ctd wrote:But I've always wondered why aren't surf mags (or at least one surf mag) more like golf or fishing mags. Pick up a golf magazine and it will have a few interviews with pros and up and comers, maybe someone behind the scenes, sort of similar to surfing mags. But then, and this is the big difference, you get a series of articles about technique, tips, ways to improve. How to read a green or where flathead like to sit. Proper gear reviews, not just 200 words. Why don't surfing mags cover how to surf/improve your surfing, 10 tips to improve your duck dive, how to read a beach, what all the bits of the board do and mean etc etc
Well clearly you should buy my own very super customised surf skills book, How To Surf Your Best.
Actually there's quite a few publications and online how to surf resources, however 90% of them are shit.
ctd wrote:Not sure that I've asked a question of Nick (embarrassing given that I've hardly ever posted, but the 'lurkers start contributing' thread has inspired me). Hopefully there are some issues you can comment on - perhaps is it still valid to sell/market/treat surfing on the basis that it is an ('imaginary') community (ie you are a 'surfer' - as defined by 'surfers' - and therefore on the inside and part of the community, or not a surfer and therefore on the outside and not to be listened to) when so many surfers nowdays identify as 'someone who enjoys surfing' rather than 'as a surfer'? Is there, as beanpole alluded to, a difference between how this is seen in Australia and in Europe (and perhaps other places) - is Europe more relaxed about the culture thing? Maybe this is the reverse to your earlier discussion about losing the obsession - what if it never was an obsession - where do you sit in surfing culture (nowhere, perhaps - and possibly justifiably).
Well yes, exactly. Where DOES the casual, non-obsessed, non-surf-saturated surfer sit? I would reckon a fair way out on the shoulder.
Look, if you want to be a really really good surfer, it's like anything else -- a degree of obsession is not just likely, it's almost inevitable. Nobody can spend thousands of hours doing something in their youth and athletic prime and not go a bit deeper into it than might be altogether good for them.
But that's how it is. I know plenty of obsessive surfers from Britain, France, Spain et al. They're probably more obsessive than I ever was; I mean here in Oz we have the great gift of 100 years of surfing and beachgoing, so it's kinda part of the furniture to spend a lot of time surfing.
So I don't think European people are immune to the surf obsession. (ha ha by the way, French people relaxed about "culture", think about that one a bit!) I do suspect most adult start-ups pretty much are. The time for that kind of obsession has passed them by.
But maybe the "people who enjoy surfing", happy, well-off, intelligent adults that they may be, ARE a bit further away -- a comfortable distance perhaps -- from the visceral in surfing. Visceral, what do I mean. hmmm, being 21 years old and paddling out to Pipe on solid days in order to take set waves, that is visceral. Surfing Teahupo'o and getting your eye in so you relax in the lineup and begin to really FEEL the energy under those waves. Taking your 50 wipeouts at a great surf spot just so you pay your dues. That's where the surfing obsession leads you and it's not about enjoyment at that point, it's about your blood and guts, adrenalin, fear, stoke.
When you're in that frame, dead set, you are right at the source of surf culture, right IN it, and you really couldn't give a fcuk about the casual surfer or anyone else either, except maybe the guys in it with you.
Same with the 14 year old kids who like looking at surf mags and watch their heroes go round in the WCT events, they really couldn't give a fcuk about anyone's cultural disapproval. Surfing's not an adult pursuit. You don't like that stuff 'cause you're an adult -- well, maybe that's a shame.