Why do bodyboarders drop-knee?
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- Huey's Right Hand
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OK I will try again.
Can somebody who understands it explain to me exactly what the technical and style advantages and disadvantages are in drop-knee bodyboarding -- what kinds of surf and physique does it suit best and why -- where it began and where it's going.
I would really appreciate an intelligent, informed and insightful answer to these questions.
Can somebody who understands it explain to me exactly what the technical and style advantages and disadvantages are in drop-knee bodyboarding -- what kinds of surf and physique does it suit best and why -- where it began and where it's going.
I would really appreciate an intelligent, informed and insightful answer to these questions.
- moondoggie
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The serious answer Nick to your question can be found in a similar rhetorical question -
Why do dogs lick their dicks?
Every time I see this done, drop Kneeing not dick licking ( although smnntlll will probably have an honest opinion on the similarities.)I ask why hasn't more of this tribe progressed to kneeboarding??? Thats what they are doing, isn't it??????
It proves gutsliders have a Darwinian need to evolve. What you are witnessing is the apex of their skills learning curve.
Why hasnt this tribe then embraced kneeboarding - you can still carry them under your arm on the ferry girls .
Why do dogs lick their dicks?
Every time I see this done, drop Kneeing not dick licking ( although smnntlll will probably have an honest opinion on the similarities.)I ask why hasn't more of this tribe progressed to kneeboarding??? Thats what they are doing, isn't it??????
It proves gutsliders have a Darwinian need to evolve. What you are witnessing is the apex of their skills learning curve.
Why hasnt this tribe then embraced kneeboarding - you can still carry them under your arm on the ferry girls .
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I have no idea why because it is the ugliest thing to watch, no grace or flow or beauty in this what so ever, nobody can make that look appealing...Body boarding is one thing and those guys who charge and drop into some serious late pits, well I can understand that but drop kneeing on crappy small beachies. ??? got me buggered...They should have a look at themselves on vid..might change their opinion..
Hasnt Gav got some issues
each to their own , do what feels good but I can not understand that one....???
Hasnt Gav got some issues
each to their own , do what feels good but I can not understand that one....???
Last edited by pridmore on Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As someone who bodyboarded in my younger days, I feel I can at least try and answer the question. I suppose I started to try dropknee when I was about 18/19 and I had pretty much gotten as good as I was going to get riding prone. I could do rolls, airs, ARS's, ride pretty deep barrels, and even the occasional air reverse by then but I pretty much stopped improving.
So I started flirting with dropknee for something different when the waves were small, but as I got better at it I started doing it in most conditions until it was pretty much how I rode 80% of the time.
I guess I got great pleasure from the carving and barrel riding, but once again I felt like I had stopped improving and wasn't really learning anything new, so one day I borrowed a mate's 6'2" and I haven't looked back since. That was 10 years ago, ever since I've ridden my shooter and I always feel like I learn something every time I surf, whether its one foot junk or 6 foot and perfect.
I'll never look down on someone who charges dropknee though, its bloody hard and barrel riding dropknee is much harder than on a surfboard.
Doesn't mean I'll go back to it though!
So I started flirting with dropknee for something different when the waves were small, but as I got better at it I started doing it in most conditions until it was pretty much how I rode 80% of the time.
I guess I got great pleasure from the carving and barrel riding, but once again I felt like I had stopped improving and wasn't really learning anything new, so one day I borrowed a mate's 6'2" and I haven't looked back since. That was 10 years ago, ever since I've ridden my shooter and I always feel like I learn something every time I surf, whether its one foot junk or 6 foot and perfect.
I'll never look down on someone who charges dropknee though, its bloody hard and barrel riding dropknee is much harder than on a surfboard.
Doesn't mean I'll go back to it though!
- The Mighty Sunbird
- Huey's Right Hand
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I too have a confession to make.
I started on a lid, rode one with my mates age 14-16 I think.
Realised pretty quick watching surfers there was a hell of a lot more you could do on a board.
I saw a photo of a guy riding drop knee (late 70s???), tried it in big closeouts somewhere near Nelson Bay...... I was upright and it just felt better!
