Thursday, November 17, 2011

Alaia Secrets for Surfing Mastery

Aloha Tribe,

Would you like to improve your surfing skills? Sure, we all probably try to do this. Well, one pretty fun secret is to surf as much as you can on an Alaia. They're easy and fun to make and learning to surf on one will dramatically improve the way you surf. To make one, simply get a solid piece of wood and cut out the outline or glue several planks together and then shape them into the pattern you want for your board. Shape the nose and tail to fit your interpretation of what what you, work on the rails a bit, and, there you go. This can be as creative and beautiful as you dream, or, as simple as a piece of solid wood hand cut and shaped with an ax or  machete or  similar tool like one might do in the jungles of Gabon (there is a beautiful example of a rugged as hell hand chopped board on a Gabon site that is pretty cool (it couldn't be any rougher or more primitive, and that's why it so interests me). Simplicity, old-school, working with what you have, those are secrets behind Alaia surfing.

As for improving your surfing using an Alaia, for one thing, there is no rocker on an Alaia since it is simply a flat piece of wood. Thus, you have to pay much more attention to board trim so that you don't get your nose too high out of the water and Stall, or dig too deep and Pearl. Learning how to not Pearl using an Alaia will give your surfing a supblety, smoothness, softness, delicacy,  and control you may have never had to such a high degree of perfection, thus offering your surfing whole new possibilities of creative expression with surfing lines.

The same thing applies to turning. You have to be exact when you weight a Rail so that you don't Dig or Bog a Rail. In addition, you learn to use your feet to also help turn.

Once you master your Alaia, your old board you typically always ride  will seem easy by comparison, offering you a whole new way to explore your surfing.

Now then, as for the real secrets of surfing mastery by surfing Alaia, hmm, the best way to share them is to get together and surf together and also Talk Story after sessions and while in the Line-Up. So, all we need to do is to be in the same place at the same time. That being said, watch the waves around the world, chances are, I'll be there. And wow, are there some cool things to talk about and share and so very much for me to learn and try.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley




No comments:

Post a Comment