JBay.

[steve shearer]

Slater, in his own words, was rattled from the first exchange with Wilko.

Slater, rattled at J-Bay against an opponent who has presented no formidable threat to him in the past.
That does not compute.

I went back and looked at the Heat Analyzer in case my impressions last night were distorted by beer.

In actual fact, he surfed worse than the final score indicated and I had remembered. He fell after the opening two manouevres on both his scoring rides. Judges, in effect, scored him for waves that weren't even halfway complete, making a mockery of their previous criteria.

If this is some kind of rope a dope then I'll be the first on bended knee come Pipeline.

But, if like Carroll asserts, he's going out with a whimper, then that is sad news.

[Nick Carroll]

Yeah maybe, I guess I have seen this phase in numerous other pro surfers, when they begin to battle a bit within themselves; they're over it but they don't want to be over it. It doesn't mean they stop being competitive people at all, and it's not a sudden process, it hasn't been super sudden with Kelly either but it does seem to be increasingly on view.

A great athlete - as KS is - can become aware of this process and find opportunities to express their greatness even as they draw away from this level of competition. Remember MR's fantastic win at the Billabong contest in Hawaii in 1986? And lil brother's incredible Pipe win in 1991? In both cases these were awesome surfers who'd lost quite a bit of their taste of the world title hunt, but who in their element could still achieve perfect heat performances, even as they were in the process of letting go.

It's almost impossible, for me anyway, to imagine that Kelly won't have such a moment, maybe a few moments, of epic grace before he does step away...but he might first have to accept what's happening and not fight it too much. Right now he's definitely fighting it, you can see that expressed in how he is surfing those clutch heats - clumsy moves, bad wave choice, failing to control priority etc.

For how he really is surfing, go see if you can find some footage of his recent stay on Tavarua. Fcuk me. All the prowess was there.

[alakaboo]

Slater's post-heat interview in Portugal seemed like a turning point for me.
After 3 events with shitty waves, injuries and bad results he sounded like something had been extinguished, but that he was just starting to realise it.
He seemed resigned to his fate, rather than possessed of a belief that he was the master of his own destiny. It also seemed like his aura was broken, people realised that he was beatable.
A bit of fire came back at Pipe but he doesn't seem like the same Slater to the casual observer. It sort of seemed like he started to take up arms to fend off another generation and then realised that he didn't have the fire.

After giving up the title race to Mick in Portugal:
“I think I’m alright now. I thought, five minutes left in that heat, I need a five, I need a six, I need almost a seven. I was kinda processing it in the moment, just going, well, this could be over, and I could just not have to sit around and wait for bad surf. Sometimes you just feel that way, y’know? After 20 years on tour, I’m not trying to say anything bad, sometimes you just get frustrated with the conditions you have no control over, and after 20 years, it’s hard to really care when it’s like this. So I’m happy for him to get through, and Mick’s super motivated. He’s a good friend of mine, and that’s all out the window when you’re trying to compete, but he’s a great guy and if he wins it then good for him. If I somehow get a chance at Pipe and could win, it’d be a spectacular thing for me, but we’ll see how it goes.”

[steve shearer]

I guess I've got a lot of emotional investment in Kelly's continuing greatness. He was the first pro I interviewed, the only one I find remotely interesting as anything more than a supremely skilled surfer. As phenomenon, as human being.
By a supreme act of self-delusion I feel his success as some small victory for me.

For mine, he was easily the dominant surfer in the last two years and I felt he was robbed. Those performances at Cloudbreak, Kirra, Pipeline. Next level. And to be beaten by a consistency that sailed well in the lee of his vessel. Not fair.

Anyway, we're all sliding down the knife edge of oblivion.

I don't want to see Kelly becoming an easy beat.

