Free your ankles!

Chris P — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:01:14 +0000

or why you shouldn’t be wearing a leash on a log!

I’m quite opinionated about most things, surfing included. I think style is important, in the sense that the way you surf a wave and the equipment you choose to ride is a reflection of your personality and that the aesthetics of the lines you draw on a wave are important.

I love longboarding, particularly the traditional style of logging, a pursuit where looking stylish and making the difficult look effortless is part of the point.

I am a firm believer in riding longboards without a leash, unless you’re a beginner, likely to lose your board and kill someone of course. I’d go so far as to say that if it’s big enough to need a leash you should be riding a different board.

Perhaps you agree, perhaps you think that’s controversial. In fact the most recent surfers journal has an opinion piece telling us it shouldn’t matter, but hear me out & see if i can convince you.

For a start they get in the way if you’re cross stepping (as you should be, no shuffling please!) It’s easy to waste a wave because you stepped on your leash or got it caught around your feet or between your toes. In fact getting back from hanging heels is almost impossible without tripping if you have a leash on

They look ugly (check some photos) they ruin the clean line of someone perched on the nose.

They teach you to surf better. Having to remember to hold onto your board at all times teaches you to surf in control more, forces you to finish your waves properly by kicking out, not just letting your board take care of itself (which in itself can be dangerous) Kicking out adds to the aesthetic of your ride.

If you are riding sixties influenced equipment then you should ride it with a traditional influenced style, leashes weren’t invented until after the shortboard!

Finally there is a liberated feeling that comes when you aren’t connected to your board, a freeness of movement that adds to the experience , for me anyway, that little frisson of added danger heightens your awareness and the satisfaction that comes with a critical noseride or nicely executed drop knee cutback.

Of course there is one major disadvantage – losing your board. It happens to everyone from time to time. There’s nothing quite as frustrating (or scary depending on how long the swim is) as swimming within a fingertips reach of your floating board, only for the next wave to hit it and carry it off. If you’re unlucky, your next view as you surface will be watching your log merrily surfing it’s own way to the sand, to sit, fin up in the shallows, taunting you to come collect it.

To quote Joel Tudor: ” So what if you swim, you get more in shape that way!”

Drift Surfing » leash

Free your ankles!