Toweling Off At The Tub
Did you spend much time watching the tub over the weekend?
Me? I tuned in for a short while both Saturday and Sunday morning, each time hoping to see something new, or at least something entertaining, but each time switched it off after a few rides, more out of disinterest than disgust. I was bored.
There was more entertainment in the comments. More insights too, even when that wasn’t the intention. A pattern emerged whereby the negative comments would pile up, and then a positive comment would try to counterbalance the ledger, but it was a hopeless cause.
The best argument the positrons could provide was that the tub was a marvel of human ingenuity, therefore criticism of it was tantamount to sacrilege. As far as arguments go it’s a non sequitur: toil and gumption will get an invention on the table, but the market decides if success will follow.
Besides, in December 2015, every surfer marveled at Kelly’s first glimpse video, but six years and five events later, it’s clear the wave is a turkey for contests.
The initial promise of the tub was that it would fast track progression. Yet as has been written elsewhere, the wave doesn’t advance creativity but stifle it. More on that point later.
Those defending the pool also assume the Woz is acting in good faith by holding an annual CT at Lemoore. However, the Surf Ranch isn’t just another stop on the tour, it’s a marketing tool for the Woz to sell their wavepool technology. The whole thing is an advertisement - an on-site trade show booth. Other operators flock to Surf Park Central while the Woz just turns on the webcast.
This point was made clear by no less than Ian Cairns, one of the pro surf founders invited to attend the Future Classic back in 2017 and collectively fawn at the promise of a greater tomorrow for pro surfing.
“The event is a marketing vehicle for the pool,” wrote Kanga on Facebook this morning before delivering his verdict on the Wozzle’s strategy, “As far as the WSL CT product is concerned, it suffers by being in the pond.”
There’s a long list of dissenters, which now also includes Kanga, but how representative of the surfing audience are they? The risk of a limited survey lies in the echo chamber of social media. More tellingly, traffic to the Surf Ranch contest tracked at around a third of a CT average over the weekend, rising to approximately half the average today.
The market spoke and they also said the contest is a dud.
The way it currently stands, the tub hasn’t delivered on its promise of accelerated learning. Take today’s men's winner, for instance. Last year, Filipe Toledo launched airs on the first section of the right - a daring risk on a 45 second ride - but this year he reined it in and launched on the end section only. It was performance devolution.
Also, in today’s final, two-time winner Gabriel Medina twice tried to launch airs in the middle section of the left and twice failed. Don’t expect him to make those mistakes again. Surfing at the tub is reminiscent of the old Round 4 three-man ‘no loser’ round, which was designed to encourage risk when in practice the surfers simply played it safe.
There’s barely any point bringing other male surfers into the equation, as of the four man-on-man contests at the tub*, only Gabriel and Filipe have made the finals. That stat points to consistency, not unpredictability, as being the winning formula.
Around the same time Gabs was testing the limits and failing, I was reading a Facebook post by coach Martin Dunn - yeah, apologies for the social media journalism. In it, Martin was explaining how to ride the left at the Tub.
“The left at the Surf Ranch can be broken into four distinct sections, requiring four different approaches to maximimise scoring,” writes Martin, and by way of encouraging engagement in the action continued, “The surfing becomes much more interesting when you judge a ride by how a surfer negotiated the different sections, depending on their surfing ability.”
He also included the following infographic. The numbers are positions on the clock if you're wondering.
It bears repeating that the Tub was designed to take surfing to the masses. Indeed, other tubs - WaveGarden, BSR etc. - are doing that outside of the competition environment, but the Kelly Slater Wave Company stands no chance of broadening the appeal of pro surfing when repertoire is effectively narrowed making less room for improvisation and surprise.
By way of comparison, consider Gabriel’s semi-final at Newcastle. On a right hand bank he unexpectedly rode back towards the rockshelf, hitting the oncoming whitewash for the biggest air of the contest and a near-perfect score. No-one had yet done that, and the creativity, the sheer difference to what came before, was apparent to everyone watching, surfer and mug punter alike.
When the ride gets reduced to a single choreographed path, as it does at the tub, the difference between turns becomes so subtle as to be imperceptible. When core surfers need explanations then pity the non-surfing rubberneck looking to fill his Saturday arvo lounge time with surfing. What does he or she see on the screen? I can’t say, though it doesn’t matter as they’ve voted with the remote. The traffic ain’t there.
It’s possible, perhaps very likely, the contest will pivot into a novelty venue. A new format to dial up the entertainment. Something that can deliver eyeballs without surfers worrying about end-of-season points. Stab High and Red Bull Foam Wreckers have set the precedents. But then again, who knows when it comes to the Woz?
Since Dirk Ziff bought pro surfing back in 2013, it’s become impossible to forecast the future of the sport. The traditional markers for commercial strategy - profit and loss, market success etc - mean little to a multi-billionaire who at times shows the same regard to the audience as he does to his bottom line.
Today’s winners at the Surf Ranch Pro were Joanne Defay and Filipe Toledo.
The Men's and Women's Top 5 are as follows:
* Three seasonal CTs plus the Future Classic.
Comments
Yep agree Stu - if this was held at the bottom of my garden I'd still get up and close the curtains...
There's a growing market for a world surf tour and the current product is clearly in decline. Just like the Surf Ranch Pro it's all become too clean cut and boring, teenagers need something with rougher edges, it's no longer a positive yet rebellious outlet for our struggling youth.
It's high time for a Rebel Tour. Surely , it's too easy and a whole ton of money and fun for the right people.
The WSL target demographic aren’t rebels. The target market is the German girl who learnt to surf 18 months ago at a culturally appropriate surf/ yoga retreat in Bali and who thinks that telling people how much she loves sea turtles goes a long way towards mitigating her personal footprint on the planet. The same girl thinks the WSL are her allies in the struggle because they promote stainless steel drinking containers.* There is zero rebellion involved. It’s corporate aligned positivity from go to whoa.
*Whilst simultaneous hosting wave pool marketing event they fly crew from around the world to star in.
