my foray into Reddit r/surfing community

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,680
20,891
113
The Bar
I definitely talk with my friends but then there are guys who will talk your head off to you or their best friend and next thing you know they out positioned you and are getting the wave of the day.
Chitchatting during the slow and subtle drift into position well before the next set comes in. Only amateur hornswogglers paddle/drift up the peak when the set is already in view. I confess to being extremely dirty when it came to that in past years.

Things were different then.

Surfing is now one of my few chances to have some peace and quiet. Unless surfing with a friend, I'm not social in the lineup whatsoever these days. In fact, I don't even want to see other people if I can help it. Which is why I primarily surf the often wind-shredded break that I do. :ROFLMAO:
 

Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
38,638
27,970
113
Ah so you're one of those.

Because as has been alluded to earlier in this thread, if you learned surfing implicitly, you learned a few yards here or there make a big difference. If you're about wave count, then you're not out there to talk, you're out there to surf.

A major part of being a good surfer is being able to read the water which ya can't do if you're distracted yaking.
Ah so you’re one those.

An asshole.
 
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Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,680
20,891
113
The Bar
I do this.

I also like to pull people too deep at points. People will just follow me around so I paddle up the point too deep.
Hahaha yep. Slowly paddle well up-peak with them keep trying to paddle deeper, then at last second, after one last feint, quickly reverse direction, leaving them 10-20 yards out of position.

I had much more energy for that sh*t when I was younger. Surfing Creek too much took that out of me - the shenanigans were exhausting.
 
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Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
38,638
27,970
113
Hahaha yep. Slowly paddle well up-peak with them keep trying to paddle deeper, then at last second, after one last feint, quickly reverse direction, leaving them 10-20 yards out of position.

I had much more energy for that sh*t when I was younger. Surfing Creek too much took that out of me - the shenanigans were exhausting.
yeah, that’s why this winter I’m just going to stuff people.

dont care anymore.

you’re just going to have to kick my ass if you want me to stop.
 

Sharkbiscuit

Duke status
Aug 6, 2003
26,261
19,085
113
Jacksonville Beach
Like half of you are from Malibu-> South. Cut the posturing I know the drill.

HGTV Beach Hunters
Country Club gossip
"This new Surftech Walden really rips!"
Avocado oil enemas
How the new spandex singlet went on your Fredsled
How many Freds you buzzed because you were mad you copped every light in your Range Rover and one of them got a rolling start and kept up with you 100 yards past the intersection because you didn't want to spill your post-BJJ elk jizz smoothie by opening the throttle any
How much traffic there was getting past LA into "the wine country"
...
 

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,680
20,891
113
The Bar
Like half of you are from Malibu-> South. Cut the posturing I know the drill.

HGTV Beach Hunters
Country Club gossip
"This new Surftech Walden really rips!"
Avocado oil enemas
How the new spandex singlet went on your Fredsled
How many Freds you buzzed because you were mad you copped every light in your Range Rover and one of them got a rolling start and kept up with you 100 yards past the intersection because you didn't want to spill your post-BJJ elk jizz smoothie by opening the throttle any
How much traffic there was getting past LA into "the wine country"
...
That's all GBG.

He doesn't speak for the rest of us.
 
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Sharkbiscuit

Duke status
Aug 6, 2003
26,261
19,085
113
Jacksonville Beach
That's all GBG.

He doesn't speak for the rest of us.
The rest of you got banned from Creek for talking about how being on r/JordanPeterson got you banned from r/TheInertia, or banned from Uppers for talking about the changes "Dr. Peterson" had on your life. Or possibly squeaking about traditional masculinity in some Canadian Kermit the Frog tone of voice in which case some literal TheInertia employee stopped talking about how much looser their wetsuit legs are than their black jeans legs to paddle around you at Venice Jetty. Probably only to get torched by a Brazilian Wavestorm rental agent or the mods of r/BlackGirlsSurf.
 

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
12,920
14,980
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
I've learned to catch waves from anywhere on the reef at my local. I enjoy paddling randoms all over the place. Then I go back to my little corner.

There's two former pros at my local who paddle everybody too deep and then throw a shaka back at us. Then they'll go straight on one and paddle back to us. Haha.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,981
22,511
113
PNW
Chitchatting during the slow and subtle drift into position well before the next set comes in. Only amateur hornswogglers paddle/drift up the peak when the set is already in view. I confess to being extremely dirty when it came to that in past years.

Things were different then.

Surfing is now one of my few chances to have some peace and quiet. Unless surfing with a friend, I'm not social in the lineup whatsoever these days. In fact, I don't even want to see other people if I can help it. Which is why I primarily surf the often wind-shredded break that I do. :ROFLMAO:
I'm always wearing a hood and earplugs so when people try to chat I just go, HUH?! I CAN"T HEAR YOU, EARPLUGS!

But really I can hear fine, I just don't want to talk about real estate or your kids basketball game or flat earth theory or whatever.
 
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Sharkbiscuit

Duke status
Aug 6, 2003
26,261
19,085
113
Jacksonville Beach
I swear at the Pier, two people start talking, three to five people file them under "marks" and start the positioning game with express intent of preying upon their wave count, and eight-ten other people move based on those three people moving.

It's not like you're really dealing with one person. You are assessing where you are sitting, and how good the three to eight people in direct paddle battle contention with you for any wave that comes into your zone are. You want the people deeper than you to be kooks for whom the most likely or preferred direction is backside and/or the other way. Or you want the person deeper than you to be a ripper or a monster who is for sure looking to go the opposite way, so you can basically split peaks with them.
 

MitchellC

Legend (inyourownmind)
Nov 28, 2016
367
192
43
guys that I am friends with use chit chat as a distraction method
I always chit chat. It serves many, many purposes. It lets visitors know that the some of the better surfers in the line-up know each other. It also works talking to learners and intermediates - it sets the implicit understanding that you're the one who is confident enough to start the conversation and also the one controlling the situation.

In fact, if the waves are decent and I'm feeling pretty relaxed, I don't mind calling them into a (non set) wave and/or explain the set up. It all leads toward no one challenging if you spot a set coming and slowly ease into position. (The good old paddle under the board trick ie elbows don't come out of the water.) Next thing they know, it's your wave and rather than feel tempted, they're stoked to be part of the "gang".

OTOH, if someone violates the basic rules (whose turn, gets in the way paddling out, etc) at a place I frequently surf, then I go the other direction and basically scream like a maniac. Not just during the event, but back in the line-up as well. So, there's a little reward/punishment cycle playing as well. It freaks the newbs out and makes the other locals smile.
 
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000

Duke status
Feb 20, 2003
26,018
7,171
113
i dont talk in the lineup and i hate hearing anyone else talk
especially when theyre noobie fags who recently started following me to my solo peak and decided its their new spot, and they bring friends