Lakey Peterson, coached by Filipe Toledo, wants a game change…
Women’s surfing fascinates me. When it’s good it draws blood. Carissa Moore’s slices, Lakey Peterson’s grab-rail tail throws, the impeccable style of Stephanie Gilmore. It’s damn rich.
But does it strike you as odd, as it does me, that there ain’t a gal on tour who has an air-reverse on tap? Silvana Lima showed promise and disappeared (back this year on tour). Even half-way good twelve-year-old boys can throw ‘em as an afterthought on a weak end section.
So why not the girls?
It isn’t a strength or flexibility thing. Yeah, there’s the numbers. Ain’t as many players, ain’t as much progression. But that doesn’t account for nearly every single kid girl surfer I see is usually one of the best in their age group.
I blame a contest culture that shovels girls into their own divisions by the time they exit the micros. All these promising girls who used to haunt the boys’ finals suddenly plateau. If three turns is going to win a contest, no one’s going to toss the fins. By the time they’re competing at the highest level, they’re missing a fundamental element of the game.
How can a surfer be so good and yet so inept at the same time? My posit is that going into orbit is the last great barrier for women’s surfing. Big waves are getting done. Jaws (sorta) and Mavs and Teahupoo showed that.
And when I’m talking about airs, I don’t mean straight airs. And not one-eighty lippers into reverse. I want real, tail-high, vigorously hucked full-roter airs.
Can you imagine the response to a full spin, hucked a few feet above the lip? Meltdown, right?
A few weeks ago, BeachGrit kicked a proposal at the Hurley Surf Club and GoPro to take Carissa Moore to some wedge for a week and coach her into a full-spin.
Carissa tapped out. Didn’t want to break a leg. Wants another world title.
I asked Lakey Peterson. She was thrilled at the challenge.
Who nails the best full-roters in the world? Filipe Toledo.
“How about you coach Lakey?”
“Of course! “
Two days ago, Filipe and Lakey, along with another coach, HB’s Brett Simpson, landed in mainland Mexico for four days of intensive tutelage. Down there, behind electric fences and barbed wire (gorgeous part of the coastline is mired in a war between the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels) and in the middle of the Virgin Guadalupe festival where firecrackers pop like guns and bombs from before dawn and into the night, chasing something that’ll send a girl into orbit.
We hired three skis so she could step-off into a hundred waves a day in the rampy, if slightly too powerful and big, beachbreaks.
The pack’s got the Hurley Surf Club program that runs split-screen footage, Lakey’s throwaway hucks alongside Filipe’s oily landings, and a dashboard of tools for drawing arrows, highlighting sections and drawing lines she should take into the lip. GoPro records an intimate account of proceedings.
I believe that women are only good technique away from the same airs as men. And that Lakey Peterson is going to be the first woman in history to ride out of a full-roter air?
Am I right?
Or am I right…
Derek, I think you severely underestimate the role of strength and athleticism in airs, and the radical increase in power that results from a narrower pelvis torqued along wider shoulders, and longer limbs. And yes, this is far less evident prior to puberty, hence the equal ability of girls at the junior level. Before you cry sexism, please read the peer reviewed research on the topic. The same principles apply to skateboarding and snowboarding, where male aerials are far more athletic and complex than the female counterparts.
For the record, a woman will absolutely be able to dull full rotors on lock in the near future, in a manner that will make the original male aerialists of the late 70s and 80s look silly. But the best women will never surf like the best men, nor should they be expected to.
long live beachgrit!
and why can only a very very tiny percent of women charge and get barreled when the 60 year old at your local can pull into a tube?
My 6 year-old daughter pulled into a tube yesterday. Did you?
It looks as if a tasteless comment that I made on this thread was deleted. Fair enough. At least Beach Grit allows comments on the articles about women.
I think you may have meant to post this comment on the Stab website?
Silvana Lima will stick one.
The brazzos are all over the air show.
Seems pathetic to me that a pro surfer in her physical peak has to get jet ski assists to boost airs that 12 year old boys can do! Lame! All these bullshit excuses about why women aren’t better surfers. Can I just point out the obvious – because they’re women! Oh I can’t wait to see Lakey’s footage of finally nailing one. We can all ignore the coaching she received, and the 12 year old boy didn’t, and say that women truly surf as good as the men!
Not trying to be a dick here, chicks have been physically able to do full rotes for years. They just dont have to. Felipe has to huck massive knee destroying airs because it pays his bills. No one is hauling ass to the shops to pick up felipe’s new signature board short, his sharp eye model is a different story.
Almost every girl on tour could essentially quit competing as long as they still stayed relavent in womens fashion. Maybe a few times a week, go link a couple of turns together get some shots for the new spring/summer/fall/winter/swim line and cash a check.
I really love watching Carissa, Tyler, and my personal favorite Laura Enever destroy waves. I honestly like their surfing and would be pumped to watch them hucking huge stale fish ally oops and full rotes. But, its not something they ever NEED to do to cash a check.
…Laura enever is your personal fav?
Oh fug off twat. Laura is a gem and you know it.
She charges, and she might be my future ex wife. We’ll split on good terms but i dont really see it working out in the long run.
Word on the street is that they don’t do airs because they don’t feel they’ll get the score. Heaps of the women do airs in free surfing (check out Brazilian Gil Ferreira) but competitively they’re still into the top turn, bottom turn combo thing. I reckon that this is because, despite your somewhat unfounded assertion, lots of ’em really struggle to attract sponsors and stay on tour and down’t want to attempt a risky manoeuvre like an air when doing a few turns can get them through heats.
