Reaction to viral legrope tying tutorial reveals deep schism in surf culture

"Thanks for showing people this, now we know who to drop in on before they paddle out."

It was the most innocuous of Instagram posts and in a normal sorta world a brother would stroll right on by with only the slightest raise of an eyebrow.

Kiel Russ is a surf coach from Alberta, Canada, who has collected almost half-a-million Instagram followers drawn by his easy-to-understand reels. In short catchy numbers, Russ explaining how to repair a faulty duck dive, the correct technique for the turtle roll, secret techniques that only pro’s know, the ubiquitous pop-up tutorials and, recently, the dangers of coiling your leash around your fins.

And it is here where the deep schism that is roiling surf culture, or what might roughly be called a culture, has been laid bare.

Russ warns surfers not to coil your leash around your fins post-surf because it will damage the cord as it rubs against the blunt leading edge of your front fins and when you do use it, well, it gonna tangle around your hooves and interfere with your pop-up.

A quick aside: When did the obsession with pop-ups begin? When the over-forties bankers starting getting into surf? Did The Inertia birth the obsession?

Russ then recommends and demonstrates a method popular in the nineteen-seventies where the leash is stretched and tied around the nose and then hoiked up until it’s tight like a recalcitrant pair of pants.

And it’s this that drew the ol sea dogs into a shootout with the modern VAL.

Old school:

From the Greenroom Times, Thanks for showing people this, now we know who to drop in on before they paddle out

40 plus years and always wrapped the leash around the board, never took it off, and never had a problem

Best of luck to you buddy but leave advice/ surf content to real surfers

VAL:

This puts a kink in it as well. The best thing is to just take it off every time you surf and put it in a bin with the rest of your leashes when you get home. Make sure to rinse them off. Carry it in your hand until you get to the water edge, put it on the board and your leash will last a long time.

That’s how I tie my leash so I can carry my longboard over my shoulder using it. Short arms and all.

Just remove it and rinse out the swivels too, leash will last much longer.

Been surfing for 3 years and I didnt know this, now I understand why Im not taking waves. Hope I start taking waves after changing the fins!

There’s a whole thread on reddit about Kiel Russ, master surf coach, although very expensive to employ!

I booked a consultation with him (I’m a beginner and trying to progress as much as possible).
I had to fill in a form when booking my initial call, the last question stated “are you willing to invest $500 – $1000 in your surfing at the end of the call?”. Naturally, I answered “no”, as I wanted to have the initial meeting first so I could decide whether or not the fee was justified. I received several emails since submitting the form stating my consultation was confirmed etc. only to receive an email one day in advance cancelling it, due to the fact that I wasn’t willing to commit to an investment at the end of the call. Strange business strategy on their behalf. Plenty of other surf/conditioning coaches online that I’m sure will be happy to take my money.

I wasn’t able to find any videos of Kiel Russ, the founder of Hydromind, surfing on Youtube. I followed up with his support team and they stated “The prices of the programs vary depending on your needs. We’ll determine your goals and what program suits you best. It ranges from $500 to $1000, with Free Bands sent to your delivery address.”

I read the knocks on him not being a great surfer, I ignored that because I think the best players dont always make the best coaches, and with a month-by-month membership on offer I didnt have too much to lose. The program is more about surfing fitness which is where I’m lacking at the moment. Having not really surfed for about 15 years but looking to get back into it my surf fitness is down, and having two kids, running a business etc I dont have the time to surf multiple times a week. I know the only way you are going to get good at surfing is by surfing, so this program is defintely aimed at people like him (Kiel) who seem to have irregular access to surf and want to maintain fitness/flexibility when not in the water. If you can surf multiple times a week you wouldn’t need his program. Early red flags, I did sign up to a month-by-month membership with some free bands (he uses for his paddle exercises and have made an improvement in my paddle endurance and effectiveness so far) but there is no way I can see where it shows how to cancel the membership. It’s easy enough to block a credit card from future payments which is always the failsafe but making it hard for people to cancel is always a bad sign. From seeing comments I think I have to DM him somehow, and I dont know what roadblocks they will put in my way to cancel.

Have you ever considered shelling over cash so a man from Instagram can make you shred?

And with the legrope tying matter, who ties? And if you do, are you a surf-hat and poncho wearer?