In Southern California, skating and surfing go hand in hand. When it’s pumping, it’s time to surf. When it’s flat, the wind’s howling on shore, or what have you skateboarding is an alternative to get all your standing sideways kicks. But are the two complimentary? In a recent promo for the upcoming X Games in Minneapolis, pro skateboarder Alex Sorgente explained that he picked up surfing after skateboarding. Both, he says, have similar sensations. “You stand up and you make your own lines on the wave like you’re skating a bowl or something. It’s rad,” he says.
Sorgente’s comparison, though, reminded me of an old video of John John Florence skating the Cholo’s bowl (see below). In it, John John explains he doesn’t skate to improve his surfing, he just does it because it’s fun. Even Curren Caples has said the two are so different these days, one doesn’t really inform the other.
So, which is it? Does skating transition help you read wave sections better? Or, are surfing and skating two totally different worlds?
