Casso said...
Imagine telling Mick Fanning he had to compete on a pop out from China? Ridiculous.

You are right as well for the top 1% who know what they want and need and can get that 1% more out of the board then custom all the way. I had a custom 8ft fanatic and prefer the production 8ft. Theres room for all in this world.

paul.j said...
Think this topic has gone side ways and far from getting boards on there rail.

Back on topic the shorter sup are the future of sup comps with out a doub, I can see fun events where 10ft plus boards will be used but top end will be shorter.

Come on people find the grom within.

Agree, my surfing progressed enormously when I went from a 9'3" production to an 8'8" custom. This was due to a number of factors including weight,design and the colour. The width on the custom is wider than old production but carves much better due to rocker, rails etc. please don't confuse length and width with design in regards to on edge carving.
I think as with longboard v shortboard there should be a distinguishing length with short sup to longboard sup.
my 5c worth (had to round it up from 2c worth)

To grow any sport you need to invest in junior development programs focused on fun not comps,comps can come into play at a later stage,I've see too many sideline parents turn their kids into hating a sport.Keep it simple,a young kid can paddle anything so one board for all,surf,race and bop.Watch the improvement when they get on the good gear.Customs for the above average Joe/Joanne will see times drop and more points scored fact.

Not everyone is made for comps,so don't lose focus when growing any sport.I agree with the old tested 80/20 rule here.So maybe the comp numbers are the same but the people taking SUP up is growing?

On the comp side,look at how far behind longboarding is compared to shortboarding in sponsorship dollars,do you really think SUP is going to attract more corporate dollars than longboarding .You can run two division to the surfing short and long,SUP is simply not big enough to have both short and longboard clubs atm.
I strongly believe Racing and Bop are the true future of SUP and surf a poor third.

This is not a troll I have too much respect for many in this forum.Yep who am I to add input,you guys know sup way better than me

laceys lane said...
the grom within should still be short board surfing.


it's a standup paddle board we've on, not hp al merrick or dhd.


watch the quickie pro to see the difference people

You right if I was still a real grommet I would still be on my short board and that's my point I don't think our sport at the moment is as attractive to young guys and girls as surfing is and rightly so surfing is cheaper and way more appealing time them. I'm all for bringing in the juniors and know hoe important it is but I still have never had a 15 year old kid time in and buy a board.

In saying that at roar we are nearly ready to launch a junior programme that might just change all this

Sitting here watching the sups at noosa it looks painfull on any board!! Keahi and Jackson looked ok but hard work and not much rail surfing going on

paul.j said...

laceys lane said...
the grom within should still be short board surfing.


it's a standup paddle board we've on, not hp al merrick or dhd.


watch the quickie pro to see the difference people

You right if I was still a real grommet I would still be on my short board and that's my point I don't think our sport at the moment is as attractive to young guys and girls as surfing is and rightly so surfing is cheaper and way more appealing time them. I'm all for bringing in the juniors and know hoe important it is but I still have never had a 15 year old kid time in and buy a board.

In saying that at roar we are nearly ready to launch a junior programme that might just change all this

I know what I'd rather be doing if i was fit and young enough. I know my 18 year old and 13 year old just laugh at me when I mention SUP to them. Facts are are facts and what Paul J and Lacey are stating are facts. There are some outstanding anomalies but they are few and far between. No amount of old guys fit or fat are going to change the facts. C U later I think the Quicksilver pro is about to come back off hold!!!

paul.j said...

laceys lane said...
the grom within should still be short board surfing.


it's a standup paddle board we've on, not hp al merrick or dhd.


watch the quickie pro to see the difference people

You right if I was still a real grommet I would still be on my short board and that's my point I don't think our sport at the moment is as attractive to young guys and girls as surfing is and rightly so surfing is cheaper and way more appealing time them. I'm all for bringing in the juniors and know hoe important it is but I still have never had a 15 year old kid time in and buy a board.

In saying that at roar we are nearly ready to launch a junior programme that might just change all this

Your previous post
SUP has being going pretty good up to date with out to many juniors? Pretty sure it's the fastest growing water sport and this is without juniors. Maybe a junior in our sport fir now is someone in their mid 20's?

Why would you post this if your about to launch a juniors program or are the juniors 25?

Hilly, I'll never get tired of looking at that shot!
Great topic Phill!

Comes down to judging 2. If judges pay crappy little flick turns that's becoming common... People will do them.

I'm nervous about juniors getting in.... Will the sport lose the big round house cutty and we will see a heap of flicky slidey turns, let's be honest it's. Not hard to get a wide board sliding with tiny fins in it.

