Corey Colapinto wants to challenge the taboo of the calf leash. Photo: Screenshot/Youtube
At some point in longboarding the leash became the cardinal no-no. That is if you wanted to be a rootsy, cross-stepping traditionalist, and you fell doing so, you’d have no choice but to swim after your board. It makes sense to some extent – when Miki Dora, Phil Edwards, David Nuuhiwa, and the like spent their golden days screaming across waves from Malibu to San Diego, they did so leashless (they weren’t invented yet). Prevailing myth also holds that cross-stepping is made much more difficult when a leash is involved.
For a time, Corey Colapinto – the South OC logging phenom – embraced the traditionalist angle. Recently, though, he gave the calf leash a try and took to Instagram to report that he actually liked it, and his words may not go in the direction you were thinking.
“Leash Preach: Everyone has a respectable perspective of where the calf leash is at in longboarding. I personally like it. As a grom, I grew up loving that I could launch flyaways or try a new trick outside of my comfort zone with no worry of losing my board and possibly injuring someone, getting a ding, or swimming (I get lazy). But then I got into the “retro movement” with the weird leash taboo. It’s stressful trying to perform the impossible of surfing every wave without falling. Embracing the leash is humbling as it requires acknowledgment of our true self – our flawed self. Taking that step into humility enters us into a rad relationship, free from the fear of losing your board. The leash is like a metaphor for humbly receiving Christ’s great love as He conquers all our fears (even death) in knowing He will never let go of us no matter the mess of our sin. The unbreakable leash. ‘Grace is the face that love wears when it meets imperfections’ – Joseph R. Cooke
“Surfing is a gift and shouldn’t be taken for granted or misused to judge those on a different path. In a surf culture that tries to devalue and divide our styles, know you are made in God’s image – You’re His child, His masterpiece. He gives us all infinite worth, unique artistic abilities/perspectives and the choice to love. Don’t let something so small as a leash or tri-fin fog that truth.
“The best way to find out if you can trust something is to try it out, and you’ll realize the calf leash doesn’t get caught in your cross-steps. It’s actually pretty well designed.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZncLRFkSMfI”