Summed up perfectly Blowin
Would be funny if wozzle a secretly planned a rebel tour (akin to the founding of volcom from an ambitious quik exec) and manufactured it so this rebel tour ‘ate the carcasse’ of the existing league. To differentiate it, the secret rules could be that all competitors had to start acting edgy and changing their hair and fashion styles in a last ditch appeal to the “youth” market. New venues, a few novelty initiatives like kook’s corner, a high volume softboard division, and a better marketed “free surfing” comp where a single creative move is rewarded rather than textbook maneuvers.
The thing is, how many ways are there to surf a wave like a pro? At the pointy end the decisions made by performance surfers are refined to a somewhat similar path, and it becomes about execution. The unique thing being that every wave is different. Hence why the wave pool is such a dud.
Can't Gabby go left on the right? Maybe next year.
Hahaha!! That's gold DR
Would love to surf it, but as a spectator sport its too formulaic.
The WSL won't give a fuck about any negative feedback and/or alter the comp criteria based on it as long as they can continue to suck on the tit of some non surfing billionaire.
That's for sure Ringy, old mate will just pick the whole show up and drop it wherever he sees fit and by the time he dumps it surfers everywhere will realise how well they've been fucked over. The Woz is pretty irrelevant at the moment anyway - boring as fuck.
I agree mate, but try and tell that to a frothing, flag-waving, non-surfing Brazzo soccer fan. The Wozzle's conversion of our sport is nearly complete, and we are redundant. All the Wozzle cares about is maintaining the current top three. Thank fuck Morgs is actually having a dig.
Amazing how much commentary is devoted to a BAF connest. I guess if you want to hate something so bad it doesn't take much to justify your hate. BTW I disagree that the surfing's gone backwards - Gabby's last right was unlike any wave I've seen surfed.
"Amazing how much commentary is devoted to a BAF connest"
Not to mention the devotion of the commentary on the commentary of the BAF connest.
What’s a BAF contest again. Sorry, not keeping up.
Boring As Fuck.
Gabbys numbers were well down on his 2018/19 rides.
he choked on 3 out of his 4 rides in the Final.
Did the hot weather mean they had to throttle down the loco so it didn't blow a seal? Waves looked extra gutless this year.
haha ..Didn't anyone get the Ziff's memo a while ago ..?
"I have a message to the haters, and it is simple. Be tough. Call us out. Keep us honest. Tell us what we need to improve.
But don’t pretend you don’t know that when you go beyond constructive criticism and cynically try to rally negative sentiment towards the WSL, when you try to take us down, you are not just going after us. You are going after Kelly Slater. You are trying to take down Lakey Peterson. You are going after the dreams of Caroline Marks and Griffin Colapinto. You are undermining the hopes of every kid who lives with salt in their hair, dreaming of being a world champion one day."... DZ
Fark, that nearly made me throw up.
Reply to ziff:
"Don't forget when your mission is to make money by growing surfing's popularity around the world through hype and marketing making already crowded line ups no longer fun for new and experienced surfers, you are....
Going after the dreams of HUNDREDS of thousands of surfers who have built their hopes and dreams around a simple, pure pleasure found in regular fun surfs at their local spot and when they travel"
I place the pleasure of the hundreds of thousands way above the ego driven dreams of the few to be pro surfers.
My last surf had 3 wave sets every 5 to 10 minutes. Lots of fun by myself. Okay fun when two others paddled out. It would have been no fun at all with just few more surfers out. So many of my surfs are just so finely balanced between pleasure and pain with crowds the dominant factor.
Ziff, your "growth" directly correlates with a worsening experience for surfers. You are the trying your darnedest to be the mass dream stealer. Not us.
Agreed. I rarely get out at my Sydney local any more. Just looking at the waves and then checking the numbers makes it such a feeble way to spend my time. I know, I’m losing out, but have recently seen days where fully half or more of the guys out there will get one wave, maybe not even that.
Spot on, Frog.
So with you on that one Frog. Nice quiet spot alone on a slow bank picking off the one wave every 10 mins - gold - but the sheep see you and think its cool to come and try to scab you for it, One one wave every 20 or 30 mins if you share is not so much fun, or otherwise you don't share and it becomes unpleasant. Covid hasn't helping in this neck of the woods - the quiet sneaky mid week surf without crowds has now gone and every day is looking far more like the weekend zoo fest.
Anyway - I'll put the soap box away. I'd love at day or two at the wave pool. The wave looks magic but as I contest I couldn't get excited. I tried again, but still the same.
Only one thing made sense,,,the future is switchfoot trickery,,,yawn ...give me a Dane Reynolds hack anyday.
Im confused about that how to picture. Ive heard of a 12 oclock reo, but a 6? Is the clock upside down in the Northen Hemisphere these days?
Im confused about that how to picture. Ive heard of a 12 oclock reo, but a 6? Is the clock upside down in the Northen Hemisphere these days?
Ha, got me as well but now understood thanks to Stu's clarification.
Ha ha...no, it's indicating which way to drive the board back down the face after the turn. 4 and 5 o'clock when the wave is racing along, so the surfer is moving fairly laterally, and then hard down towards 6 o'clock when the wave backs off near the middle.
Maybe they should introduce some other type of skills contest or element to make the contest more interesting...like a paddling contest or maybe the surfer has to paddle to the take off zone from a point in shore in time before the wave arrives... If he's good enough he would reach the best take off zone for the best section.. If he doesn't time it right or not quick enough he will have to take off on the weaker shoulder = less points. This way not every wave is a sure thing like in the ocean conditions....you could even have 2 surfers in the pool at the same time competing and paddling to make the take off zone first
A twerk contest mid wave?
ELO could monetise that. He often twerks mid wave on his SUP so understands its transformative power.
It was hard to watch live due to the long predictable gap between waves, so I went back and skimmed it in delay. I can't complain, watching the worlds best surfers on a completely level playing field from my lounge for free cant be all that bad. The nerves waiting for the wave must be intense and seeing guys like Mikey Wright blowing it mid wave or Medina toying with it and launching, and the GOAT so textbook and precise etc. etc. kept me interested. Those waves are gorgeous. Surely it can't hurt to have one contest with no luck factor involved although perhaps an expression session style format with points for risk filmed in delay without all the BS in between could work. Cheers.
