Standing a chance in the sj ESA competitions

Competions are for kooks, free surfing is for kooks, if your over 5'9 your a kook, Saturday mornings defiantly kooky. 14 yea your a kook bro. God damn I'm gnarly. See you at the comp . . . I'm 21 and their putting me in your heat. Because surfing against your own division is for kooks

 

If I was ever good enough I would have surfed contests. For me I thought i didn't need the experience and saw no need to feel crushed when I lost, lol. BUT... I am older now and wish I did it way back then I think it would have been fun and worthwhile. I lied to myself and said it was because I was a soul surfer but in reality I think I was just scared.

 

You live right at the break but only surf 8 times a month? Most of the local kids in OC surf the same break every day. Just get in the water ever chance you get and gain experience with different conditions out there. Work on your turns every session, don't just pump down the wave, try to get in some turns in critical sessions. You will fall but that's how you learn and get better. Good luck dude!

 

I heard they are even going to let you ride a RS Hot Karl so you can sit way, way, way, waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy outside!

lol

 

At the very least, comp surfing will get you in touch with some people who will likely become your pals. They'll push you to become a better surfing version of yourself. What region are you going to be in?

 

Brahskee, you have a major advantage on a fair amount of the competitor field. I'm sure several others entered will have also surfed your break regularly, but for those who haven't, this will be an equalizer to disparity in skill you may have with them. Yet another reason to believe you have nothing to lose, go out there and have a blast with the full intention that it will be one of the funnest experiences you've ever had. We are what we think.

Do what you gotta do for your parents to let you stay at the house non-stop, whatever that may be. You can surf your home break twice daily and lamp rough with a harem of choice babes in between sesh.

 

As others have said, do it for the experience. Assess your strengths and where you need to improve. Expand your horizons. It's all good.
If you don't, you'll wish you had.

 

My best experience competition-wise was drawing a heat against Balaram Stack in first round for a Rip Curl Gromsearch years back. Needless to say, I got my butt handed to me in the heat, but it was cool to watch someone much better than me and learn from them. Plus, just chilling in a competitors area at one of the ESA events is a day by itself. If you're sketched out by it, just go check out one of the ESA's comps before you enter. But a final word of advice would be that even experience losing is experience. Just do it

 

We have the opportunity to learn and grow far more from our losses than our wins. I don't remember the guys I've beat in my athletic career. But you can bet I made a list of the ones that beat me and my road to success was crossing them off the list the next time I faced them. Eventually the list was empty.

 

Did not read all of the posts but Zman if you can't do cutbacks, hacks or snaps or any other "trick" you are goning to get stomped in a comp. What moves would you do to earn points? Although fun as hell and stylish looking when done right cruising down the line is not a scoreable move and niether is pumping a board. Not trying to be a **** and yes experience is great but you need to be able to pull at least 5-7 different "tricks" before you enter a comp I would say.

 

I wouldn't enter with the intention to win (yet), being that you cant' do any "tricks" per say, but I would enter to just have fun and learn from better surfers. Seeing someone rip right before your eyes is inspiring. Ever time i'm out and someone is ripping it makes me want to get better. Use that as your reason to be out there. Also, if that spot is normally crowded, getting it to yourself and a few others will be nice too. You're going to want to surf more often though if you can help it, get a few more sessions in per month and you'll notice a big difference in your surfing. Good luck though, just remember it's about having fun.

 

Exactly What I was going to say! By entering the comp, you will see what talent level the guys winning heats are at and be able to compare to where you are at. Then , try to improve your surfing in order to close the gap. if you cannot surf more than you do now, then swim for endurance and practice moves on a skateboard. Anything to improve. At your age, the more you improve the more you will enjoy surfing.

 

Chandler would be pissed! "you want to enter the pipe line classic? Go Ahead......Go shred!" lol

 

Who cares about contests.........just surf. if your not throwin buckets yet don't even think about it.

 

Haters gonna hate...Slaters gonna slate. Have fun man!

 

Mate, not man. That woulda made it so much more rappable.

 

Someone was paying attention in rap history class