The Flyer: The Slab Appreciation Society
The first surf spot I ever dedicated myself to was a pointbreak that wasn’t.
The wave at Cronulla Point breaks off a headland, but it’s not a pointbreak. It’s a bedrock reef in geological terms, a one-section wonder in surfer’s terms, and a slab when it’s low tide and six foot from the south.
No-one grows up at Cronulla Point with the fluid pointbreak style of, say, Joel Parkinson, whose movements are unhurried and take into account not just the next section but the next hundred metres. Instead, Cronulla Point surfers have the nuts-and-bolts necessary to maximise a wave that’s fifty metres long, at best, and often much less.
If there’s a motto for surfing Cronulla Point it’s ‘get down it, get under it, and get it done.’ Same goes with most of the reefbreaks around Cronulla. They’re short, they’re sharp, and they’re intense.
I haven’t lived at Cronulla for a while but memories of those formative years came back while watching the Margaret River Pro shift over to the Box on Wednesday. Surfers on both sides of the screen had trouble making sense of what was happening.
It was clear which contestants had been brought up around slabs, and same goes with the viewers of the webcast. Some were bewildered by the spectacle, said it was boring and the wave was too short, while others appreciated the finer detail of making a drop that’s a 50/50 proposition at best, stalling while still falling, then shifting weight from one rail to the other while the water draws hard off the bottom. And it’s all over in five seconds.
Maximising those five or so seconds was what we considered great surfing. Not that I was particularly good at it. I was Jake Marshall to a suburb of Barron Mamiya’s: Popout Manion, Grub Coulter, Ox and Speg, Harey, Rusty, Boogs and Corey, Sparky, Griggsy, Kingy, Terepai and a hundred other surfers who saw things that I didn’t, and who packed hours of intensity into seconds of tube time.
We’re all products of our environment and just as surfers raised in south-east QLD will lean towards a loping pointbreak style, and young beachbreak specialists towards technical airs, a slab template develops for those raised near top-heavy waves.
These days I live near another pointbreak; this one a legitimately long pointbreak wave. For the first five years I ruined innumerable waves because I approached it slab-style: Tried to get under the hood immediately after takeoff, forcing the action rather than letting the wave naturally unfold, which is the classic pointbreak way.
Old habits die hard, but they also helped me appreciate just what went down at the Box on Wednesday.
- Stu
Comments
Point taken Stu. I enjoyed watching the contest at the Box too, you only have to look at some of the heats out there to see who can manage it and who can't. As you said, you have to watch it with a different attitude and you sure as hell have to surf with a different attitude. Lately theres been a lot of talk about the Mainbreak (Margret R) being an old mans wave and Bells being a substandard contest wave. I think a lot of people are missing the point, "perfect" waves for a contest are rare, just like they are when us mere mortals go surfing, its rarely perfect. It's the mark of a true Champion to be able to unlock the secrets of each break and surf therm well.
Was good watching those with the high wave I.Q identify a good wave, and then their positioning and paddling to get into it. Those three things combined successfully seemed to result in the most successful rides. Still can't quite comprehend the stuff Baron M does on the slabs. The one at Pipe this year and the Box one this year. Pure as it gets.
Like you, Stu, after graduating from gromhood the first waves I dedicated myself to were Shark Island & Cronulla Point. Slabs are so enjoyable, I switched to bodyboarding and never looked back. I still prefer slabs and barrels even at a slightly more advanced age.
Good piece but it's not just about place. I reckon age also accounts for how you appreciate good surfing. Too many times I've read comments from clearly older surfers who don't 'get' particular airs, especially in regards to how hard some are to do. "Air rev" has become the blanket term for any time a surfer dries their rails, irrespective of what the surfer is doing, with an assumption it should be scored down.
Sometimes a slab will run for hundreds of metres
What the heck!!
correction: fuck!!!
Amazing isn't it. Such a great article and topic, yet it only gets an engagement of 6 comments, meanwhile, the pure triviality of the greatest competitive surfer getting a...shock, horror....wild card slot into his own companies event in a trickly southern californian pointbreak gets over 60comments of mostly outrage. Ahh says alot about the Swellnet community and it's demographic don't it!!