Yeah I skimmed the final and looked fun in isolation and would love to give it a go, but these guys really need danger challenges not technical trickery, it is surfing after all not skateboarding. According to the Spartan it is the most stressful contest on the calendar and Jordy detests it (and he has done well here) Jules was a no show (also gone well here) and I really don't think Kelly would turn up if he didn't invent it and has shares or whatever - ahh..I wonder choose Big perfect Chope/Fiji or Surf Ranch? I am a broken record - best surfers with best waves and that means size, difficulty, and a decent canvas. Look what happens to Flippy in real waves of consequence. If they really want a contest here just invite 6 Brazillians and have a Brazo contest sponsored by some Brazo energy drink company (is there one I don't drink the ultra sweet rubbish). There is a godzillian brazillians so everybody is happy.
I almost saw 1 whole wave, a left, but after the 3rd carbon copy backside snap that was it. No doubt my 15 seconds of viewing gets counted as 15,000,000 views by WSL standards. Surely the WSL is one big capital loss deduction for Dirk.
We need a 'Super League' to come along and do the opposite of their squeeky clean Murica tripe, full of swearing, drunk commentators and scantily clad models towelling off contestants (both genders, shut up). Rush the judging tower? extra points. Tackle an opponents caddy? extra points. Burn a competitor for wave of the day? extra points. Get Gabe to call a comp off by talking up sharks the whole heat? take the win.
If I had a billion dollars this would be the last pool of the current technology I'd build in my backyard. Hell I might even give Greg Webber a go... yeah probably not.
"Rush the judging tower? extra points. Tackle an opponents caddy? extra points. Burn a competitor for wave of the day? extra points."
Vince McMahon would make it happen.
Yes the WSL commentary makes the AFL and Cricket sound wildly left of centre. Not sure why they are hell bent on trying to get the boring mid west (whatever that is) interested. They have no beaches, are snowed under half the year, and it really is just a novelty for them. So thick headed and deluded it is astonishing. Yanks really get off on blowing up their own bums.
Looks a fun wave to surf so….. Can’t they scale up the size of everything about these pools .. double or triple the size of the sled and pool.. bingo.
Physics don't work like that.
Yes logarithmic as I understand.
Yaaaaaaaawn.. is it over yet ???? THANK FARK.. BORING AS BATSHIT
More boring than batshit I reckon. At least with bats you get to see them flying through the air in an unpredictable manner.
Honestly this article is more interesting than the comp itself, not that ive bothered watching this time, i did see a wave on FB though, well watched a few seconds.
Looking forward to mexico though.
Bastard we can't move.
I watched every wave of this comp, or close enough to.
As I did for the comp in 2019 and the two in 2018.\\
During this time I kept extensive and comprehensive notes.
I'm quite confident in my assessments based on this fact.
The experience has been slowly getting worse. The surfing was well down this year, apart from a few, very select highlights. Toledo surfed incredibly, if more conservatively and Dora was the only one to elevate the high performance, progressive bar.
Medina had moments but was well below his benchmarks from 2018 and 2019.
What surprised me most, given the criticism (justified) of the Tub was how they managed to make the viewing spectacle worse, and not by a little.
As a sporting event they seemed determined to scrub away any colour, drama, conflict or controversy.
Given the mechanical, repetitive nature of the wave that made for an incredibly monotonous, drab viewing experience.
No interviews with the losers, so no controversy over judging/scoring.
It was as if they were petrified of opening themselves up to any unscripted moments.
But as anyone knows, it's the unscripted moments that make sport watching worthwhile.
This, despite all the hype about level playing field, has taken pro surfing further away from being considered a sport, not closer.
it was more like a product demonstration, as Stu has astutely noted.
Only problem is, you only get one chance at novelty, even if that is perfection and once it wears off it quickly becomes a numbing experience.
I never thought I'd say this but looking at those perfect waves, I felt nothing.
Only the performance of Toledo and to a lesser extent Medina made me feel anything remotely above a cold, professional disinterest.
One other observation.
It's true though, that the Tub does ruthlessly elevate the best surfers at the expense of the rest.
Given that, it's obvious after this comp how rock bottom the Aussie Pro Surfers stocks are.
One surfer in the Final (Ethan Ewing) and he was only there because of a critical over score from the judges. An assessment backed up by his complete inability to make an impact in the Finals.
Will Aussies keep paying attention and bankrolling pro surfing if we can't find any elite talent to barrack for and be a genuine Title contender?
Maybe Morgs will be a saviour but I doubt it. He is going to have to elevate his surfing big time to stay relevant with the Brazilians.
Always enjoy your write up's over yonder. Cant believe how repetitious it became under the CT3 wave or whatever they want to call it. 3-4 turns, barrel 3-5 turns, barrel, try for the air rev at end. Cant air rev, won't succeed..
Agree totally with your small wave beach break performance comments however in bigger waves of consequence, some of the Aussies are stand outs and Flippy has his problems. Also, pro surfing going down the road it is (final at Trestles???!!!), surf ranch, beach breaks, covid issues, I think it is emasculated and of little interest. Of the Aussie leg the only one of interest was big Margs, the rest was a dud unless you like non stop airs on 3 foot beachies - which the Brazos excel at. For the Aussies to get better they need to practice speed generation and airs 24/7 simple as that.
Yeah not too many contests are interesting enough to watch for a few hours. Some of the last few events - 2 turns and a white water reo - give him/her an 8 or 9 for it - boring. Watch the ranch for 20 mins and it's the same same over and over - boring. Most airs etc are crap in my opinion. Have only ever seen one air 360 that was worth giving a 9 or 10. Go to the islands, JB, Indo and show some decent surf.
and not able to put a first round multi on to have a go at some juicy odds
I thought $4 the TAB had on Filipe was relatively generous....Piqued my interest enough to have a swing
First round mutis are the best. Odds go downhill quick after that one
It's a novelty connest, FFS. You can't compare an artificial to a natural environment so why try? Do yaself a favour and enjoy the brilliance of Gabs on that right (my mistake above, it's the first one) in the final.
