How Competitive Are You?

[maybe]

I've never been competitive - the main reason why I stay away from big-named, crowded breaks. I'd rather go find a closed-out beach break and have it to myself, than paddle out at Trestles or Blacks and deal with every D-list pro in the area trying to get their picture taken.

I can understand being competitive if you have a family and need to pay all the bills associated with that... and wanting to leave them something financially when you die.

I don't have a family and am lucky if I have 30 good years left. Why bust my ass for a nicer house or car, when my house and car are fine? Most of us will be dead within 40 years and it won't mean sh!t who had what. Enjoy the ride.

 

[SurfFuerteventura]

Currently Right hand hairiest palms;
Butt, no despair, Left hand is gaining ground!



Zero sum thinking - Wiki

Also Worth a Look - goalcast.com

Personally, I only truly feel like I have won something, after helping another out who had no way on their own to make it, like saving drowners in the ocean, for example.

 

[sussle]

Thinking about the Kelly thread -

I wasn't born with that compulsion to win at any cost, but I also don't mind mixing it up (especially now that the surf is crowded af). In my work world, I'm surrounded by hyper-competitive-self -esteem-tied-to-results types, and the dynamic there is almost farcical.

Winners win, as they say, but I'm pretty apathetic about serious competition on most levels. The stakes just aren't that high I guess. . .

i tried apathy but i just couldn't get into it

 

[Witchipoo]

I despise competitive people in general. They suck the joy out of everything, including their own lives. And in the water, competing for waves is pretty much the opposite of what I paddle out for. I'm consistently repulsed by the behavior I see. I mean, understand that it's pretty much the only way to get waves, but it's makes me kind of sick, even when I'm the one getting the waves. Which is hardly ever, because I just can't make myself be ruthless enough. It's gross.

The mindset that everything is a competition, and that you're either a "winner" or a "loser" is basically 90% of why our country is a raging dumpster fire, and when people bring that sickness into the lineup,

 

[VonMeister]

Competitive or not.....no one should ever cede a wave to a back paddler. Stuff them at every opportunity.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

I'd rather go find a closed-out beach break and have it to myself than paddle out at Trestles or Blacks and deal with every D-list pro in the area trying to get their picture taken.

So what exactly do you enjoy about going straight?

I think you also mentioned previously you only ride Wavestorms too.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

Lazy and unskilled people often mistake the drive and talent and know-how of others for competitiveness.

 

[Witchipoo]

Lazy and unskilled people often mistake the drive and talent and know-how of others for competitiveness.

Sometimes. And sometimes greedy, selfish, oblivious people think they're "winning" because of their mad skills, not because they're behaving in a way that others won't because of pesky things like ethics, manners and empathy. Not just talking about surfing, obviously, but I can think of quite a few surfers I know who this applies to.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

 

[keenfish]

Competitive or not.....no one should ever cede a wave to a back paddler. Stuff them at every opportunity.

Yessir!
Stuff every back paddler or turn under and burn paddler with a vengeance!

 

[maybe]

Careful Casa -

Yes I do own a few soft tops, and ride them when it's small, sloppy and crowded in So-Cal.

But I'll put my board collection up against yours and even challenge you to a surf-off if you wanna continue to run your mouth.

So what exactly do you enjoy about going straight?

I think you also mentioned previously you only ride Wavestorms too.

 

[menobrah]

At my local jetty If you want to sit at the peak and take off in front of the rocks we will share set waves graciously..sit on the shoulder and you get nothing. Not at all about winning or losing but making the most of meager resources..but probably looks like winning and losing from the shoulder.

 

[2surf]

I despise competitive people in general. They suck the joy out of everything, including their own lives. And in the water, competing for waves is pretty much the opposite of what I paddle out for. I'm consistently repulsed by the behavior I see. I mean, understand that it's pretty much the only way to get waves, but it's makes me kind of sick, even when I'm the one getting the waves. Which is hardly ever, because I just can't make myself be ruthless enough. It's gross.

The mindset that everything is a competition, and that you're either a "winner" or a "loser" is basically 90% of why our country is a raging dumpster fire, and when people bring that sickness into the lineup,

Its a lady thing, I understand. That’s the same herd mindset that’s kept women’s surfing stuck in the 1970’s. Waves are free for the taking but the takers don’t share. The good thing is aggressiveness can be learned and those ladies are having fun.