Hows my assertion unfounded? I said they dont NEED to do airs. Also the womens section in a surf shop makes the most margin and moves the most product. I dont see packs of young guys who dont surf coming in and blowing cash on softgoods. Thats a regular occurrence in the womens dept. The whole point of having a sponsor is to sell product. On the mens side competition wins and ripping freesurfing sell product. If girls are struggling to maintain sponsors its because their surfing ROI isnt worth the cost to the companies. As i said before, maintain relevance as an influential figure in womens fashion and cash your check a la Alana Blanchard
I honestly dont think there should be separate tours either. Either rip the same waves and hang with the guys or go back to the QS. Pretty sure theres a few girls on tour that can do that.
the problem with what you said first is the “…as long as they still stayed relevant in women’s fashion” part.
MOST women on the pro tour are NOT relevant in women’s fashion and never could be. you’re just focusing on the ones you like – the hot ones.
Oh i see, you have a problem with that statement. It doesnt make it any less true though. Also your assuming i said they were relavent in the first place. Lets quote what i said:”Almost every girl on tour could essentially quit competing as long as they still stayed relavent in womens fashion” i did not say that is what they are currently doing i said they “could” do it. You go find me a brand that wouldnt give a contract to someone who was capable of selling a few million in softgoods with minimal cost to the brand.
These are the facts of the industry, sugar coat it all you want but until any random non surfing female softgoods customer gives two shits about whether or not these girls can do gigantic airs or pull into heaving pits, its not going to be anything required of them.
If your female and you want a sponsor your only requirement is that your involvment sells as much product as possible. Its the exact same game for men too. Its just that the demographic for mens gear makes contest and freesurf performance based decisions on softgoods.
*you’re
Also, if you can google you’ll find a fuck-tonne of studies that show that sex doesn’t sell sport. With more and more women coming to surfing, what is going to continue to move product is sponsoring women who can surf well.
Finally why is every *women can’t surf* man obsessed with women having their own competition? “I honestly dont think there should be separate tours either. Either rip the same waves and hang with the guys or go back to the QS. Pretty sure theres a few girls on tour that can do that.” In what other sports do women compete against men? Why should we? We’re different and that’s ok, in fact, you pretty much just said that, without our superior spending dollars the surf industry would be kaput.
Im not a “women cant surf” person. So try not to pin me there. I also agree with out the superior female market the industry would be dead. So were on the same page. My issue with separate tours is this, in every “action sport” (fuck i hate that term but it applies here) in the womens division there are usually 3-4 women years ahead of their competitors and extremely capable of hanging with the men. In skateboarding you have Leticua Bufoni, Lacey Baker, and in years past Elissa Steamer(who would only compete against men). Snowboarding had the same as well. The sport model aspect was a little worse there though. The point being that these sports are all equal playing grounds that require a very achievable physical ability. If you havent noticed womens CT contest get run in usually pretty friendly conditions, the dont get a teahupoo contest, pipe? Its one heat. For how long has that wave been the measuring stick of the best surfers in the world?
I want to see girls charging, because i know they can, but putting them in subpar conditions or on separate waves makes it a joke. Did they make billy jean kings tennis court shorter when she played bobby riggs? Hell no, just like stair sets in skateboarding and half pipes in snowboarding dont call your self pro if you arent going to play on the same field.
Sorry about my spelling gramatical errors. Its just a comment board.
That’s a non-sequitur. If surfing Pipe is the measuring stick of surfing, then women still don’t need to compete against men, they need their own comp there. If the WSL is putting them in sub-par conditions, again, that doesn’t mean they should compete against men so they get good conditions but rather that their own heats should be run in better surf. Every example you’ve used supports the assertion that women should be given better conditions (and better locations) to compete in, not that they should compete against men.
Im still wondering why they arent competing against men? If you charge you charge and if you want to call yourself the best surfer and you skills allow you to do so why sand bag and compete against slacker opponents? Having a separate tour causes the discounting of their abilities. Im arguing for equality here because i believe in it and i know there are women who can hang with the best men on tour. A few years back in fiji, one of the girls hit the reef and got her face torn up, the next heat i watched one of the girls not take a single wave. You just got flown halfway around the world to surf, this is your job. That girl that hit the reef, she tried to paddle back out and surf more. Hell fitzy blew out her eardrum and still won the comp a year or two later. Thats pro surfing, thats charging, and thats why i want to see the girls against the men. I want to see the ones that truly want it and are willing to put the work in, not being ok with scratching by doing shitty turns in mediocre waves.
Maybe the WSL should run mens and womens heats back to back at all the same locations, how many girls you think would show and charge macking teahupoo and pipe? Just trying to weed out the weak, they can go back to the qs until they are ready to charge with the rest
Women shouldn’t have to ‘hang with the best men on tour’. You’re confusing equality with equity.
I wont lower the bar for anyone because of their gender. Women are absolutely capable of surfing at the same level as men.
I think we have different visions of tour level surfing.
Are you being deliberately obtuse? Saying the women should be able to have their own competitions in good waves isn’t lowering the bar. Again, you’re confusing equality with equity. I took this reference from google for you: Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Equality is treating everyone the same. Equality aims to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help. Women and men aren’t the same, ergo the situation requires equity rather than equality.
Nope, im calling for equality exactly as ive been saying this whole time. Charge hard, not just “charge hard for a girl”. These girls can do it, but attitudes like yours are whats stopping them from doing so. You’re being a segregationist, when we really need integration.
Thanks for the mansplaining. I love it when a guy tells me how to do feminism.
so now you quit stab and come here? please fuck off
oh this is rad! can’t wait to see clips.
Amazing!
Ah, you’re killing me!! Footage pleeeeeeease!
It’s happening in real time! Vids coming soon…
word on the street is, beach grit has its own filmer. true?
Im in puerto rico working on a secret project…
Your separate divisions theory seems pretty reasonable. And this is a great idea.
Next time though, get Sabre down there!
This is awesome.