This is the cutthroat world of sport and this is far from the marketed image that the Dream Tour portrays. Athletes with next to no dollars in their back pocket, worrying about how they’re gonna make it to the next event, and the fact that in such a tight schedule the events are mostly held in waves that you wouldn’t even paddle out in back at your local. There is a lot of misconception amongst the surfing public of how a really good surfer goes about climbing the ranks and try to make it in the world of professional surfing. Sure being a shredder helps, and so does having one of those comp heads, and being fit and all the rest of the typically suggested requirements. But there is so much more to getting a break and climbing that ladder. Unless you’re very fortunate to have secured a wildcard for a major event, starting off for every surfer on the planet means you are bottom-feeding, picking up the scraps, and if you are lucky enough to stock up on enough scraps, you might just get a chance to be invited to the main course, a highly rated event, where you are competing for big points and possibly your only window of opportunity, so you better take it if it appears.
Every year at the Halfway Point of the WQS Tour the rankings are re-seeded, meaning if you just so happen to by then, high enough up the ladder, that means you have finally earnt your chance to have a shot at the back end of the year and either get your seeding up as high as possible for an all-out assault in 2020 or a genuine crack in Hawaii at qualifying for the tour like our King and Queen Ricardo Christie and Paige Hareb did last year. We often hear of these two surfer’s exploits, as they are our showpieces and we’re so proud of them, but these are the background stories of our other representatives out there ‘Flying the Flag’ for us, they share their ins and outs, and the heartache and glory.
この記事は NZ SURFING MAGAZINE の Issue 187 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は NZ SURFING MAGAZINE の Issue 187 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Trigger Finger
Ask any top surf coach and the two elements they will concentrate on and recommend are a solid bottom turn and being able to develop speed - as they say, speed is your friend, and many of the best surfers on the planet also happen to be the fastest surfers.
THESHAPESHIFTER ROGER HALL
Ladies and Gentleman Choose Your Weapons: How to decide on your next surfboard.
The Olympians
Over 50 years ago surfing’s greatest ambassador of all time, the legendary Duke Kahanamoku, had a vision that one day surfing would become an Olympic sport.
The Gladiator Pit
Born from the era of the Roman Empire, armed combatants known as gladiators would enter the arena also known as the Gladiator Pit to face up against other gladiators, animals and criminals in fierce battle in what was seen as entertainment often ending in death to one or the other.
Rising Grom Asia Braithwaite
There are those young athletes that get into sport who possess natural talent, even the X-factor, yet as the road is usually a far-too-easy passage, they either take it for granted or don’t push beyond their capabilities.
Licence To Score
The adventures behind the wheel of Mount Grom Luke Griffin.
Land Of The Long Lefts
It was the year 1966 and the sport of surfing was sweeping the world.
Theshapeshifter - Roger Hall
Ever heard of a Mini Simmons?
The Road Less Travelled
Take a look at a map of our coastline and you will see thousands of kilometres of coastline, 15,000 to be almost exact, making it the 9th longest in the world.
Then & Now
It was the early 80s and the world of sport was evolving rapidly.