 

[JDJ]

I’ll gladly be competitive in a lineup and fight for waves. It just bums me out sometimes and can feel antithetical to what I like about surfing.

 

[SurfFuerteventura]

Surfing is NOT a zero sum activity.

Anyone looking at it as such is clearly missing out completely.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

Careful Casa -

Yes I do own a few soft tops, and ride them when it's small, sloppy and crowded in So-Cal.

Those weren't my words, those were your words a while back when you said something to the effect of only riding Wavestorms.

I remember thinking that was weird because I surf your local regularly and can never remember seeing a Wavestorm there.

Also, whenever anyone says they just go surf closeout beachbreak it's reasonable to ask why they like to just go straight... because if the beachbreak is really closeouts that's all you'll be doing.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

And sometimes greedy, selfish, oblivious people think they're "winning" because of their mad skills, not because they're behaving in a way that others won't because of pesky things like ethics, manners and empathy.

Surfing is a self-centered activity involving limited resources (waves).

Any serious surfer immediately takes note of who's who in the lineup.

Generally we're looking at few things, but first and foremost it's body language.

There's a very good reason for this - you're developing a plan for how you personally can maximize the most of this limited resource.

You've been surfing a long time so I'm sure you do this too.

In surfing it's really easy to get frustrated when you're watching other people leave you in the dust. We have all been there, the first step to figure out why it's happening is to look at yourself and figure out what you're doing wrong.

Sometimes you're not doing anything wrong, and the person is just a hog.

Usually it's a drive/skill/fitness/positioning etc issue.

 

[brukuns]

Not competitive at all, which makes me a shitty brazzo.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

I was competitive as a teenager at Sebastian in the mid/late 90s.

Total snake pit, but very few drop ins - generally because dropping in meant you got leashgrabbed/shoved/run into and then whoever got burned basically crossed the "fighting words" line verbally. Very, very rare to get burned twice in one day. And since it's not a point, and the wedges shifted around, everyone generally got theirs.

Fast forward to 2021. A buddy still surfs the Pier, he came in after a lunch session this summer and said there was an hour long stretch where he caught seven waves and got a section paddled down or burned on all of them. He's had multiple trips to get his face stitched up in the last 10 years from other people's boards, more ding fixes, and he has multiple children, knows all these people, hits the lip on every wave he catches, and is over 6'/200#.

In the 90s it was generally a WQS contest at the crowded spots but people respected the paddle battle. Today, the instant the person realizes they're losing the paddle battle, a non-trivial number turn to try to burn. The opportunists down the line are now looking to see if it's possible, at all, to close the door. There'll be a dozen people who suck paddling for basically every wave. And there'll be someone who has been surfing for half an hour being sherpa'd around by someone surfing for a couple summers. They'll both be looking right at you, with the "coach" screaming PADDLE PADDLE the whole time you're riding the wave.

Sometimes you're not doing anything wrong, and the person is just a hog.

Usually it's a drive/skill/fitness/positioning etc issue.

You left out volume. The surfers at better beachbreaks in Mainland Mexico, or on days here when the paddle out here requires getting rumbled on quite a few duck dives, the drive/skill/fitness/positioning is far, far, far higher than your average Lower 48 summer day. But you're catching hilariously more waves on less volume than when you ride an alt/grovel and the flotilla decides it's ride the line doing nothing but wobbling in the take a sh!t stance.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

And there'll be someone who has been surfing for half an hour being sherpa'd around by someone surfing for a couple summers. They'll both be looking right at you, with the "coach" screaming PADDLE PADDLE the whole time you're riding the wave.

I'm noticing this a lot.

Also people dragging their just learning to stand up kid into the lineup and doing the same.

Is that happening on the East Coast too?

I've said this before and I'll say it again - Yadin Nicol is the WORST. Watched him paddle out on a softy the other day towing his little girl behind him, they immediately legit burned someone.

 

[Senor Sopa]

Also people dragging their just learning to stand up kid into the lineup and doing the same.

This is the worst, high level duus, on very crowded days, taking lil' miss out and pushing them into sets. I take rainchecks, and get them back later, at my convenience.

Sigh, I've lost a lot of the competiveness. As others mentioned, I used to paddle out, just because I fell compelled to be in the pissing contest. Nowadays, it's the opposite, too many times on meh days, I just don't feel up to putting my game face on to compete for slop and drivel with the Wavestrom crew. I just go home and pull weeds instead. Of course, when it's really good, it's game on, and this ol dog has lots of new tricks.