If this were a make, would it have been a “full rotation” or a 540? Photo: WSL/Smorigo
If you’ve been glued over the last few days to the Oi Rio Pro, or even tuned in to the Founders’ Cup several weeks ago, you may have heard something. A velvety voice that both felt new and simultaneously strangely familiar, like that of a long-lost friend. The voice belonging to none other than the very talented Chris Coté.
Since the rebranding of the WSL (neé ASP), the same commentary team has gone from contest to contest in an effort to standardize presentation. Strider Wasilewski, Rosie Hodge, Pete Mel, Joe Turpel, Ronnie Blakey, and Martin Potter with a few job changes (e.g. Ross Williams) and cameos (e.g. Barton Lynch). Recently, though, Chris Coté was brought onboard and one astute Redditor noticed something.
“Chris [Coté] refuses to use conventional ‘Air Reverse’ terminology, instead calling it a 360 revert, which is much more accurate (setting aside the 90ish degree controversial angle of attack that riding ‘down the line’ takes away from a surfer),” writes u/jer_iatric. “I’m likely reading too much into it, but I like to believe that bringing Chris into the mix is a strategic move on WSL’s part to ensure they don’t get left behind as the sport progresses, particularly if Olympics dollars could finally save the future of webcasts and WSL as a whole.”
It’s true. Looking at two maneuvers, both of which in contests past might have been called full rotations, Coté has no qualms about calling them 540s.
Here’s one from John John:
And here’s one from Filipe:
Maybe it’s because Chris has years of experience covering snowboarding and skateboarding too. Or maybe it’s because he’s buds with Todd Richards who schooled us in naming tricks in surf last week. Either way, Coté thinks it’s high time spins were standardized.
“Surfers are catching up and the airs are progressing at an incredible pace,” he told The Inertia in an email. “I’m not sure what’s holding back some surf fans from understanding that these airs/spins mimic what has been the standard in skate and snow for decades. All airs are not created different therefore a general term like ‘full rotation’ or ‘air reverse’ doesn’t make sense to me.”
Here’s how it breaks down. “When a surfer lands tail first and reverts forward, that is much different than when a surfer lands with the nose of his board pointing to the beach, 360 vs 540,” says Coté. “These airs and the surfers doing them deserve proper credit for what they’re doing, a blanket/general term just doesn’t do that. Guys and girls are going to start doing flip tricks and grab variations at wave pools and in the ocean, so we all need to get used to surf tricks being called the same as skate or snow tricks.”