[pearceD]

well

a) CJ is a super nice guy, honest, straight up, engaged and fearless
b) the Hobgoods are both pro tour legends thanks to ^^ being part of Damien's makeup too
c) CJ has a fantastic style that he's continued to work on and refine over the years so that some moves he does are pretty much fcuken flawless, which few even at pro level can claim
d) he's handled the complexities surrounding his 2001 world title with immense grace and humility
e) he'll talk to anyone and never makes anyone feel bad or less-than, whether they be some rich sponsor guy or the smallest worker bee in catering or whatever

through this lot over the past decade and a half CJ has built up an immense reserve of goodwill across the entire spectrum of the pro tour. That's why you get that impression pearceD.

Plus he has an unironic Florida redneck beard.

And that's why you are on the big bucks! Maybe I just don't like his vibe.

[foamy]

I haven't been watching all of Kelly's heats, but catching a rail when coming down from a top turn on a fatter section seems to have happened a few times.
Also, some heats, he just hasn't got the waves. I wonder if he is paddling around with the same high-energy, hyper-aware ferocity to get into the best position in the lineup like he used to.

I think he is less driven. In combination with his age, I think ending his Quiksilver contract might be a factor in a significant phase change. He has been part of the corporate machine, wanting to meet his KPIs, having a lot of Quik staff looking towards him, needing him, relying on him. Taking his responsibilities to the organisation very seriously, for 23 years. I reckon he is feeling a BIG load off.

Plus, the win hunger, possibly it is a bit like sex, no matter how horny a bloke you may be, hopefully one day you notice you are not lusting after every woman you pass, and frankly, it is a relief. Doesn't mean you don't still enjoy sex, but, there is not the same urgency.

[Donweather]

five ten rookie.

Looked like a standard thruster and he looked profoundly uncomfortable and out of sync with it's reaction times and natural turn angles.

Couldn't agree more Steve. It was one of the worst board choices I've ever seen Slater make, even more so considering he hadn't even freesurfed J Bay on it before!!!! That board was just plain and simply wrong for Slater on those waves.

[steve shearer]

After giving up the title race to Mick in Portugal:
“I think I’m alright now. I thought, five minutes left in that heat, I need a five, I need a six, I need almost a seven. I was kinda processing it in the moment, just going, well, this could be over, and I could just not have to sit around and wait for bad surf. Sometimes you just feel that way, y’know? After 20 years on tour, I’m not trying to say anything bad, sometimes you just get frustrated with the conditions you have no control over, and after 20 years, it’s hard to really care when it’s like this. So I’m happy for him to get through, and Mick’s super motivated. He’s a good friend of mine, and that’s all out the window when you’re trying to compete, but he’s a great guy and if he wins it then good for him. If I somehow get a chance at Pipe and could win, it’d be a spectacular thing for me, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Due respect Boo, but I think the last sentence - which he followed up with more defiant talk- and then his performance at Pipe itself defeats your point: that he has stopped caring.

Fact: he won Pipe. He was one heat away from being World Champ. That doesn't happen to a bloke whos'
stopped caring or no longer has the competitive fire.

I'm more inclined to take his words at face value; that he no longer cares to surf shitt waves with all the crap shooting luck that entails.

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[alakaboo]

I've got no skin in this game, Steve. You've been watching him for about 20 more years than me.

Here's the interview, take from it what you will. He didn't follow it up with anything, I gather you mean later on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... f8E#t=8130

As Nick has suggested I think the will to win at Pipe can be separated from the title race, he might still want to and be able to dominate at Cloudbreak, Pipe etc. My point is that I think he has begun to realise that he isn't going to be so cut up about losing in small beachbreaks and thus may be out of the title race.

[daisy]

or something equally effete and he looked way out of his depth - too busy floggin his god bothering 'all round waterman' Salty Sea Dog brand or something...

fixed. FFS.

[Davros]

Its pretty even this year and it could just be a changing of the guard BUT look at the points table, Slater pulls 1 contest win out and its game on, in fact, I bet he wins the box and dice at Pipe, beating John John in the final and retires as the King he is!!

[Nick Carroll]

OK I know this is a bit subtle and not in the realm of most sports pages etc.