"How much time did you spend watching the tub over the weekend?" Stu
Less time than it takes to make toast.
There's a common saying these days that can be used regarding virtually anything.
'It is what it is'.
That probably suits the wave pool more than pretty much anything else.
I predict in a couple or so more years,when hopefully the tour has gone back to normal again,this event will be quietly relegated to the QS tour.
Perhaps it'll be retired once Kelly is too,which will almost certainly be after his 'still on tour at 50' next year farewell lap.
I doubt it will ever be a QS event. Or even a training ground for 'athletes'.
They will get more viewers and publicity etc with mind numbing 'reality' TV shows like the Ultimate Instagram Surfer.
What about the elephant in the room?
What did Pottz do / who did he piss off to lose his gig on the gravy train?
One of you pro surfing sycophants out there must know surely....
He took and ate a container of Tuna bake from the WSL staff fridge that was clearly marked 'JOEYS DON'T TOUCH'. .. allegedly
So the rumour about Rosy is definitely just a beat up then?
Are you just gonna throw that out there and leave us hanging?
Better still, keep that one to yourself.
Nah.....I was just being silly.
Actually, before the WSL Pottz always came across as a no nonsense hard core animal. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually thought "fuck this is a load of shit and a massive sellout of surfing. The extra coin I'm getting aint worth the hypocrisy and embarrassment I feel as a hardcore surfer while I'm peddling this crap. Jam it up yer arse Ziffy and you to ELO ya fucken VAL KOOK"
So yeah.....that's what I reckon happened to him.
Good theory. They certainly bent him over while he was on board. He became pretty corporate. Not like the Pottz of old that's for sure.
Pottz is now (few years now) a St.Andrews (Mornington Peninsula back beach) local and like many of us down here is absurdly included in the "Melbourne Metro", lockdown-lunacy-fear-machine.
Most of us are as 'Toey as a Roman sandal' about any travel to anywhere and not the actual virus. When the frequent 5km lockdowns are on (stay tuned.....4 and counting!) you literally are not allowed to travel from one end of the back beaches to the other. The new police cameras which take pics of your number plate, and thus your registered home address are really stopping a lot of the usual/normal surf travel down here, which hasn't seen a covid case for nearly 10 months.
I've not seen Pottz personally lately, as he usually surfs certain places I don't, but some other local surf buddies have sighted him from time to time. Can't say for sure , but I think he's just staying local to avoid the risk of lockdowns and quarantine lock ups. I reckon being locked up for 14 days in covid quarantine would be a nightmare for any surfer and it's apparently one of the best places to catch the thing!
God Bless
P.S. I would love to surf that surf ranch just once, but watching the comp was indeed boring.
Actually forgot this was on today and I normally froth on a comp. So Toledo won eh? I did watch 4 waves of the women's yesterday morning and 3 of the men..each wave they looked terrified of making a mistake which led to almost all of them falling on that weird section halfway along. I did have one moment of being awestruck by the empty wave peeling off without them. I think I'd enjoy the comp just as much if no one was in it...just the waves.
personally i didnt mind finals day, wasnt so mind numbing ... it really is a wave for the top 5 or so.
way too long way too confusing and boring as hell ....they need to cut the number of guys and girls down to probably by half in all events to keep it interesting....too much dead wood.
Some more thoughts to what we can finally all agree on.
The Pool contest was insanely boring and contrived!
I think anyone who actually watched it, was doing so for scientific reasons. Possibly a PHD study on "How to squander a golden opportunity?"
How can they just stuff it up so much that even the hard-core surf fans tune out? Especially when there are 100 obvious reasons why they failed, each one staring them in their blank/numb faces.
Here's a couple from my "WTF, do you not even understand the basics of surfing?" list.
-45 second wave.
Way way too long, even for the fittest of the fit. You just build up too much lactic acid that your muscles don't respond properly. I can't see why 20 seconds isn't long enough to show what you can do on a wave. That way you could have 2 waves per current wave setup. Just have a secondary take-off spot half-way down the pool. [The first wave would finish in a close-out just before the second surfer takes off.] A close-out finish of the wave also guarantees an exciting / radical finish.
-Change the Wave shape! It's too fast & perfect that it's boring!
Nothing stopping them making a system of removable bases that can be thrown into the basin that could dramatically change the shape/form of the wave. Simply bolt them to the concrete base and move/remove when needed. There are only so many turns you can do on a really fast running wave so they need to provide some fast/slow sections to break it up.
-If it's marketing you wanted then where where the expression sessions?
IF the pro are going to surf safe/boring, then at least provide us with some sort of surfing spectacle by putting some surfers out there that will actually give us that.
So many things WSL, just so many things........I am really not sure you could get it more wrong if you tried.
The wave would be great fun to ride. But if the contest is just a "marketing tool for the Woz to sell their wavepool technology", they are on another wealth draining loser.
The economics of a wave every 4 minutes or so are just terrible. I heard the figure of $400 per wave if you wanted to book a session with some mates. I doubt if another one like it will ever be built. No amount of hopium and happy clappy interviews will fix that.
Kelly was first and sold early. Ziff is the bag holder.
I'm always defending the WSL on here because I love watching their contests.
But did not watch one second of surf ranch.
Everytime they showed clips of surfers from non-tub events the waves looked positively wild and unbridled in contrast. Thrumming with the menacing energy of a pack of wild horses.
Then back to the medicated existence of the pool. No ups, no downs. No wild sex with a crazy red head who may or may not stab you, burn your house down, or key your car in the ineviteible break up. Just a nice girl, a mortgage, job security, and a mundane existence till death.
Hilariously accurate Kay. Where’s the excitement, the drama, the anticipation?
Ooh, redheads.
The American dream!
Elo in his neoprene suit of armour.
Nice to see Johanne Defray doing well given that she comes from a relatively obscure island (reunion) and because Jeremy Flores invested hisi do-ray-me from the CT in her. What a wonderful example of grass roots re-investment in the surfing industry and personal empowerment.
As to why perfect waves aren't interesting; I'm perplexed as to why they aren't for most of us?
Infrequent reward. It's like hunting or poker machines,
Our brains have evolved to be completely addicted to it.
