Half of last years pipe masters was decided on degrees of difficulty on incomplete rides, crazy recovery though, ongoing proof that slats is a freak

Righto Richie.
So if he doesn't make it (cleanly) its a zero. If he does make it, its a ten.

Ah, hang on .. like WTF? ... Ross Williams title is "WSL Analyst" ??? Huh?

What about those layback drop-wallet lose your board and bring it back again turns that everybody loves? What do they score in a heat and how do you decide the degree to which they were executed as planned?

An "incomplete manœuvre" suggests cookie cutter thinking about what surfing is.
Progression?

If that ain't a 10 I don't know what is.

BUT he did make it...

That could be his new favourite board but his knees trashed the deck.
10 all the way.

Happy to be in the minority here, Didn't land it, next two turns where shit nearly fell off again doing the 360, last turn was worth maybe 3 points on its own. Got 1. something for a basic take off and two incomplete turns how has this turned into the shitfight it has i'll never know..

Re: incomplete waves at pipeline etc. points awarded for degree of difficulty in drop and negotiating barrel section please provide evidence of waves ridden on belly for comparison you are not comparing like for like.

I really don't get the people who goes on about this being progression/innovation, surely he is a freak for recovering from that but that's about it. I think the score could have gone a bit higher, say mid 5 or a 6 but whoever is calling this an excellent score just doesn't get competitive surfing.
Why do you think Slater hasn't complained
There has to be some rules and they need to be applied otherwise is just some guys picking winners based on nothing...

With you there Rees0. Amazing recovery but he landed on his belly. May as well give Mike Stewart or some other boogie boarder a wildcard next comp if people think he should get a 10

Ha ha…you guys don't happen to be employed by the WSL do you?

Quite hard to see because of all the white water but we all assumed at first he landed on his belly but from the interview it actually seems he landed on his knees, technically speaking he might have even had his toes or more touching the board.

Where do we draw the line?

Does that mean if a guy pulls in pig dog at pipe get absolutely pitted but front foot slips and ends up with both knees on the board toes only touching (or ends up sitting on the board as has happen before) then gets blown out, the ride is not completed and only the take off and time out of the tube are scored? and any time in the barrel is not scored?

The whole things a joke, as long as you come out of a tube on your board with a degree of control that allows the rider to keep going he has made the tube, just as a manoeuvre is completed as long as the surfer rides out of it with control be it in the white water or like in this case actually keeps surfing proving beyond doubt the surfer still has control.

To me the only person that is really to say if the maneuverer was completed or not is Kelly, sure it might not be what he planned, but that happens with all kinds of turns, be it free surf or comp.

If he tried to replicate this and it was aim to land like he did again and he did, would the manoeuvre be completed?

Judge it for what it is, if the judges don't like the fact at a point he was down to his knees fine score it low and cop the flack, but don't give us the bullshit about it not being completed when we all saw him keep on surfing on the same wave.

on ya Indo Dreaming,
back in the day, Tom Curren did this layback at Jeffries, lost it and recovered and it was the biggest thing all year in surfing, Rip Curl marketed it for ages.
I wanna know who was on the beach with the remote control to make his board do that with him having absolutely no contact with it.
still think its just another one to go in the slater freak file

No bullshit did not complete the manoeuvre didn't land on his feet clearly lost control of the board even admitted he lost control of the board.

Don't see anybody saying he didn't complete the wave if you read my post you would see that i said the next two turns where shit, the 360 he nearly fell off he admits this is in the interview. So far we have 1 incomplete manoeuvre, 1 manoeuvre completed with lack of control, 1 basic setup turn and 1 takeoff any intermediate surfer should make i award him 1-2 points.

After completing this ordinary set of manoeuvres he proceeds to perform 1 well executed backside snap on a semi critical part of a fading wave for this i award him 3 points coming to a total of 4-5 points.

There is no way that wave of semi completed and half arsed moves deserved anything more then a 5.5 at best it would have been a disgrace if that wave shaped the heat and i assume kelly would agree. He clearly lost interest in that wave hence leading me to believe that not even he expected more then a cheer for the novelty of been a freakish talent yet ultimately losing surfer.

There's no doubt the guy is a freak. Totally out of control but to land on his knees is so danm close it's not funny.

Use other subjective sports as an example. Figure skating, If your hands touch the ground at a later stage of the event you are done your score will be shit. No questions the competitors know it watch their heads drop when they fuck it up. Refer to Kelly's body language...

Diving, Failure to complete the manoeuvre with either a clean entry or proper form you are finished everyone knows it their would be an uproar if anything otherwise happened when a gold medal was on the line.

Again compare like for like i remember parko going down to his stomach in a snapper event tore the bag out of the wave lost control went down got back up got a low score as you should if your in the top 34 you need to have a minimum level of control.

10 for entertainment value.

Sadly competitions reward safety.

No point in Clay Marzo ever comp surfing then.

