Lower Trestles: picture perfect. Photo: WSL
There were a lot of things that went on down at the Hurley Pro at Lower Trestles. Here are just a few things I took away from the event.
They owe a lot to each other. Photo: WSL
1. Kolohe Andino’s frontside wraps owe a lot to John John Florence. Or is it the other way around? It has to do with that extra push they give to the tail during the latter half of their turns: they get super tweaky at the end. The fins dig in, the heelside rail tears through the water, the hips whip around, and the lanky blonde surfer tucks back into the whitewash, oozing style.
2. If you want to argue that JJF will never win a World Title, Heat 7 of Round 2 at the Hurley Pro at Trestles will certainly back up your argument. John John has no business losing to Glenn Hall—and Glenn Hall would probably agree with that. If you wanted to say that it was a matchup of the tour’s most and least naturally talented surfers, no one could fault you. That’s not to say, of course, that Micro didn’t deserve the win. He did, and John John deserved to lose. Sometimes John John just can’t get his shit together competitively.
Doesn’t get much better than this, does it? Photo: WSL
3. Jadson Andre’s forehand carves are out of control. As much as anyone else on tour, Andre suffers from the absence of a rippable left. His wiry frame generates a lot of power, speed, and spray. And we all know he can boost.
4. Trestles is a really hard wave to judge. Did Toledo’s last wave of his R2 heat against Ian Crane deserve an 8.5? Maybe not. To me, it seemed like his earlier 8.0 showed a lot more variety, commitment, and flow. That one certainly seemed underscored compared with Crane’s 9.1. But for all the complaints about the judging, we have to admit that at Trestles—a wave that touches on all points of the criteria—the judges have a very difficult job.
[vidroll id=”theinertia_lg_yt”]//https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WzlBhkZKrs[/vidroll]
5. And about that air… will everybody stop whining already? From Sam George on Surfline to Moshe Karabelnik on this website, surf pundits around the world cried foul on Kelly’s 4.17. It’s idiotic. After the air, which he admitted that he did not make, the wave included two lazy cutbacks, a very clumsy 360, and one solid backside snap on the waist-high end section. Was it insanely cool? Yes. Did it take a lot of talent? Absolutely. But when a surfer fails to execute a maneuver, which Kelly did, the judges know not to include it in their scores. During this very contest, Parko and Taj have both fallen while trying to complete a maneuver, gotten back up, and received scores that indicate their maneuver is incomplete. Maybe a discussion about changing the judging criteria is in order, but surely everyone has to admit that there is a necessity for criteria! And by the established criteria, that ride was just about…a 4.17. To expect the judging criteria to suddenly become fluid is absurd. The idea that the score is somehow related to a lack of marketability is too ridiculous to address. Take off your tinfoil hat, surf world. That being said, the WSL is certainly getting a lot of publicity from it. It is a surfing-related controversy that I’m sure will do positive things for the WSL in the long run. And that air was really freakin’ cool.
Nat Young getting a pass? Photo: WSL
6. The goofyfoots seemed to mostly get a pass on the “variety” portion of the judging criteria on the Lowers rights. I know I just said judging was difficult, but I thought this deserved mention. Four vertical backhand snaps through the lip was enough to get a solid score for the likes of Nat Young, Wiggoly Dantas, Italo Ferreira and others. Owen Wright seemed to show some different looks on his backhand, though.
7. I’m not sure if it is okay to say this, but, um, did Chris Cote and Ross Williams kind of bring their A-game? During the early minutes of Round 3, Heat 8, Ross Williams said something short, succinct, and kind of brilliant about the difference between artists and athletes in the surfing world. After he’d finished, a friend I was watching it with (who doesn’t surf) said, simply, “I liked that.” Any surf fan who has watched with non-surfing friends has to understand how rare it is to hear anything nice said about the WSL commentators—often with good reason. But Round 3, Heat 8 stands out as one of the best-commented heats I’ve heard yet this year, and despite some wobbly work during the lully quarterfinals, the commenting team had a pretty good event overall.
If it doesn’t look like this, we don’t like it.
8. The judges really, really don’t like the bobbles—or even pumps—on the bottom turn. They want the face of the wave to look like one of those curvy bike racks—the style of which, apparently, is actually called the “wave.”
Fanning sets the standard. Photo: WSL
9. Can everybody please, please stop trying to tell us that Mick Fanning’s surfing is “boring?” The misguided haters came out in droves on the message boards once Kelly’s 4.17 hit the internet: “Mick Fanning’s surfing is lame! Why does Fanning get 8s when Slater’s air received a 4.17?” Mick Fanning, everybody’s hero two events ago, was an undeserving victim of the surfing world’s ignorant furor. I wrote at the beginning of this season that Mick Fanning is the best male Australian pro surfer of the last 30 years at least, and this season has done nothing but prove that. Let me repeat this for emphasis: Mick Fanning is the best male surfer to emerge from the world’s most surf-obsessed country in the modern era of surfing. He should be considered the favorite to win his fourth world title this year. The worst you could ever call Fanning’s surfing is “traditional”—and it’s not even that. It establishes tradition. If you think Mick Fanning’s surfing is standard, it’s only because Fanning sets the standard. Mick Fanning’s surfing is beautiful, powerful, and executed at the highest level. We should all be grateful to witness his career.
There’s just not enough time. Photo: WSL
10. Like the Australian and Brazilian events, the Hurley Pro Trestles and Swatch Women’s Pro proved that one standard waiting period is not enough time to run a full men’s and a full women’s event. The events were blessed with better surf than you could reasonably ask for in less than two weeks, yet finals day ran in weak and inconsistent waves. When Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, that’s one thing. But the finals ran in less-than-stellar conditions because the WSL is trying to stuff too many heats into too short a timeframe. One solution? Shrink the world tour and shorten the main event. No matter what they settle on, it’s a problem that needs fixing.
