Try to take a mental inventory of how much time you’ve given in life to watching people ride waves at Pipeline. It’s a fair bet the wave has produced more video segments, single-wave clips, and single-frame photos than any other on the planet and therefore has been examined more than any other.
But that might make us miss where the real focus should be and what makes the wave most dangerous — maybe even the part of the equation that’s produced more injuries and rescues than the actual rides themselves — and that’s swimming around in the impact zone. Take off too deep, point it toward the beach to avoid getting body slammed by the lip, and next thing you know you’re bobbing around in front of the next three waves. The hold downs get longer. The rag dolling gets less fun.
Koa Smith just shared a 10-minute compilation of exactly this. Consider it educational if you want. But for a video that has nothing to do with actually firing out of double overhead barrels, it’s pretty darn entertaining.