Yeah rees0 you're technically correct but the WSL rule book isn't clear about it either and it seems like quite a polarising issue. Looks like 90/10 in favour of more of this stuff rather than less so you're in the minority. I see a lot of people pushing for a resurf on WSL site and some comments on Mick being up for it. Any word on this anyone?

I see your point udo. There's a lot of guys as good possibly better then the top 34 at riding waves. But there's gotta be some sort of criteria. As ID said their has to be a line drawn somewhere speed power flow yada yada.

Difference in the comp surfer is putting it together for that heat, Constant travel the training look how hard Mick worked to get that first title. Takes the mindset of a professional athlete combined with that freakish talent still heaps of blokes won't even make ct.

Love watching clips on the net but sometimes i think how many attempts they made to land that huge air, watched Julian surfing local slop and fuck he was making just about everything..

It's about progression and if the WSL doesn't support or nurture it than pro surfing will end up like the figure skating or diving you speak so fondly of. It's already on the boundaries of boring as hell.

How is that progression? he didn't make it wasn't intending it. Rodeo Clown at pipe progression. TC snap under lip progression. Owen Wright at Cloudbreak progression. Sorry just don't see it.

Josh Kerr did a handstand. First time i've ever seen that in a heat is that progressive?

With all its similarities to gymnastics you should have loved the handstand.

As Indo says a lot of the best surfing isn't intended. Although he didn't execute it as intended his recovery was amazing and who gives a shit if you don't land with both feet on the board, he still continued riding the wave, just not in the typical manner. I'm not suggesting that he should have got a 10 but he surely shouldn't have been penalized for it.

What slater did has nothing to do with progression. Its what the Judges did that does. At some stage in most comps each year the guy playing it safe gets the win because the judges don't reward risks. If you want to watch the same trick performed 1000 times over and call that surfing maybe you should join the Olympic surfing drive. I want to see risks rewarded and see the CT guys, who the WSL continually claim to be the greatest in the world, do the shit that free surfers do live, in a comp but the current judging strategy isn't consistent enough to allow that.

Thank a World Surf League judge, the latest double entendre sweeping the globe?

The WSL, Kelly Slater 4.

Not calling for repetition as you've already said pro surfing is boring enough. My understanding is that risk is rewarded. Big turns with high risk at the start of the wave are rewarded with high scores according to the commentators. That is pretty clear when you see the scores parko was getting for those crazy full speed hook to tail slide things he was pulling on his first section.

Medina in round 2 or 3 can't remember went vertical and critical on every turn got the rewards. Judges don't always get it right but they got slaters wave right in my eyes. There has to be some degree of clarity or the sport can't be taken seriously lots of prize money sponsorships etc.

Sorry my examples of other subjective sports aren't to your taste perhaps snowboarding, Freestyle sking? You fall in the half pipe you won't win why should "professional" surfing be any different.

Curran managed to put his feet back on the board without using hie knees,belly or hand to reconnect.That's the difference, otherwise you'll have guys popping airs and landing in any manner ,grabbing their board and jumping back to their feet. Kelly is a freak , but a 6 at best

KS mentions it on his instagram.

It's the best wave I've seen surfed at Trestles in this comp - in hindsight I'd give it 20/10.

I don't have instagram udo what's his thoughts?

Just type in Kelly Slater instagram ...don't need to be signed up to follow.

This?….BTW. love the hash tags i think that gives an insight into his true thoughts.

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kellyslaterFun week at #Lowers. Interesting debate about scoring, progression, contest conspiracies, sponsor connections, judging, nationalism, age, favoritism, etc. I think I've heard it all now! Just goes to show you can read into anything and that everyone has their own individual take on all scenarios. That's the beauty of life and individuality...someone will always see things differently to you. Take on what helps you, learn from what strikes a chord, and let go of the rest. Thanks everyone for a busy couple of social media days and enjoyable reading. Reminds me of the #DeathSpin rotation debate from Portugal last week...come to think of it, what was the final agreed upon rotation of that spin? And have we all come to a conclusion about the 4.17 at #Trestles? #IUsedToKneeboard #Best4PointOneSevenOfMyLife

I guess its fringing on a booger manouevre given the landing so probably does highlight the importance of landing on your feet for the judging criteria to score u big otherwise they'd all be going crazy with huge airs and gut landings to get the score. Not saying that might be necessarily easy/easier, but would sk.

Alright guys, so how many points for a floater to front foot slip to faceplant the nose of the board to recovery and standing up in the foam with a busted face? I might have a chance at qualifying if we can gets some points for that.

imagine what kind of dialogue might have been generated if this had been a freesurfing clip

Or how rad the sequence would look like in a magazine. I'd be drooling over it. At the very least the WSL have got to come out and clarify their judging criteria. You can't just alienate 90% of your viewership and expect people to get over it. Too many bad calls for too long now affecting quite a few.