"Out of an abundance of caution"....lol, more corporate shit-speak from the SUP lord. Geez I'm going to miss those Rio closeouts.

Every press release from the WSL makes me want to vomit but strangely I still enjoy having a look at the contests and running my fantasy team. Except surf ranch - it makes the close outs of Brazil look interesting.

...Jeep surf ranch pro presented by Adobe...What fucking possible linkage is there between Adobe and WSL...other than Adobe Execs had a day or 2 team building at the ranch ?

Wish they would stay the fuck out of Mexico. Just stay to the well worn waves of Hawaii/Australia/Indo/Brazil and leave at least some of the world unexploited. Who do these Rip Curl search events benefit because it's not me, it's not the locals?

On the other hand, they could do a missionary style press day trip to Michoacan and spread some of that 'surfing stoke' to the CJNG!

anyone know the surf forecast for Lemoore? Will the winds be blowing the sickly sweet scent of fertiliser across the lineup? will anyone notice with all the BS coming out of the commentary box?

That's the WSL
Prouder than morning wood

Maybe indonesia wont allow another g-land pro because they never got what was promised to them but they allow keramas pro...keramas is fun but its no g-land..bring on big sponsorship i agree but i dont understand why they all want to popularise surfing so much. its almost worth quitting already with the world wide crowds. unless its 1ft and slow everywhere is crowded its bullshit. i doubt wave pools will solve the problem.

The wave pool comp isn't even worth watching, it's kind of like watching a fishing show run at a trout farm.

But kinda looking forward to Mexico, hope that get good waves.

Having recently watched a couple of epic battles in the French Open tennis, where point by point drama holds the audience intently, the contrast with surf contests is stark.

The commentators briefly summarise between points. There is silence during points as the battle of skill and tactics is in play. The event holds the audience. It is in itself enough.

Whereas the endless blabbing of Turpel, Pottz or whoever during a surf contest is just a sign that the drama of the contest itself is mostly lacking. Fill the audio space anyway you can with repetitive memes is almost a mantra of desperation that pervades the events otherwise the audience might twig and switch off. Of course occasional heats are fascinating.

That is why the WSL is on a mission to nowhere with their audience growth ambitions. It is a niche sport with limited viewer appeal to the mass audience and even the keen surfer can often regard them as boring unless the waves are really good.

The Olympics might not save the wozzle. It might just be the nail in the coffin of WSL growth ambitions.

https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/474093/lp_kelly_slater_full_oo?pla...

pool comp is wak straight up

A mathematicall relationship for the WSL bean counters to explore:

As commentator words spoken per moment of competitor sporting action increases the mass appeal of the sport declines.

Surfing sits at 93.7 words per manoeuvre.

Tennis sits at 6.2 words per shot.

Turps endless words = proof of WSL monetisation ambitions failure.

A symptom - not cause and effect of course.

Id like to surf the ranch..takeoffs too easy for pros though..would be more interesting with air drops into the pit

On a scale of shit I rank the world champion being decided at what will likely be less than 4 foot trestles higher than Kelly’s swimming pool competition.

Agree. Taking over a break in prime season benefits nobody except a few ‘pro surfers’ who don’t have to get a real job. And creates more frothy competitive crowds around the world. If I have to watch good surfers I’ll take a free surfer clip like Kerr in Sway or Torren etc.

Am I the only person who likes watching the wave pool contest?

Yep

The main thing wrong with the wave pool event is the format. It currently promotes safety surfing in order to advance through heats. If the event dispensed with the heats and was held along the lines of each surfer getting a set amount of waves with a top two wave total this would lead to more strident attempts to outshine your opponents.

Best two wave total wins. Give the surfers 10 waves to attempt the most radical shit possible. Perhaps even permit a system whereby surfers can surf consecutive waves if they want. Some crew need to get on a roll to really get loose and perform their best ( Italo/Gabby ).

Example; First surfer out of the blocks is Gabby. He chooses to surf five of his ten waves consecutively before leaving the pool for the next surfer. Other surfers now have a baseline for the two wave total they have to beat in order to win. Gabby later re enters the pool in hope of besting his own score and pushes his surfing through the roof.

The only trump card for the pool is potential to host progressive surfing through the repetition of the waves. The heat format destroys any incentive to surf radical. Crew surf age to get through heats. Fuck the heats.

I agree with you in principle.

But you know there is a leaderboard format for the pool, ie roughly what you describe , and there always has been.

It's the only thing I like about the tub. The format.

I wish they would take it into the ocean.

No , I didn’t know that. I thought it was regular heats and not a winner takes all points total. Pretty sure I’ve never watched a tub event bar a couple of replays here and there.

Nah, the problem with the tub is, unfortunately, the wave itself. It's a turkey.

Great for clocking minutes of barrel time but it's a game of join the dots with zero room for flexibility and innovation.

I reckon if you gave the best surfers in the world the incentive to re invent their approach to the wave then the result would be impressive. Even removing the dictate that the wave must be surfed to its conclusion for a viable score would elevate performance levels. Make the progression of surfing performance the only benchmark of success and shit would get crazy real quick. The wave isn’t the problem, the problem is the imposition of performance parameters which dictate conservative surfing.

The Texas wave pool proves this by the radical increase in surfing performances being generated there. The length of ride at Slater’s pool and the arbitrary judgement of completing the ride are the liability as far as entertainment goes.

there's truth in that.

I think Slaters pool is not as high performance as Texas.

so the wave is part of the problem.

Yep wave is too fast and perfect, needs some sections to mix up the pace and allow interpretation from the surfers.

If you told Gabby, Italo and Toledo that it’s worth $100K to pull an unbeatable manoeuvre at Slater’s wave, then the suggestion that it’s too fast and perfect to be used as a vehicle to propel performance levels would disappear quicker than unattended cocaine at a Logie’s after party.

looks like everyone here has everything covered.

I hope someone, Greg Webber, builds a new era wave pull with serious consequences and opportunities.

Needs to be at least twice the size of any wave pool currently out there.

imv, Blowins format criticism is on point.

The first 10 minutes or so at the ranch will be interesting just to see what they’ve done to the wave. It has changed over the years and I think they continue to tweak. The most obvious change has been the big reduction in tube time compared to the first version unveiled.

WSL Snapper comp been Axed ?