After watching the semi's and final of the Quicksilver event last night it got me thinking now that aerials are becoming the norm, I wonder what the next big step in surfing is going to be? Will surfers start doing what vert skateboarders did in the 90's and develop switch stance? From memory the reason why vert skaters did was because aerials became the norm and everybody started doing them, so to spice it up the best of the best started mastering switch and it became a prized ability in competition... I can see it happening in surfing tbh, when I don't know but once all the aerials you could possibly do on a surfboard in competition have been done, you have to think that riding switch stance will happen and become a prized ability.... (and btw people said riding switch on a skateboard wasn't natural and didn't take it seriously at first, just saying..)
What do you reckon, where is surfing headed?
If I cant do em I dont judge them 
Kick flick is next, some guy in the USA has done one and Ozzie has as well I think.
Well its been done before...
"In 1975, high school student Jeff Clarke, perhaps a cross between man and beast, became the first person ever to ride the huge waves Maverick's had to offer, and he did it completely alone for 15 years. The goofy-footed surfer taught himself to ride switch so that he could face the wave on both lefts and rights. After his first ride in 1975, Jeff regularly surfed Maverick's for the next decade and a half, but the obscure location and horrifying conditions kept him alone until 1990, when two other surfers finally agreed to join him."
I should preface this by saying i am a crusty/cynical old school fart but...... impressive as the skill level is i still think of it as a "trick"...bit like the old fin first takeoffs looked good once or twice but got old real quick.
I went to see castles in the sky by taylor steele and honestly the only parts i can remember are the guys in the artic circle walking on the snow.. and dave rastovich doing killer cutbacks
All the other aerials and stuff blended after about 5 mins
"Kids nowdays "(i sound like i am 110 ) ride the boards not the wave!
Kind of interesting when i watch young grommies nowdays that are doing little alley oops and airs, and then struggle to do a cutback or a re entry .Evidenced by the fact that zoltan struggled to do a re-entry after his kick flip..
Give me Burrows,Bourez,o'Brien,Buttons( no-one ate sand as well as buttons) ,Bertleman
I'll take 2 mins of MR anyday over alot of the schlock that is around today especially the stuff from Honolua Bay on Maui
^^
That's the reason why I'm thinking when are pro surfers going to start riding and taking off switch.... because as you say it is starting to become a case of surfers riding thier boards and not the wave" and becoming all about weather or not you can pull big airs... just imagine this:
Kelly Slater takes of on a small set at Teahupoo and surprises everybody by getting up switch and pulls into a clean switch frontside barrel and the crowd in the channel goes crazy.
That was awesome prawnhead, thanks for sharing! I am too not that fussed by the trick stuff, give me power carves any day. Showing my age maybe?
Thanks for the clip Prawnhead, MR is pure style and a pleasure to watch. I must be old too because the skateboard tricks of today get old real quick.
I kinda like them. It's given me a new goal in my surfing, to look above the lip and learn to pop and slide my board like a skatey. Things I never thought about years ago. I wish I could do 'em as easy as they've become to the pros in contests nowadays.
Kelly Slater just took off switch foot, straight into the barrel in his round 4 heat at Supertubos...
I don't think anything will take the place of a turn under the lip that brings the board 180 then back around to take off like a flash of light. The thing about surfing, is the right move at the right time to make it look special. Sometimes a surfer can race along a wave to get enough speed to do one move but then is beaten by another doing clean clinical simple moves done at the most crucial time.
Arial moves have sold heaps of movies, made stacks of pictures but I don't think they have been the clincher in most comps.
As for the kick flip, it looked as if the board had a mind of its own all the rider did was jump up. Did look cool.
Just was emailed this old article by a friend... very interesting, love the bits about riding a finless board and taking off switch, pulling into the tube, only to sit down on his board -come out natural and do a big air, both at Pipeline....
Jamie O'Brien's approach to surfing mirrors his approach to life. There are no half-speeds, no checked-maneuvers, no missed opportunities; nor is there pause for contemplation, thought of what next, or curbed impulse. Which is what makes him one of the most exciting surfers currently displacing saltwater.in any ocean.
Of course he's most himself when at home at Pipeline, steps from his porch, where he's one of the few surfers that can match the break's relentlessness with his own aggression, and where he's brought a more progressive approach to the wave than almost anybody currently occupying the lineup. Need proof? Sit on the beach at Ehukai on a winter's day and watch the 21-year-old O'Brien take off switch-stance, pull into the tube, sit down on his board, come out natural, do a big air, stick it and paddle back out. There is only audacity in this. And the same can be said of his surfing anywhere, as he brings more creativity to the water than any surfer his age, and more abandon than most in the world.
And this, of course, is how Jamie lives his life. He's brash, opinionated and self-assure, which has brought him problems in the past, but is only a sign of the future. Because Jamie O'Brien will never pull back the reins. And this will always make him exciting. But what's more intriguing than anything is to listen to Jamie O'Brien tell it in his own candid words. -Brad Melekian.
finless at pipeline 
the young guard are always stepping it up.
Loved the footage of the wounded gull and shaun tomson 
no aerials at the 82 stubbies but the gull was on fire.