I keep going back to the dogs round houses.... They look cool. Much better than flicky slidey stuff.

Until the new school surfers learn to hack like parko and co they won't win a world, title.. Same will go with sup. Custom board or not....

Do I digress, sheez, can't remember what the topic was....

Well OG,
Didn't you get the discussion going!!
I'm a newbie / kook, who is starting to get there, in this new world of SUP. Forty years of surfing mals and shorties, still doesn't allow you to get on a SUP and go. I went for a longboard style SUP and in the future will get a short board style SUP.
To your point, all surfing goes through phases, in style, in equipment and that is reflected in competition and judging. Many great surfers have been ignored by the judging systems at the time, because they were either different, or on a different path. Ross Clarke-Jones being a pretty good example.
Give it time. Fat little pig boards will suit some, while others will want to bury the rail and turn, comps will be judged on the most progressive or spectacular.
As for the amount of juniors, well that's a complete post on it's own.
Cheers

62mac said...

paul.j said...
Sitting here watching the sups at noosa it looks painfull on any board!! Keahi and Jackson looked ok but hard work and not much rail surfing going on

Sounds like they should be on 10 footers

I was thinking that and then i watched the 10ft boards go out and the shorter SUPs made it look way better!! It did look more fun on the bigger boards though

Mention of Ross Clark-Jones.... Remember the boards both he, Tommy, Sanga & Bainy were riding in the movie 'Mad Wax' way back when? Short, flat rocker - really wide between the fins & big fat tails, as ewe did (except for Kong). & what're they on now - probably the same progressively better boards that SUPpers will be riding in as many years to come, given the same period of development.

& +1 AA.

(my 1cents' worth)

Original post. Not even a question, rail turns are the only turns. Flat slides etc are in part due to bad design on part due to fins way too small for the widths of the tails. Just my opinion here, but then I'd rather watch Matt Hoy or Occy rather than Gabriel Medina as well. I like to see some power in a turn.


Development of the sport. That's another topic altogether.

I have had this discussion quite a few times in the past months.

Other sports like windsurfing for example had a similar explosion and then died. When equipment becomes too specialized and it becomes hard to learn or start to compete people stop. As the pointy end loses interest there is nobody to replace them and the sport slows down.

While I love the idea of junior development there is a whole much bigger group that is being forgotten or overlooked. Every race or surf event should have a novice section, a short length race or a time based event where new competitors feel comfortable to enter and enjoy.

Look at running for example, you don't only have jogging and marathons, you have 5km, 10km half marathons etc. something where people can start, get involved, love it, get the bug and continue.

The minute novices are forgotten, even with juniors the competitive side of the sport will decline.

CMC said...
Original post. Not even a question, rail turns are the only turns. Flat slides etc are in part due to bad design on part due to fins way too small for the widths of the tails. Just my opinion here, but then I'd rather watch Matt Hoy or Occy rather than Gabriel Medina as well. I like to see some power in a turn.


Development of the sport. That's another topic altogether.

I have had this discussion quite a few times in the past months.

Other sports like windsurfing for example had a similar explosion and then died. When equipment becomes too specialized and it becomes hard to learn or start to compete people stop. As the pointy end loses interest there is nobody to replace them and the sport slows down.

While I love the idea of junior development there is a whole much bigger group that is being forgotten or overlooked. Every race or surf event should have a novice section, a short length race or a time based event where new competitors feel comfortable to enter and enjoy.

Look at running for example, you don't only have jogging and marathons, you have 5km, 10km half marathons etc. something where people can start, get involved, love it, get the bug and continue.

The minute novices are forgotten, even with juniors the competitive side of the sport will decline.

Mountain Biking has also fallen into that problem, the pro's create the tracks that no newbies can ride and wonder why there are only 20 people turning up at a race, where there used to be 150 when the track was able to be ridden by anyone.

AA said...

antonfourie said...
Mountain Biking has also fallen into that problem, the pro's create the tracks that no newbies can ride and wonder why there are only 20 people turning up at a race, where there used to be 150 when the track was able to be ridden by anyone.

Really? I was going to quote MTBing as a success story!
Most events are generally aimed at a wide range of participants. Most of the good races sell out in a couple of hours. I think it has more to do with the success of various race formats and there are now just way too many choices - 50k, 100k, 8 hour, 12 hour 24 hour and the list goes on. Over supply basically.

+1 did an event last week. 500+ competitors heaps of options to enter. Well run i just need to get fitter