My last few blog posts have been solely about competitive surfing. Thinking back on this has my brain questioning, is surfing even meant for competition? An ocean wave breaking can never be recreated. There will never be an exact replica of that specific swell line. There are no constants in surfing. The closest relative sports – skateboarding and snowboarding – are judged based on the performance of the athletes competing on an even, consistent, and fair playing field. This is impossible in the surfing spectrum. Even with the fixed environment, skateboarding and snowboarding come down to subjective judging. As does surfing, which then incorporates the fluctuating conditions, making the criteria to judge with an objective viewpoint even more difficult.
Of course, the caveat to this argument would be the wave pools popping up across the globe nowadays. Designing a wave to fit exactly what you are looking for is quite the intriguing prospect. The real life Rick Kane will be upon us sooner than later. I foresee the computer programs working algorithms to find the “most functional, progressive line possible” on these man-made waves, fitting perfectly with the speed, power, and flow criteria assigned. Surfers will be able to practice and perfect their ‘run’, similar to that of a snowboarder. Hell, I can even imagine obstacles tossed into wave pools, like what Julian Wilson was trying a few years back with the boardslides on the rail. Kauli Vaast just threw an interesting bone to fetch; the whole switch stance ordeal. Albee Layer has, since, been posting numerous switch stance airs in wave pools on his Instagram. The controlled environment presents a whole new outlook on surfing.
All of this being said, how can one objectively judge style? Hands up in the air versus hands down by the side? Elbow straightened or elbow bent? Knees bent or knees straight? Which turn was placed in more critical of a section? Which grab variant looked better, or was more difficult to perform? There are too many moving factors in the style department that can be argued and viewed from different perspectives. For example, as unanimously adored as Ethan Ewing’s style and his rail turns are, some people would prefer to see a big, tweaked out air reverse. Even comparing power turn to power turn, or air to air, the saying goes “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. People will always argue over what looks better, what is more powerful, more difficult, etc. etc. My mind wanders toward Figure Skating and Ballet dancing. How is style judged in these sports; nay, art forms?
Again, another constant field of competition, but these two practices must be subjectively judged, right? One ballet dancer’s Pirouette would presumably look better than another? Or at least differ from one another? How is one favorable over the next, and what makes one more technically correct? I want to ask Chas Smith. I’ve heard him speak about Ballet quite a bit in the past. Until questions like these at hand are answered in full for surfing, the competitive field we present now will never be completely even.
Pretend you pull up to your local break and you want to find the best surfer out there. How would you determine this? Depending on the day, conditions and crowd, the actual most talented surfer in the water might not even play the part. He could be getting burned by all the locals. Maybe he only has an hour to surf and the tide was fat for that hour. As soon as he leaves the tide pulls back out and it starts barreling again. So many moving parts. Maybe you prefer to see smooth riding and clean style. A few nice arcs back into the power source, and more of a soulful approach, just thoroughly enjoying what nature is providing for you. Or maybe you would rather see someone spend 10 waves attempting to land a backside stalefish air reverse – ala Crane-O – to see him stomp one on the last wave of his session. That one wave could trump anything you had seen throughout the day, declaring Ian Crane the best, most talented surfer out there, in your opinion.
This is a public brainstorm. Is there any possible way to make surf judging objective? Would we even want that? My actual best idea that I have thought of was this – to create separate tours. I.e) a barrel tour, a ‘performance’ tour, of course the big wave tour, maybe even an air tour, and a wave pool only tour. In this fashion, I believe judging would be a little easier and more straightforward – barrel vs barrel. Air vs air. Switch stance snap vs switch stance snap. Etc.
I put out a question on Twitter receiving a few responses. The inquiry was; if you were to host your own surf contest, what would the format be? Anything different from what the WSL currently provides?:
@surfstats produced something along the lines of –
12 surfers, each surfing 3 heats. The surfer with the highest heat total throughout the day would be the winner. The argument was that each heat would truly matter, and progression through the day would be rewarded, although the aggressive nature of man vs. man would be lost. They also included the idea of online scoring being included.
@SurfingNZ said “Best 1 wave…”
@fysiologik replied “Kelly’s heat format is (OK emoji)”
“How @ St League Skateboarding judging in surfing?”
(how about street league skateboard judging in surfing)
Stace Galbraith also told me he liked the idea of a 1 wave format.
A few very intriguing proposals here forsure. SunBum did a pretty cool thing where they would show up to a beach unannounced, start filming and judging, and reward a ‘winner’ with a check for 1K. Stab also did Surf100, where a few guys paddled out at Lowers for what was essentially a freesurf that was being judged. This brings back thoughts of the old Innersection videos, when people would film a video section and send it into battle against every other sponsored surfer in the world. Or even the last Snapt video where the best section won 50K. Enter the online, digital, video section contest to the equation.
So many moving parts.
How about Brad Gerlach’s ‘The Game’? The team format. Like what the new Boardriders clubs are doing? Wow. There’s a lot.
Have you any idea what the future may behold for competitive surfing? Should surfing even be competitive? Is the best surfer truly the one having the most fun? I’ve seen people have a blast getting slammed into the sand on shorebreak..
Leave your opinions below.
Cheers
-hwilsin