Whether the waves are offshore and over head or blown out and ankle high, it seems that at any time and at any break there is a pack of kids, from age ten upward, who surf better than I do. I am no longer fazed by stickers, neon wetsuits, perfect blowtails, textbook cutbacks or above the lip air reverses. To be frank, every time I paddle out, I see so many “technically” great surfers, often younger than me, that I have grown indifferent towards improving the technical side of my surfing. While perhaps sad at first, this indifference has removed all pressure from my surf sessions. Now, I just have fun. I try out new boards, surf spots that are uncrowded (usually forfeiting wave quality) and laugh when I blow a takeoff. I had to remove myself from the ultra-competitive vibe that characterizes Southern California surfing, if only for my own sanity.
The truth is, the majority of people do not surf like WSL competitors. So, why do most surfers, myself included, continue to surf like we are training for the World Tour?
I ask myself this question often, and the answer I found was not in my own mind, but in the relatively unknown surfing of Volcom’s Ryan Burch.
In an industry where narrow, featherweight short boards pervade all surf breaks and every ten year old in the water can flick a tail-high air reverse, Ryan Burch is paving a new future for surfing. His part in Volcom’s Psychic Migrations, wherein he effortlessly links mind-blowingly creative lines down an overhead South American point-break, all on a tiny, rainbow-dyed fish board, was one of the highlights of 2015. His most recent edit, The Rush of the Continuous Rhythm, yet again suggests that the future of surfing for all of us not on the WSL, may not be in technical maneuvers, but in a return to seeing waves as empty canvases, waiting to be creatively drawn upon.
The more avant-garde surfboard companies are beginning to make boards which allow for retro flow while still retaining the high performance of a short board (think Hayden Shapes Hypto Krypto, which won SIMA’s US Surfboard of the Year for third time in 2015). And while HS’ Hypto Krypto and Channel Island’s “Average Joe” are fusing high-performance with accessibility, there is also a strong movement to abandon high-performance boards altogether in exchange for the freedom found in short, fast, funky boards like Ryan Burch’s fish. Indeed, when I was in Bali this part summer, half the guys in the water were flying down the line making drawn out, grab-rail cutbacks on Deus ex Machina 5’ twin-fin boards.
If ripping the hell out of a way and doing five turns to the beach is what gets your blood pumping, by all means, keep it going. But if you feel like surfing has become too competitive at your local break and your sessions are ending more often in frustration than in ecstasy, watch Ryan’s videos and stop evaluating and comparing your own “performance” to that of other surfers. The future of surfing can be found in its past, in a return to the reasons why humans started surfing in the first place: It’s fun. Period.
Now watch Ryan Burch have some fun.
Ryan Burch. Board. Face. Good vibes.