The waves don't have the variation necessary for the random reward.
Its like the Matrix! The machines lost whole crops of human batteries when they made the simulation perfect. The Oracle needs to fuck with Zipf the architect to make it imperfect and unpredictable so we can continue to define our existence through suffering...or something like that
On the proviso that one Mr K. Slater rise to WSL el Presidente methinks it won't take too much longer before the hot tubes are granted their rightful place as the "driving range" of the surf world. Great place to hone your front-rotation-rodeo-method-front-mute-grab-mc twisty thingy, then take it out into the real world. No different to the object of a foam pit, unless, of course, I've missed the Bet666 market odds on foam pit freestyle world camps?
Sell the woz to Vince McMahon
That's a farken' great idea.
I watched sone highlights - same as I would for a normal comp
I think the pool has differences that are interesting - like a split screen a few years back showing toledo do four full rail turns in the same time Julian did three
Really want to ride one after a close mate had a go in Melb and reckons is a great and trippy day
Wont stop me surfing (or watching) conventilonal waves in natural environments ... but fun I reckon by the looks
Each to their own I think
The comments in the feed are always as interesting, or more so, than the comp. Multiply that by a thousand for the tub.
I love the banter of the feed, totally changes the viewing experience.
Didn’t watch that much though. Sort of left me feeling strangely disengaged, almost like I had done something wrong but didn’t remember doing anything.
I wonder whether the Lemoore contest represents a bit of a "jump the shark" moment.
In searching up what an old board might be worth, I stumbled upon this recent gem with quotes from a few luminaries - I reckon Wayne Lynch's comments are every bit as relevant for the situation now as the period he refers to, perhaps even more so. The restrictive nature of contests back then was seen as clashing with the individual styles and expression of surfing that was far more diverse than today. It really left me wondering what the actual point of professional surfing is beyond the vested interests of the relative few who benefit from it.
It's a 3 min read, well worth it.
https://hodaddy.com.au/blogs/b-log/surfboard-design
Boring,Boring,Boring it was ok for 1 or 2years but it's past it's used by date, no more pools please. Go back to the ocean please.
I admit I watched the WSL post show to see what went down. Man, that Cote is like a dodgy uncle at a BBQ dressing like a 16 year old to creep on the kids, but I digress. There is so much to unpack - a panting Medina seriously gassed and complaining about his fitness, not a single mention of an Aussie at any point, but for me the telling moments were in the "silent time" while they went to an add break. Just a bunch of fat, pale, middle aged guys frothing in the tub up to their knees with a bunch of hot young girls in G-strings. Creepy AF, and about four separate camera /sound teams following this...seriously weird shit.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/08/online-dating-out-of...
lmao peak attraction ages for both sexes!
"- In the study, men’s desirability peaks at age 50. But women’s desirability starts high at age 18 and falls throughout their lifespan."
so much lol in the men's result haha
See above.
We are very sick of these perfect mechanical waves which totally bore us with their unnatural sameness.
Let’s go back to the ocean so we can complain that the surf is a bit shitty and it’s the WSL’s fault.
I’m not having a go at anyone. I’m just saying that’s how we roll.
As I wrote somewhere else, I reckon our response to the tub should cause us to reflect on what it is we really enjoy about surfing. Seems it's not as obvious as first thought.
Of course it won't stop the whinging, but if it counts for anything, web traffic shows that while we may complain, we at least stay tuned into ocean events. The gripes not unlike something you might hear in a carpark with surfers finding fault with banks, tide, wind, consistency etc etc. Strange as it sounds, there's comfort in that, as it's part of our shared language.
When it comes to the nocean, however, it's all foreign.
I've been critical of the contest but I can tell you why they were so extra conservative this year. Olympic Gold. No one wanted to do a John John and blow a ligament a month out from Tokyo. I've never seen surfers looking so uptight. The pressure must be intense and there's still only 4-5 pros who can consistently land the big airs that get the winning scores and they know they have the advantage but the field is catching up. I'll give it one more go next year. Kelly decided to build the perfect wave and of course he succeeded
Surfalot was thinking exactly the same thing .. looks like a creepy ol pedo
I didn't watch much of this contest and generally agree with the majority of comments like, boring, repetitive etc. The best wave I saw ridden was by Strider while commentating. He was explaining the different sections of the right. He just rode the wave so smoothly and stylishly, no fins out the back of the wave, no air attempts, didn't try to fit in as many turns as possible, just rode it at a beautiful pace. Wouldn't have scored very highly of course, but I could relate to it.
Sensational stuff. That wave was horrid and majestic, horridly majestic, majestic and horrid and so on and so forth for 45 seconds. And then...
First world problems are causing you all a lot of stress. FFS its just surfing competition . In a wave pool. Many of you sound like half intelligent kinda people, Why don't you focus your energies on things that actually fucking matter. Seriously you should hear yourselves.
I agree to some extent. I agree there is a plethora more important issues. Yes, we should probably divert more time/energy to making the world a better place rather than chasing the next hit of dopamine. However, we are human after all. Neither Slater's pool, its success, how its being used, nor the WSL are causing me stress. This topic is not important to me. Its the opposite. They are almost irrelevant in my life. I would suggest there are members who range from the surfers so immersed in surfing to the point that these topics are so salient and everything else comes second, to those surfers who prioritise everything else over surfing. I fall into the latter, sometimes I need a healthy distraction or respite from the 7-5 grind in a special intersest to keep myself doing some things that matter more.
hahah, good call Crab.
I think coming onto a surfing website and telling people who are commenting about a surfing issue that it's waste of time is probably the definition of futility.
Might as well go on a Golf website and tell them to stop talking about Golf.
I’m commenting whilst halfway through a DIY plumbing attempt. It’s indeed a welcome distraction to be able to come on here for 5 minutes and discuss problems which are more abstract and less impactful than a flooded house.
I suppose we could go full meta and criticise Fishnsurf for titling at the windmill of online niche subject criticism? Fck it …..back to the liquidity crisis in the bathroom.
Oh dear. Hope it was tub-worthy water at the very least Blowin.