Within a week I had my first stick (G&S single fin) and never looked back.
So yeah, I think its evolution. From the swamp comes slugs who evolve to stand..............
I started on a lid, rode one with my mates age 14-16 I think.
Realised pretty quick watching surfers there was a hell of a lot more you could do on a board.
I saw a photo of a guy riding drop knee (late 70s???), tried it in big closeouts somewhere near Nelson Bay...... I was upright and it just felt better!
Within a week I had my first stick (G&S single fin) and never looked back.
So yeah, I think its evolution. From the swamp comes slugs who evolve to stand..............
terrysurf is right, barrel riding dropknee on a bodyboard is harder than on a surfboard.
For this reason I respect the dropknee riders out there.
Check out Kainoa Mcgee dropknee at pipe, its pretty impressive. Check the first DK wave at the 30 sec mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0rdml50bDw
I also went from riding a lid to surfing. Needless to say for me surfing wins hands down, but when I did ride a lid I started dropkneeing a little and learning to dk was A LOT harder than learing to ride a surfboard.
This I think is the appeal for some.
For this reason I respect the dropknee riders out there.
Check out Kainoa Mcgee dropknee at pipe, its pretty impressive. Check the first DK wave at the 30 sec mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0rdml50bDw
I also went from riding a lid to surfing. Needless to say for me surfing wins hands down, but when I did ride a lid I started dropkneeing a little and learning to dk was A LOT harder than learing to ride a surfboard.
This I think is the appeal for some.
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- Huey's Right Hand
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Well come on heefy EXPLAIN IT.
I am thrilled to be finally getting some cool feedback on this but I would really still like to know the technical and stylistic basis of it and how/who developed it.
I refuse to believe the Realsurf BB cliche: ie, witless juvenile emo cretin kooks. Kainoa McGee is anything but; he'd disembowel smnmntl as soon as look at him. Mike Stewart is one of the five smartest and most aware water people I know. Ben Player is a brilliant individual.
How about some of you others rise to it.
I am thrilled to be finally getting some cool feedback on this but I would really still like to know the technical and stylistic basis of it and how/who developed it.
I refuse to believe the Realsurf BB cliche: ie, witless juvenile emo cretin kooks. Kainoa McGee is anything but; he'd disembowel smnmntl as soon as look at him. Mike Stewart is one of the five smartest and most aware water people I know. Ben Player is a brilliant individual.
How about some of you others rise to it.
Had not heard of Kainoa McGee so I youtubed him. Looks like he is fairly handy on an SUP as well.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXFMYOx-dAENick Carroll wrote: I refuse to believe the Realsurf BB cliche: ie, witless juvenile emo cretin kooks. Kainoa McGee is anything but; he'd disembowel smnmntl as soon as look at him. Mike Stewart is one of the five smartest and most aware water people I know. Ben Player is a brilliant individual.
Drop knee looks completely non-functional and cumbersome to me.
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"The story about Drop Knee Riding said that Jack "the Ripper" Lindholm was the first bodyboarder to ride like this and it was during a demonstration in between two heats of the Pipe Master ; it was a solid 12 feet + on that day …"Nick Carroll wrote:why -- where it began and where it's going.
I would really appreciate an intelligent, informed and insightful answer to these questions.
QUOTE TAKEN FROM http://www.saltwater-dreaming.com/bodyb ... ouvres.htm
OH DEAR....IF SIMION LOOKS AROUND THAT SITE
as too where it's going....from what i've seen...deeper and faster
they need improve there boards designs
but yeah....i don't mind drop knee
mind you...i've seen some worlds best
and there last name isn't king and there noT convicted thiefs ( fock u kingy ya trap THIEF)
Good questions Nick.
The drop knee stance is said to have been invented by Jack Lindholm, one of bodyboarding's pioneers back in the 70s. He took the dk stance to Pipeline, which made people sit up and take notice of what he was doing.
Advantages? The bodyboarder now has a higher pivot point, which allows them to bend in and out of face turns more effectively and better twist and torque through turns.
