Or can you shine forever?
Five years ago, oowee don’t time move fast, Kelly Slater, then forty-two, rode out of a 720 while freesurfing in Portugal.
“I kinda blacked out with surprise that it stuck as well as it did,” Kelly told BeachGrit.
Yeah, it was a milestone. Not just for surfing but for a man who, according to society’s laws on ageing, should’ve been long retired from the pro game.
And so, as father time hits your ol pal DR in the face, I’m wondering, and I’m searching for answers here ’cause I got none: at what point do you stop progressing as a surfer?
Is it biological, when the bones creak, the hips seize and the mind grows feeble?
Or is it attitudinal, when you’re tired and you’re done growing new neurological pathways. Just another old dog who ain’t gonna learn new tricks, no matter how fabulous the imagined treat.
I was twelve when I found a way of getting to the beach from my inland suburb. So I don’t have the beautiful instincts of someone who was getting tubed with their daddy when they were three.
A kook forever, but I try. I think. I watch.
At forty, I started nailing weird little backside reverses, on the face things, sure, but it was something new.
Same with straight front airs and frontside reverses without the air.
Awkward, technically flawed, but new.
I do have a feeling time is running out, howevs.
And, I wonder and I ask, when is it going to end?
When did it end for you? Did it end?
Slater, meanwhile, who is now a few summer’s short of fifty, was the best surfer in the water at the Quiksilver Pro three days ago. In three-foot waves.
Can you get better, forever? Or is that just Kelly?
Spell Foucault ‘Foucalt’ several times online, all the while pretending that you have access to that level of thought. That should do it.
Maybe focus on style rather than aggression the later years. Fishes and good longboards. I’ve seen old and fat guys rip. Bigger surf, point breaks help of course
Numbskull is even better in my honest opinion. I save it for special occasions.
One of the best QB’s in the NFL right now is 42. Depends on how you well you take care of your body. We have seen athletes these days perform at a high level at a later age compared to athletes 20, 30 40 years ago. But end of the day, nobody beats father time.
I’m 38, and I’ve been getting better and better all my life. I joined the Gym a few months ago and it’s been like Steroids for my surfing. Most old guys I know say that 45 or so is the prime but I know a few guys in their 60s and even early 70s that have shredded/limber bodies and still rip on shortboards. If you’re not getting better at some aspect of surfing then you’re probably a shitty athlete and/or an idiot bc nowadays there’s so many ways to get better at Surfing: Information on Surf technique, information on Diet and exercise, boards, etc. Obviously surfing is the only way to get better but taking in new information and improving your diet and body will do wonders. And we all know, especially Americans, that there’s always room to improve our diets and work out schedules. It’s a constant fight to keep our intestines free of sugar and fake bullshit.
1. this board sucks
2. these waves suck
3. its too crowded.
..there it is! Another grumpy old local is made! ( it dont matter your age)
You peak as a surfer the moment you stop caring.
why are doing “airs” considered improvement?
might as well take up golf instead
I think the body loses elasticity well before the mind does. You can always teach an old dog new tricks, whether they can actually pull them off (well, or at all) is a different matter…
Just enough photos and video collected over the years to critique myself
I’m 40 and have surfed for 30 years but only moved to the beach 3 years ago. Now surfing better than ever thanks to the consistency of surfing 5+ times a week.
Annual trips to Indo help too if you go somewhere outside the usual zones and get a buttload of waves .
Fuck a duck, nimwit. There I dropped a name. Yours.
At 36 I’m going through my biggest improvement burst since I started at 13. Low base skill level, perpetual intermediate etc.
Probably the two biggest factors are equipment and no crowds. No hassling to get waves, and when I’m up I’m confident that my boards will deliver.
Why no crowds?
Location location location. Not telling…
Serious question. Why is an air progressive when it’s really just high value punctuation? Is surfing not riding a wave? When you leave the wave face can’t it be argued you stopped surfing. Doesn’t count unless you land and start surfing again. A valued intermission, like Broadway.
Dude, I for one agree. Surfing is done on a wave, not above it. I’ve never seen the value or the attraction of trying to do ‘whirlybirds’. What’s the big deal about them? Seriously man, why get yourself dizzy when you can feel the flow beneath you and some fluid connected moves.
Most manuvers in surfing serve a ‘purpose’, a floater—gets you over a section, a cutback–gets you back closer to the whitewater and the power point of the wave. An ‘air’–is a ‘totally pointless’ and ‘unfunctional’ move. If you want to fly–take up kite-surfing………..
Nail a straight air over a big section and you’ll feel speed like you’ve never felt before. Functional as fuck!
Then why is nobody doing straight airs? They’re all doing Whirlybirds……..
You’ll gain speed with any well timed air where you grease the landing.
I agree, and coincidently am unable to do an air.
Right there with ya brother. I’m unable and far too convinced I’ll injure myself in a most unpleasant way attempting an air that I just won’t even try.
Hey DR, you, me and your then buddy Sam shared a few beers in Bali once.
You guys knew I was a surfer and you spent a fair bit of time talking about a secret right you were going to surf next morning…but didn’t quite get around to inviting me along.
Sticks in my memory.
I guess if you’re questioning your ability to get better maybe just pack it in.
Serangan, Keramas and all those black sand waves are crowded as fuck now anyway
When your shaper glasses a voodoo pube into your overly prescriptive custom
Mate …that is the best pic ever for subject matter and probably the most relevant articles for us… Your core audience = kooks…sucking up to pro’s on Instagram. We need Hope… We need to believe…. We can improve forever. Makes us believe… Show us the way 🙏
Stay godly. Clean living is the way.
Very true. Capital G. though.
Ja, clean livinG
No, he said, “stay Godly”.
Gfuck Goff
You and slats used to sound tight.
What happened?
My crime remains unknown. Terribly sad state of affairs.
Does castile soap, ibuprofen, burritos, RedBull, and effort count?
I am certainly a kook, but the accusation of ‘sucking up to pros on Instagram’ rankles.
I’m going to make “rankle” my word of the week.
e.g. Wife: “How was your surf?”
Jordy’s: “Rankling!”
Jordy’s to Jordy’s Jnr: “You’re getting me really rankled son!”
Wife: “What you up to?”
Jordy’s: “Having a rankle sucking up to pros on Instagram”
Rankle is so hot right now
Usually get rankled reading through the comments. Few laughs, moments of confusion, and a rankle or two…..
That year in Portugal, the 720, which isn’t Sam George 7 apologies 70 times 740 each 540 for 360’s Cote call, but that year, wasn’t it the same as that massive Kolohe air? That was more impressive. Yo KA, get there mentality mentality John John ish again, if you dare
The answer is 29 years old.
damn i really thought i was gonna start nailing airs in my 30s
Gerr started landing backside airs at fifty.