Futility is standing in the rain hucking 100 gram hardbodies on 50 pound braid for hours at a time without a single hit.
My interest really is in keeping Kelly's pool in the CT as it suits the 'surfing in all conditions' of competition. There appears to be an aspect of this set up that has even the world's best stumped at times. I am curious as to who is there to take it on next year already. Wave pools have there place I believe and technology improvements must be coming whether some like it or not.
I will just wait and see what happens year on year paying special attention to those that want to concure surfing it and to those that...
And if the WSL coverage continues to compare with watching a tyre deflate over 2 days ( observed in the early hours of the morning)... so be it and so continue my complaints.
Variety and progression is a 2 way street people's.
Bugger me freeride76. I left that sentence open ended so those smarter than me could fill in the blank of their own accord.
Those that want to concure the wave and those that don't... my original finger penning that just doesn't sit correctly with me.
My vocabulary ability is not allowing me put the words together in my preferred simplistic manner.
So to conclude... as best I can, something along the lines of the mental journey Kellys' pool has competitors going through by way of wave itself, atmosphere, ability vs completion rate, number of opportunities, strategies applied so on. Looks to be tough gig.
"I will just wait and see what happens year on year paying special attention to those that want to concure surfing it and to those that..."
sorry mate, no idea what you are saying there?
Typo?
It seems to be a half sentence with the important bit missing.
Surfing contests as we know them are a bit like test cricket. The tragics (read us) will sit through the days of dross, waiting for the moments of excitement. Just have it on in the background, or check out the highlights. Non surfers think it's boring as fuck!
When the cricket people decided they wanted to appeal to a broader audience, they came up with the 20/20 concept. All smash, bash and constant flashy action all squeezed into a 3hr window.
Slater's tub is a bit of a dud all-round as far as competition spectacles go. Like a game of test cricket on a dull flat pitch, dragging on to the inevitable draw.
The surfing equivalent to 20/20 could potentially be in a pool. But not the one that the woozle put all it's eggs into. Think stab high, or something like that at Waco or wave garden cove like pools. Lots of constant action and big flashy tricks.
Or another option that I think we as surf fans would prefer would be a 1 day, or even one prolonged session in code Red type slabs or big waves.
Part of what keeps you engaged with ocean events is the simple pleasure of watching the waves, even when no one is up and riding. That doesn’t happen at the tub.
Stu, you have hit the nail square on the head. I marvel at tub waves but I have often heard appraisals echoing the same sentiment: The predictability of the wave allows you to refine certain skills. A by-product is possibly only a narrow set of skills. I have heard its different to natural waves too. So, with contestants already focusing on high scoring moves in a natural environment, I should imagine the surfing is even more focused in the tub and less diverse because of the wave predictability. I doesnt make for very good prolonged viewing. On a whole, I turned off the Woz probably 15 years ago. Even in the natural environment, not much has tickled me since. I would rather see the 'free-surfers' vids. The tubs are a novelty wave. They should be suited to the average punter who is tired of being snaked/smoked by the current, former pro, or wannabe pro who is entitled to the next (and good) wave in the natural environment. For me, getting barrelled 10 times an hour every so often sounds pretty good. The straight-hander beachie is getting tiresome.
It's fair to say that the Surf Ranch is the event that's meant to reach middle America. Remember the quote from ZoSea's Chief Marketing Officer, Michael Lynch back in 2013, regarding the "potential to have some 250 million real fans"? https://swllnt.com/3zUELWH
We're past the typical peak of the post-event media bell curve. So, how was the Surf Ranch covered outside of the surf industry?
You'd expect local press to cover it the most. Hard to know who's the market leader in these regions, but Fresno is the nearest major city. So using that as a basis:
Fox26News ran a short article/news piece the week prior to the event. Nothing else.
https://kmph.com/news/local/hot-surfing-event-at-surf-ranch-in-lemoore
ABC30 News Fresno also ran a short article/news piece a few days prior. Nothing else. https://abc30.com/sports/world-famous-surfing-competition-kicks-off-in-l...
(note: in the above interview Erik Logan says the "stakes are higher" at the Surf Ranch, because "all the pressure shifts to the surfers, not just to choose the wave, but to perform on the wave, so it's a completely different level of pressure and competition, unlike they've ever seen".)
yourcentralvalley.com doesn't have any Surf Ranch news at all.
The Fresno Bee ran an article yesterday about how wave pools might be used in the Olympics (didn't mention the Surf Ranch event though; odd). Otherwise they haven't run anything Surf Ranch related since Jan 2018: https://www.fresnobee.com/sports/olympics/article252311763.html
As for the major cities, the LA Times published a gallery (no story) which they enthused across social media "check out these terrific photos" (yep, they're great - but no story!).
Elsewhere, a general Google search for "Surf Ranch Pro" - excluding all of the usual surfing websites (like Swellnet) that might publish content brings up very little - Orange County Register did an article, and a couple of small papers in Australia covered how the local heroes were doing, otherwise, almost nothing at all.
https://swllnt.com/2TS1nGF
Of course, Social Media reach isn't included here however the staying power of a seven-second glimpse on Facebook is a difficult metric to quantify.
I still truly think that wave pools will attract hundreds of millions to surfing in the long run. It only takes the hurdle of accessibility to the pools to be removed before there is the potential for hundreds of millions of wave pool surfers to arrive. It’ll end up like Karaoke with its own stars and TV talent quests like The Voice. Sooner or later pool stars will become real ocean crossovers ala Kelly Clarkson and Guy Sebastian.
Slater’s pool looks like a pretty dead end on the journey of wave pools given current outcomes. It actually seems to have found it’s niche already as high end amusement for the rich.
Wave pools attracting hundreds of millions to surfing is likely but it may be spread over time with most doing brief dabbles (we hope).
It may be something for people to tick off the list and get an Instagram shot rather than creating millions of frothers. Millions of Australians have "surfed" at some point in their lives. Most don't stick with it for many reasons. Most of my old surfing mates don't surf anymore.