They can also do turns that are harder to perform (or are less effective) while prone, such as snaps and floaters.
The fact that dk can be done on the same board as prone riding is also an advantage.
Disadvantages? A lot of the control the rider has over the board is lost, especially when going backhand. The boards are also pathetically slow when ridden upright, which means the dk'er often doesn't have enough speed to make critical sections or to pull off their moves effectively (watch them try and 'throw the tail' in less-than-perfect surf, it's one giant arse wiggle session).
This is the most critical disadvantage- speed is essential for good surfing and drop knee bodyboarders are heavily reliant on the wave to provide speed for them. If the waves can't provide it for them, then they simply aren't going to have any. They can't pump their boards or create their own speed in an effective way like surfers or kneeboarders.
Also, I don't buy the 'it's good because it's hard' argument. It's like shooting yourself in the foot before a running race and then thinking that everybody should recognise you for running second last instead of last.
Instead of finding everyday things like building and mainting speed on a wave hard, dk guys could instead be riding a kneeboard or a surfboard and letting the board take care of that part of their surfing for them. This would free them to start going for bigger moves instead of always being bogged down by the limitations of their equipment.
The drop knee stance is said to have been invented by Jack Lindholm, one of bodyboarding's pioneers back in the 70s. He took the dk stance to Pipeline, which made people sit up and take notice of what he was doing.
It suits perfect bowly 3-4ft waves on the rider's forehand the best.Nick Carroll wrote:OK I will try again.
Can somebody who understands it explain to me exactly what the technical and style advantages and disadvantages are in drop-knee bodyboarding -- what kinds of surf and physique does it suit best and why -- where it began and where it's going.
I would really appreciate an intelligent, informed and insightful answer to these questions.
Advantages? The bodyboarder now has a higher pivot point, which allows them to bend in and out of face turns more effectively and better twist and torque through turns.
They can also do turns that are harder to perform (or are less effective) while prone, such as snaps and floaters.
The fact that dk can be done on the same board as prone riding is also an advantage.
Disadvantages? A lot of the control the rider has over the board is lost, especially when going backhand. The boards are also pathetically slow when ridden upright, which means the dk'er often doesn't have enough speed to make critical sections or to pull off their moves effectively (watch them try and 'throw the tail' in less-than-perfect surf, it's one giant arse wiggle session).
This is the most critical disadvantage- speed is essential for good surfing and drop knee bodyboarders are heavily reliant on the wave to provide speed for them. If the waves can't provide it for them, then they simply aren't going to have any. They can't pump their boards or create their own speed in an effective way like surfers or kneeboarders.
Also, I don't buy the 'it's good because it's hard' argument. It's like shooting yourself in the foot before a running race and then thinking that everybody should recognise you for running second last instead of last.
Instead of finding everyday things like building and mainting speed on a wave hard, dk guys could instead be riding a kneeboard or a surfboard and letting the board take care of that part of their surfing for them. This would free them to start going for bigger moves instead of always being bogged down by the limitations of their equipment.
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Are you referring to Eppo and Todd De Graff in your Port days? Todd was one of my best mates in primary school in Sydney. I'll never forget how shatterred he was when me and a mate cut off his rats-tail for a bit of fun (sounds harsh ay? )... Hope he's doing ok and out of trouble. He had potential to be as big as Eppo...mustkillmulloway wrote:
mind you...i've seen some worlds best
and there last name isn't king and there noT convicted thiefs ( fock u kingy ya trap THIEF)
As for drop kneeing, it's just another opp for Boogers to ride a wave differently. When waves are fat, bodyboarding prone isn't very fun so drop-kneeing adds a challenge. As for the guys that take it to bigger waves (Kanioa, Paul Roach, Chris Won, Jack the Ripper), i reckon it's rad. Imagine surfing big hollow waves without fins...
And I'll add to the confessions in this thread: I was once a booger too and did enjoy it when it got hollow. I only started surfing because i got sick of boogieing when it wasn't thick and wedgy...
*Fong, what's the stolen trap story all about?!?
Last edited by rightbrainpositive on Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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