Ask Carroll

[TMC]

Will you answer this as your 6000th post?

[Nick Carroll]

In truly competitive, driven people there seems (as an outside observer) to often be an underlying void that is filled through the competitive outlet. This sometimes stems from great tragedy or loss, sometimes from inherent personal demons...
Do you think it's possible to be driven at the level without these influences?

Yes I do. I think the competitive drive can happily exist without any accompanying psychological trauma.

Who is the best-adjusted world champion you've met?

MR. Also Kim Mearig.

I hear a lot about the new crew of Australian surfers coming from great families with lots of support etc. Is this enough, or are they ultimately going to be cannon fodder for those with more drive?

I think they'll be fine. I don't consider Owen Wright to be cannon fodder, for instance. If you want an example of a great athlete who achieved the absolute limits of his sport with heaps of family support and and entirely normal upbringing, you needn't look any further than Ian Thorpe. Most great Australian swimmers fall into that category actually; their sport requires so much parental support and so much personal commitment that very few broken-yet-driven kids make it through the first training phase, much less the Olympic lead-up. The same goes for many sports in which engagement has not involved a deliberate step beyond the normal social-family arena, as did surfing for a number of years between 1966 and somewhere in the late 1990s.

What's the best tip for progressing my surfing, as someone who hates hassling, yet surfs at highly crowded, competitive surf breaks, and isn't at the top of the pecking order?

The best thing you can do for your surfing skills is to catch more waves more often. Really, I think it is as simple as that. Spend more time in the water, catch a lot more waves, and do that on a constant basis, and your skill level will improve. If you don't like hassling, you'll have to do it somewhere hassling is unnecessary. Now, most surfers, especially recreational ones (as are the vast majority of surfers in this forum), exist in a kind of trade-off on this score; they're mostly grown-ups who've either begun surfing relatively late in life (ie over the age of 13) or who've long since made some significant adjustments to their surfing time in pursuit of a career and/or a living for themselves and their families. I think it is unrealistic to expect pro-level skills to develop under such circumstances. But it's important for each of us to figure out the balance we want in this area, and I guess understand what we're giving up and what we're gaining, if you get my drift.

Why do you think that few people who openly identify as surfers get actively involved in coastal management and policy?

I think the supposed environmental consciousness in surfing is massively overrated; going surfing may well affect many of us in a facile sort of way when it comes to caring about the coast, and it might be an aspect of surfing we like to think of as important, but it takes a bit more than that to bring about a desire to make a difference. This may seem a bit cold, but I suspect the truth is that surfing is a quite selfish sort of thing, that most people do it for what they hope to gain from it, ie some sort of personal gratification or fulfillment or escape from their normal lives, and rarely consider the opposite, ie that the said personal gratification ends up being a bit hollow if it's not balanced by some sort of further commitment.

Oooo only one post left.

[Donweather]

Oooo only one post left.

Blow it Nick....c'mon, you know you want to blow it on a shitty post like this one.

[jimmy]

Really good question Boo and a really great answer Nick.. Don't answer this as we'll use up another precious post, but how 'bout another 100??

I mean now that you've got a halo surely you don't want leave your worshippers forever? and an extra 100 would give you the chance to make sure we aren't worshipping false idols?

I sense that Braithy and Fluffy are gonna bring out the golden calf soon.. Please save us from that..

[steve shearer]

Several times in these, how shall we say it, Last Days of Chez Carroll, you've alluded to thorny or controversial topics, but steered away from committing to a firm opinion on them.
Examples: Sexism in surfing.
Power Balance bracelets.
A fully Candid memoir .

Why?
I find myself saying :Oh come on Nick, don't be such a friggen wimp ( I wouldn't say that to your face but would re-word it to make it more palatable and less offensive but seeing as I'm paraphrasing a direct thought you get the drift), give us your real opinion.
Why do you shy away from these controversial topics?

Don't you feel entitled to some kind of reasoned and firm intellectual committment based on your experience and your reasoning in the manner of, say JK Galbraith?
Or is there some reason that you don't wish to give offence?
Some stronger moral/philosphical guiding principle?

[marcus]

still no answer on whether intergalactic surf travel will make surf magasines history, as the news will be "light years" old.
i think this must be a touchy topic amongst surf "industry" types

[jimmy]

^^^
Shearer.. Iv'e got the late mail. He can't comment because he has accepted a job as Northern Beaches Quik Rep..

[steve shearer]

He's here.
I can smell him.
This could be it.

8.58 Monday 27 Sep Year of Our Lord 2010.

Let us give thanks and remember the good times.

[ajohnsen]

C'mon, Nick, rip the band-aid off.

[steve shearer]

I'm not leaving this puter till he does it.

This is bigger than man walking on the Moon.

Or Kennedy being shot.

Hang on , just going to make a cup of coffee.
Don't do it until I get back pls.

[ajohnsen]

Nuh, he's gone.

I reckon he's gonna flip some cnut act on us and deliver his last post in the Flame School forum.

[steve shearer]

I don't believe it.

He'll be back, in the middle of the night or the wee, wee hours of the morning, when the fruit bats are screeching in the trees and the alley cats are fighting.
Oh, he'll be back alright.
Folks like him just can't keep away.
I ain't going anywhere.
I wanna see this last Post go live.

[Dingus]

Suck! Nick'll not post the 6000th.

Go Nick! Head for the border before these chuckleheads lose control!

[jimmy]

Come on, honestly. Are you really Nick Carroll?

He already answered that Wayne. Please let it go.

[Skipper]

I still love ya Nick.

ciao

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1334l ... s-up_music

[jimmy]

^^^^^^^^
He has already wasted a post answering your 1st question on the matter...

He is NC and I have half a tub of sorbolene that will vouch for it,

he is probably writing his last post right now...

[bumfluff]

C'mon Carroll FFS, im running out of popcorn. :?

He's going to leave us hanging, we all knew he would - Its payback for all the short and bald jokes.

[bumfluff]

Nickerless, often when Im at the servo putting fuel in my car, I will aim for say...$60.00, but sometimes I end up with $60.01 which means I have to continue to the next round number of $65.00.....

If this were to happen in your post count, would you consider rounding up to 6500 posts.....to just make it a nice round number? A number you could sleep with?

Also can we expect a stock market crash when you finally do post your last post? And is this the reason that the price of gold has shot up to record highs - in preparation for your last post? Is this why Roy is telling everyone to buy and hold as much gold as you can? Is this why Roy has come out of hiding and back into civilization?