Wave pools will overcome some reasons people quit - access, sharks fears etc.. But surfing just does not grab some people as much as others. I used to ski a bit but it sits in the "been there done that" category for me despite it being a lot of fun. If a really good, big indoor ski field was built nearby I would go a few times but that would be all. I would not then head off to the mountains.
However, if the worst case scenario occurred the wave pool millions moved into the ocean in numbers, surfing would be ruined for many of us. There is a doomsday scenario. History might blame, not praise, the GOAT one day? Imagine two bus loads of semi competent Chinese wave pool surfers paddling out at Snapper at once every few hours on their once in a lifetime holiday. Eeeeeeek!
But I suspect it will be self limiting to some extent.
The biggest worry would be packs of wave pool surfers going to certain types of waves - point breaks - where they feel comfortable making them unbearable. They would, I expect, leave the rough and tumble spots and sharky areas alone.
Skateboarding has some parallels with the growth of Skate Parks and the impact of its popularity.
- there is an estimate of over 3500 skateparks worldwide and over 500 in the US alone.
- In 2016 there were about 6.4 million skateboarders in the US and 85 million worldwide
Google trends - searches
- the term "Skatepark" peaked in 2004, has declined since to plateau at a level equal to "twerking" (Grogon's favourite recreational activity aside from wearing mouse ears on the loo).
- "skateboard" as a search term is steady worldwide - but just above twerking!
When skateparks arrived they were packed - many are quiet and often empty these days. The street skating fad has died. The parks did not change everything dramatically for the worse.
On balance, I am hopeful pools with be a niche activity with only some spill over to particular spots. I suspect population growth and the move to regions is something we should fear more as a generator of surfing crowds.
Just following on from what Ben said: I also went looking for mainstream press coverage, esp in the USA and was amazed to see how completely indifferent they were.
Incredible how quickly the novelty wore off.
Dunno where else to post this and can't be arsed creating something new:
An enlightening article on Kelly Slater from The Mercury News out of San Francisco.
After months of missing select CT events through injury, the talk around the eleven-time champ is not about his recovery but about John John's. To wit, how Slater may benefit if JJF's injury prevents him from competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s going to be up to him to decide [if he competes] but he is going to be really susceptible to injury again,” Slater says in what at first sounds like sympathy.
Also, the fellow who became the first surfer to sing his national anthem when awarded the world title, now eschews nationhood: "I'm from Florida but I don't necessarily feel like an American. I feel like I came from Earth."
Lastly, Slater fears the loss of surfing's rebellious spirit: “Surfing has gotten more mainstream but there is an importance in keeping the DNA on the right side,” he said of the counterculture lifestyle.
For those not clear on directions, the 'right side' also includes Baywatch, beer ads, Big Tech, chumming about with Lewis Hamilton, golf with Greg Norman, bedspreads, billionaire money, and other anti-establishment carry on.
Wow - hahahaha - that's quiet a slap down for the Goat. Almost as good as Rosie's 'Be quiet Kelly, this is not about you tonight" at Mick's send off dinner :)
hahaha. The old 'he's going to be susceptible to injury if he surfs' line.
I'm sure he's sincerely concerned for JJFs wellbeing. Wily ol Goat.
ha, singing the national anthem now looks less corny
Come on, let's not mock Kelly. We all wish we were Kelly. Maybe in our next lifetime we will find the genie bottle that mother fucker stumbled across.
Fuck, it's amazing what a kook Kelly Slater turned out to be.
In his heart of hearts, he's got the soul of a classic snake oil salesman.
Hi freeride76, thanks for you comment.
In Kelly's defence he is actually a very kind hearted, compassionate, empathetic and intelligent human being, besides being, as they say, "the greatest of all time" surfer. That is what he does not who he is, to me.
I am a nobody, just an old recreational surfer, doing my best to follow the golden rule:
"do unto others as you would have them do to you", who in 2019 was extremely Blessed to spend an hour with him personally with my long suffering wife and Kelly and no one else.
Every one, me included, will form an opinion about everyone they interact with, that's just human nature to do so. No offence meant/given or taken to you and all others.
Every one reading my comments past and present (future if there is one) has already done so about me. That's ok, I choose to love them either way and anyway, and yes it is not easy to love some one you do not like because of what they have said or done.
In my humble experience famous people are naturally judged by their media appearances, as that's usually all people see or know of them. Sure some things they may say seem not so good to the reader/listener, however what is reported/appears in that media may be edited or taken out of context or spun for certain agendas. I don't know?
I try to give the benefit of doubt to all and choose to look for the good.
The time I had with Kelly doesn't qualify me to say who he really is, but we hardly spoke about surfing, which is what we both do (to hugely different degrees!!), instead we spoke about important (to me, my wife and him) life issues: loved ones, family, doing our best to live well, helping and caring for others, cancers, treatments, pain, suffering and dying.
I've followed Kelly through all the usual media for about 11 years now, watched many interviews with him, etc.etc just like a lot of surf fans (Kelly fans or not),... and I've had that quiet time with him personally. My view about him is probably different from many.
I believe he is a top bloke, just as you are probably too.
With brotherly love, God Bless you and all the readers here regardless if you like or hate me
how could I not respond in kind to that heartfelt post?
all the best to you and yours Servant.
and thanks for bringing that humanising perspective.
Thank you freeride76.
God Bless and protect you and yours too
Pretty epic insight, and one i'd take over surf media any day of the week. Cheers Servant for sharing a pretty personal insight.
Thank you also blue diamond.
God Bless and protect you and yours
Right back at you Servant. Cheers.
I reckon it would be more entertaining at the surf lake wave pool with 30 mins heats, paddling back out and a semi normal type of wave (for a pool). The 2 wave thing and potentially blowing a wave early makes the surfers pre-strategise a lot more which makes it boring.
*surf lakes aren’t paying me for this promotion but they should be.
well this is a couple years ago but.......
&ab_channel=hubsurfsTVI think KS said in the same interview he will actively campaign against the production of the proposed film ‘Bradbury’. And that he would like to see the movies’Cool Runnings’, Eddie The Eagle’,’ Jappeloup’ and the like cancelled as they portray people and animals who participated at the Olympics illegally.