Mate you don’t need to keep sticking up for Kelly, he’ll be fine without you.
Go join Indo-dreaming if the swellnet community isn’t up to your standard.
I'm not sticking up for anyone.
I'm just not getting personal and sinking the boot in over trivial shit about someone i've never met.
Big difference.
Thanks for the advice but I'm aware of my choices in life.
Cheers.
“ Ahh says alot about the Swellnet community and it's demographic don't it!!”
Errr what? You have literally just sunk the boot in to people you’ve never met. That reply is hilarious.
Interesting perspective.
Struck a nerve eh?
Hilarious indeed.
Keep in mind the article was posted on a Saturday morning, when it's been a generally great weekend of waves across the vast majority of the country.
As such, Swellnet viewership tends to be skewed towards a quick scan of the report/forecast/cam, because everyone is surfing.
Weekdays and weekends with poor surf usually allow more time to read articles and engage below the line.
Fari call mate. So long as swellnet forums dont become gossip girl or the equivalent for what it's demographic is. Much prefer the good engaging surf talk.
Great posts below btw. Enjoyable reading and why i love reading swellnet forums about surfing.
being a flyer, most subscribers would have read it in their email inbox rather than on the site. Flyers generally get less initial commentary for this reason.
I'm a bit late into the conversation but saw both articles and comments and don't necessarily disagree with too much, it was great watching Barron M. do his thing at the Box but I have to wonder if he would have got through quite so easily over at the main break. It is a comp but some very good surfers didn't make it through those heats. I liked seeing these guys at Bells, the changing conditions at Burleigh and at the break at Margaret (I'm an older surfer and no way I'm calling it an old man's wave!). Pipe is fantastic to watch but I don't want to see ten contests at Pipe. Good luck to whoever ends up winning at Margaret.
+1 for the slab appreciation
I think the WSLs locations and rules need to encourage a true reflection of what surfing is out in the real world. And charging slabs is a part of the real surfing world
Barron was sublime, it was a masterclass no doubt, but I don't want to see him as world champ any more than I want to see an air wiz get one. I like the guys n girls that can do it all. I guess that's why the final five will never fit
I love slabs and was stoked to see the WSl sending the men out the box. As stated by others there is a real art to it and I appreciate the complexities and demands slab surfing places on the surfers. I would love to see more of it on tour.
Slab fan here.
In sense Barron winning the Title this year would be poetic justice and a type of karmic rebalancing from the last 2 years.
Barron is a master at hollow surf but looks ordinary in beachies.
Toledo is exactly the opposite.
For that reason, I'd love to see Barron put on a masterclass at 8-10ft Cloudbreak and take a title.
That would demonstrate in the opposite direction the flaw in the Final 5 concept.
Might be biased living in the South West of WA, but I loved the heats at The Box. It's a proper technical wave and something a world champ should be able to handle. Look at Kelly (Florida), Gabriel Medina, Julian Wilson (Sunny Coast), Tom Carroll, none of them grew up on slabs, but they’ve put in the time and are now some of the most dialled in. That’s what it’s about, adapting and showing you can take on anything. It is also core ;)
Totally agree Fomo.
It's something any committed surfer can come to grips with.
With the Box having been part of the Margies comp for well over a decade- there's no excuse for male or female not to have a competent skill set there.
Absolute slab fan here.
The box is an amazing wave and watching someone surf it well is incredible. Absolutely no doubt it takes the highest calibre of surfer. But I'm one of the ones who was vocal about it being boring for the CT.
The reason it's boring for a contest is the variety in the wave and the lack of waves ridden. Most of the surfers aren't up to it so it becomes pretty boring to watch very little happening. Tahiti is a bit different because the wave is longer and it seems it has more surfable moods to it. Also, I think that ticks the slab box for the CT skills test (geddit), while backdoor kind of almost does too (just ask Felipe).
And just imagine if they'd run overlapping heats at Main break last Wednesday. This contest would be in much better shape now.
Many, many good waves went unridden. I get they have to chase big ones for scores but a lot of crew were out of position. I only have medium day experience out there and I would be lost without the crowd, so I get it, but best of the best right?
I read that just as Griff dropped a 10.
And what a 10 it was! I'm over there trying to stir the pot a little comparing to his box wave.