All athletes are heavily ego-driven. They thrive on the drive and intensity of competition, they struggle to imagine a life where that isn't their number one priority.

But the ego isn't the only thing involved in their competitive performance. The really really good ones, like KS, engage all sorts of parts of themselves. They search for ways to stay ahead, they study the formats and formulas, they experiment with equipment, they look within and confront themselves emotionally and spiritually to drag out their crazy clutch efforts.

Now at some point, even the most engaged athlete is going to begin to exhaust the possibilities of the sport for themselves. This may be prompted by a sense that they want to do something else with their lives, or by some other factor/s over which they don't have much control, a bad injury etc. They may simply have drained that particular cup dry.

Thing is: because the well of skills runs so deep and is so familiar, they may not be fully aware of this changing state. It's frog-in-boiling-water stuff. And a powerful athlete's ego will drive him or her to tolerate a lot of very fcuken hot water before they realise what's happening.

What you see in an athlete passing through this phase is the sort of stuff you see from anyone who's becoming subconsciously disengaged with a high level pursuit:

- unexpected mistakes in competition
- a lack of "flow"
- stiffness and clumsiness under pressure (the kind of pressure he/she once relished)
- happiness when away from the pursuit

This stuff is what makes the athlete look like something's "broken", but nothing's "broken", it's an entirely natural process. To put it crudely, it's like what happens when you get sick of doing anything - you don't do it quite as well.

As I said I've seen this in several great surfers in the past and fully expect to see it again in the future. It's an area where a lot of less great athletes manage things a lot better because their egos are less rock-hard and their skills turn against them sooner; they accept the change, often with some relief.

Also as mentioned, I fully expect KS to light up some crazy shit a few more times, that is if he can come to terms with what's going on and get relaxed about it, take the ego off autopilot, and just go surf some heats the way he knows he can. But even then, it'll probably be a short lived if pretty glorious phase.

shearr mentioned back there he hopes Kelly doesn't become an easybeat. So do I but I fear it's pretty likely he will. They all do.

[crabmeat thompson]

He needs peptides.

[pirate_agenda]

in yr face.

The American commentators are absolutely useless. One called Matt Wilkinson's first wave "just an average score" and the judges gave it 8.60. They are so biased for KS it's not funny.

Agreed. wilko tears the bag out of one and they don't get excited, next wave slater does a bogged turn and a couple of floaters and they lose their loads. They are embarrassing. Another clanger was comparing and drawing similarities between Miguel Pupo's style and Parko's.

[pinhead]

One thing I noticed in this comp is that De Souza has noticeably changed his surfing for the better. The WCT guys I see don't seem to evolve much, they have good days and bad days and days when they surf like freaks but its still the same kind of surfing. AD seems to have lost the dreadful wide poo stance and now is surfing with flow and power which he didn't have before - its not the same but better its different and better - now that must take a bit of doing mentally and physically.

[DucksNuts]

Still, his first wave against Wilko had two Slate-tastic recoveries: the drop from the floater and that closeout climb.

The natural footers seemed to fcuk up quite a bit with timing and hits: Supers didn't look like, well, normal Supers. Swell direction + wind? Plus late arrival, no practice

The hungry, analytical mind of Kelly - 6 world titles in the 90s, 5 world titles in his Second Coming? 6 and 6 would be so much cleaner, symmetrical. I'd bet my left nut that he'd prefer 12 to 11 on numerical elegance alone

[steve shearer]

One thing I noticed in this comp is that De Souza has noticeably changed his surfing for the better. The WCT guys I see don't seem to evolve much, they have good days and bad days and days when they surf like freaks but its still the same kind of surfing. AD seems to have lost the dreadful wide poo stance and now is surfing with flow and power which he didn't have before - its not the same but better its different and better - now that must take a bit of doing mentally and physically.

That process has been in train for a while, hidden from popular view by the torrent of racist abuse directed against ADS as the figurehead of Brazilian surfing.