Just to make clear the point i was making earlier. Im not against anyone saying anything about anything. Perhaps its just my perspective, but it sounds like your all complaining about a surf contest that was held in a wave pool. I've been surfing for over 40 years and i understand many of the different reasons many of you have. But why complain ? Take it for what is. Not for what it isn't.
Hi Fish,
I am not singling you out. I actually find discussing your point more entertaining than watching the Woz in the pool and/or just complaining about it, Haha. I think by and large we all respect each other's perspectives. I respect yours: That we should be funnelling more resources into more pressing issues. But there is room in life for the niche that Swellnet fills. From my own, I ddnt see Stu's article as 'complaining' about a competition in a pool, nor the subsequent comments, but rather a commentary or point being made and subsequent discussion. The discussion is "what it is" in the eyes of many. It seems the consensus is consistent with Stu's point about the entertainment factor and narrow/ overselective type of surfing that wave pools present (or lack of) among other points. Just like Stu, I find the discussion more entertaining than the event. If we must take it for what it is, then should we not also take it for what it isnt? If we dont do this, how do we/they improve? :)
one mans complaint is another mans insight.
lots of intelligent, insightful commentary going on here.
If you don't want to read it, why not jog on instead of complaining about the complaining?
take your own advice.
gettin' any fish?
But why complain? .
Because it's a lame ,boring shit show. The wozzle 'apparently' welcomes constructive criticism ,, yet they disregard the voice of their core audience regularly . So faark em.
I enjoyed it for a little while..still amazed at how well they made it..it'd be a bummer if it was a dud like the one they promised 15 16 years ago an Orlando Florida..then they're asking punters for money half way through..seemed very suspect and the trial mini pool was less quality than they expected. Then i think they went broke.
I wouldnt pay $400 a wave at the ranch though KS is just too money hungry with the pool and outer known clothing does he think hes world champion or something?
What is John John charging for his Florence wetsuits? i think for the quality it appears they are well priced and selling out, cant see outer known clothing selling that much with the prices he's asking.
Well Surf Lakes have come out with a grandiose presentation
Bit more info here
https://www.surf-lakes.com.au/surf-lakes-las-vegas-design-revealed
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/17/us/lake-mead-drought-water-shortage-c...
could be a bit of a spanner in the works
Sick.
Can't wait to see the greenwash they paint that monstrosity with.
Fk. I thought the start of this was DOOM first version. I started hitting the firing button as soon as i saw table loads of hipsters sipping wine and smiling. Oops.
Some fun waves nevertheless. No matter the product they keep trying to push, for me, surfing is in the ocean, surfing is the ocean. This other shit is like one of those wakeboarding parks with cables.
+1 for mention of Doom
https://wavepoolmag.com/decoding-the-4-sections-of-the-surf-ranch/
Interesting. This sort of stuff I can see JW nailing down to a finer art than those pesky brazzos.
Pneumatic Wave Technology
https://surfparkcentral.com/interview-with-baptiste-caulonque-of-endless...
Being built all over the Globe,,,what would Webbers investors be thinking ?
Here is a glimpse of the future:
Surf Park Summit – Agenda Announced For Virtual Summer Session
This virtual event is designed for professionals and entrepreneurs in the surf parks and wave pools industry to make them successful.
The agenda is everything from technology to finance, marketing and sustainability. One topic:
"How does the beach factor into the various possible business models from country clubs to high throughput public amenities? How can we create additional revenue streams based on the surf park amenity that take place around, rather than in, the wave basin? How can we make these experiences as inclusive as possible? How can surf parks be agents of positive change in their communities and in the world?"
https://surfparkcentral.com/surf-park-summit-summer-series-2021-panel-an...
A pet peeve of mine has always been the "surf industry" never built any additional wave supply to meet the demand they created (i.e. I was thinking artificial reefs). But looks like I am getting what I wanted. Nevertheless, I am not sure whether to laugh, cry for the loss of mystic, worry about an invasion of the ocean or be excited. All of these I guess.
One has to hope wave pools develop as a sort of parallel universe and wave poolers get bored and go back to netflix and find the ocean too wild and scary.
At least for the moment, once you look out to sea and a good set approaches, all this stuff we debate still means nothing.
yep, a pet peeve of mine too. The "surfing industry" has a history of exploitation of people and places for their own benefit or fun. Only in more modern times are we starting to see only some 'giving back'. Not a significant amount in the grand scheme. Sometimes it just screams of PR rather than an innate drive to help others. Afterall, the 'surf industry' is basically a wrag industry to finance "their endless summer!". More compassionately, they are just trying to be innovative or just re-invent the wheel to extract the average punter's hard earned. Same as any other capitalist out there. Some are more philanthropic than others. I would love to see reefs but ROI is not there, and they would rather take the fam/best buds to the Ments on pre-tax dollars instead. So, straight hand beachie or pool will have to do cos the points are sold out.
Anyone considering complaining about the tub would be advised to watch(endure) the Tweed Coast surf comp held the other day.
That comp came up on my youtube algorithm, the waves were absolute shite and there were 615
viewers watching, unbelievable.
A few months ago I surfed on the edge of a local contest. The whole event looked dismal to me. Loud speaker. Such and such in green, blah blah in red etc. Guys paddling around with a time limit trying to grab a random peak. The surf was quite good but a bit random and hard to grab a lot of good ones in a short time.
Mostly they each caught a few shitty waves and tried too hard and looked silly. I was close enough to see their faces as they rode, paddled and wiped out. Frustration and grumpy came to mind.
Along the beach, the free surfers were patient and scoring nice waves.
The whole thing just highlighted how surfing is just not well suited to competition.
WSL / Ziff, your problems are partly baked into the cake.
He he...Peter is Peter again minus Peter
https://www.tracksmag.com.au/news/peter-drouyn-accuses-slater-of-stealin...
https://wavelengthmag.com/kelly-slater-wave-pool-tech-theft-allegations/
Some interesting discussions that mentions Peter Drouyn as the first to really do the power cutback in the 60s. He was the one to watch way back then even when not winning contests.
https://hodaddy.com.au/blogs/b-log/shortboard-revolution-late-1960s#
DEFUND THE POOL!