With the Championship Tour coming to a close for the remainder of this year, we will be diving into more surf material that is unrelated to contests. A few examples: Surf NFT’s, crowds & localism, board materials & technology, and more. That’s just a few upfront topics to cover, not to mention a few different styles and genres of surf writing to be posted. Before moving on from ‘professional’ competition though, a few random thoughts, or questions rather, to take with you.
First off, the WSL spent this entire CT year filming for Season 2 of Make or Break, correct? Why wouldn’t they produce and release the episodes as the year went on? One could imagine this would have increased numbers, even more so than the proposed 62% increase in audience that ELO spoke about earlier this year. Maybe this surfing thing really can be scripted? Remember The Response to The Petition? The mid-season cut “creates a dynamic season-long narrative” as well as “driving fan engagement with strong narratives for each event.” Sounds to me like a script for such narratives would be the best way to drive fan engagement, similar to that of a reality show, and not far off from The Ultimate Surfer. With the Woz holding off to produce and release the series, I imagine quite a bit is done to portray the sport, the league, and the events in the exact manner they prefer.
Next matter I have been speculating on has been a recent hot topic – switch stance surfing. I have had this recent thought: if it weren’t for competition, would anyone bother to surf switch? Kauli Vaast rode that one in the semi’s against Slater, and has clearly done so before in free surfs out there at Chopes, so maybe this answers my question. Stab also did a nice write up about the future of switch stance surfing, in which included Instagram videos of Italo and Sebastian Williams surfing in their non dominant stance. Sebastian hails from Mexico, home of reeling right handers all day long. Similar to that of Kauli Vaast, I can imagine once one has spent so much time on a similar canvas, trying to create unique lines and different rides becomes difficult, thus leading to switching stance. However, for the majority of us mere mortals, how worth it would it be to ruin an entire session of somewhat surfable, decent waves, to practice riding switch? The risk/reward doesn’t seem there to me. For professionals and those looking to earn a career from surfing, I can foresee switch stance being a thing in the future of competition.
Side note – this is all obviously relative to shortboarding. I don’t know, I don’t partake in logging, but I would think it’s easier to enjoy riding switch while cruising.
Last case I’ve got for you, if you had to re-imagine the Wizzle Finals Day, how would it be run? From the consensus I have seen in the follow up, it looks like most of the public wants to do away with Lowers as the venue, so maybe it’s all a matter of location. Hard to not agree with this. Where would it be held then, Pipe or Teahupoo? From the most forgiving wave to the least? How about something in the middle, with options for barrels and turns, say maybe Cloudbreak or Lakey Peak. I actually think one of those days at Hossegor when it’s big and thick and bowling would be sick, though I know the tides change so quickly and it wouldn’t hold through an entire day, it is a pretty shifty beach break. I don’t know why the Men have never ran a contest at Honolua Bay, that spot looks insane. In my opinion, the best model would be a combination – maybe 3 strike mission contests to different locations; one performance wave, one barreling wave, and something with both. A surfer would be eliminated after each of the first 2 events, leaving only 3 male or females to surf for the trophy at the last final. I don’t know how doable this would be, but that was one of my many ideas.
With that, moving on. Not completely done with competition coverage for the remainder of this year – will be attending and closely following some smaller local comps, as well as keeping an eye on the CS happenings, but slowing down the feed with the Woz. Excited to delve into some new stuff, and really hyped to drop some of the physical projects coming soon. Stay tuned.
As always, thank you for the time.
-hwilsin
2 replies on “IN THE MEANTIME”
I’d love to see mixed gender overlapping heats. Would the scoring be consistent between genders? What’s the hindrance to this? It would most certainly increase viewership.
I have heard this thought before and found it quite interesting. Imagine Kelly and Steph Gilmore both in the water during separate heats out at JBay.. would presumably forsure increase viewership, at least for the Women’s heats.
But I also imagined a heat with John John and Joao out at pumping Pipe, and (any) 2 female surfers joining them. Again, imagaining, but the stark contrast between the men and women’s waves and rides would almost guaranteed garner a big difference in score lines.
I don’t know if this is a hindrance, but something the general public would need to accept for the time being.
Always appreciate your feedback Teddy!
-hwilsin