work on their golf game!

 

he's not a san diego local. he lives in AC.

 

Yeah, His Bios indicate he was born and raised in Jersey, but moved to San Diego in 1990 to pursue his pro career. It didn't mention where his current, permanent residence is though. Little of both maybe.

 

Fack who cares. I just like to see them surf. I get inspired by their surfing. FYI, dusty Payne was born in Virginia Ian Walsh is from RI I think, the gudang bros are from jersey or NY and the list goes on. I just like to be inspired by them. I've got to surf with mike dunhpy, Brett barely, the gudang brothers, mason ho, and some brazzos. They all rip and I love seeing wht they do to learn. Everybody has their own style but it sure is nice to watch good surfing.

 

Most pro surfers come from Australia, not from the south of the US. Long point breaks and stronger swells are much more conducive to producing talented surfers.

 

Another reason is that the Fla guys can travel to better waves fairly easier and cheaper. PR,CR etc are much easier for them to get to more frequently.

 

They bought a house in north jersey shore, live down the street from me

 

The reason is simple. Most northern surfers are fairly unknown and don't get too much recognition especially if they aren't doing contests and stuff. Whereas in FL theres always a flock of tourists with cameras over rating the waves and skill levels of the surfers. Its like WA vs the Goldie, theres a few boys from WA like Taj but the real recognition is from the Goldie boys like Parko.

 

^^^not buying that. they still have to put up or shut up on the tours and lower comp series. Groms in Fla are hitting decent tropical spots early and often. By the time northern kids are hitting PR for a once a year pilgrimage, the Fla kids are going there for good swells and HI every winter for a trip. DE/MD is funny..Who besides Jay Reale ever made it from there?

 

I randomly ended up surfing with Vince B like 5 years ago. I was surfing up in Orange County and he told me he had moved there. He freaking rips... But I saw pics of him like 6 months later back in OC MD, so I don't think he stayed out there very long. He was standing tall in the CA lineups though. It was nice to see another Maryland Boy...

Ohh, and you want to know who "made it" from MD? This ripping as$ dude named zach619.... google him =)

 

i heard he does only does tow ins at huge Belmar now. By making it, Im talking about supporting himself through surfing (either comps or vids or both)

 

Since it's inception in 1983, 15 surfers from the MAINLAND US have won titles. Only 9 world titles have been won by Australians and only 5 by Hawaiians (which technically give the US a total of 20 wins)....

So, yeah, there are a bunch of successful guys from OZ on tour, but the ones who have dominated the tour have been from the continental US.

All ASP world champions from the Continental US have been from the State of Florida (SE USA) and California (obviously)... No one from the the NE has even won a title.

And yes, Ian Walsh is a big wave charger, Dusty Payne rips... But I guess what we can all take from ALL OF THIS, is that "It aint where you are from, it's where you AT" and when I think Ian Walsh and Dusty Payne, I think HAWAII. Sure, Kelly and CJ were from Florida, and they both move to California and spend most of their time traveling or in Hawaii. Damien has a house in San Diego... Not sure if CJ still does, but anyway, I don't care if you are from FL, SC, NJ, RI, where ever... Its always nice to go home, but by the time you get legitimates sponsors, the pressure is on to move away. Otherwise you will get dropped like a bad habit. If you want to play the game, you go to the field. The field aint in the SE or the NE.

I mean, the Sebastian inlet event is fun to watch, but it's never anything to write home about.

 

Ohh, I know, I am just playing. gotten a in a few good local mag shots out west, but I didn't see a penny for that. Just a BJ from the ol' lady =)

 

Unless you're from Oz or South Africa you dont get famous surfing in a wetsuit.

I have no method or substantiated evidence to back this claim up...but its a good one.

 

Tom Curren?

 

Southern California, gets away with a 3/2 im sure, and shorts in the summer....

And like i said no real proof of my claim...mostly a joke. I dont really pay to much attention to the pros anyway.

 

15 surfers won titles for mainland USA? Really. You actually mean 3 surfers. Curren, Kelly, and CJ have 15 titles between them. Aside from Kelly who is a freak of nature, I don't see much domination by USA surfers. Curren was great in his time, but nobody aside from Kelly has really stepped up since then. CJ won the title on a technicality even (shortened season). Australians by far dominate the tour as a whole. Look at the numbers of surfers currently on tour.

ASP World Tour 2014
Australia = 14
Mainland USA = 5

 

You know what I meant =)

I get it, surfing is also considered their "national sport", while we have about 65 other pro sports ahead of them in the athletic talent pool...

But at any rate, ASP tour wins are like winning in any professional tour... Nobody cares or remembers who won the "Valero & Waste Pro Open" on the PGA Tour. People care who win the masters. So at the end of the day, the contestant pool might be packed with Aussies, but these same aussies, Mick, Taj, Joel... They have ALL been in this game over a decade. So they got a couple. They still got spanked most of their adult lives.

And it doesn't matter to me that "Kelly is a freak of nature". We all know that. So was Michael Jordan. So is Tiger Woods. What matters is, the best guy to ever touch a surfboard and the guy that has dominated everyone with any talent around the globe is NOT Hawaiian, he is NOT Australian, he is a guy from Florida. You can't keep Kelly excempt from the conversation beceause he is a freak. He is what the conversation is all about...

Joel is good. Taj is good. Mick is good. But they are not even on the same playing field as kelly. They have their moments, but they don't have the competetive fire and the overall "testicular fortitude" that Kelly Slater posses and has unleashed on the international surfing world for decades....

It is what it is. I would say those aussies are lucky Kelly took some time off, that he doesn't compete in everything, every year and that he is in his freaking 40s and is finally starting to show signs of being human... In a couple more years, those guys will be Kelly. And at MOST, one of the will have a couple titles....

Don't matter to me if 15 guys got 15 titles or 3 guys got 15 titles. Those Aussies were there EVERY year. And at the end of the day. They lost. Yeah, they have good waves over there. So does HI, the westcoast and a million other places. And just another reminder. Hawaii is considered the US in every other way in the world, so to me, the USA has 20 Titles. Cause if it wasn't for us, those 5 world titles would be considered Japanese. Ya dig?

I think since the Aussies have so much surf pride, they need to put up or shut up. USA USA USA =)

If ya aint first, your last. I don't care how many runner ups you got. I care about what your trophey case looks like with WORLD titles.

 

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