Air grabs    F'side air reverse    Late Drops    Carving 360
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		a. The magic of this sequence is all in the third frame. Full of confidence, TB's hung off the tail, somehow landed, then lined up the tube as the lip explodes around him. Tougher than it looks.     Sequence: Tungsten / Nikon				The price is wrong. Because I'm on a bit of a gravy train with boards, I didn't know about this one until recently. When you custom order a board and head into the factory to talk to the shaper about measurements and all that gear, it can be difficult to ask how much coin the board will sting you. Or maybe in the excitement you just forget to ask. Then you go to pick it up and are lugged with a rate far more expensive than what you assumed. Don't get burnt. Be up front, ask for the price and there'll be no unfriendly surprise. Photo: Steve Sherman
				You might have read about my old boy’s smoking on the ski back on page 124? WELL, HE’S NOT THE ONLY THE ONE WHO’S BEEN TOASTED... At the start of 2003 I was on the Gold Coast. I love cyclone season up there. It’s warm, there’s waves, there’s a casino and plenty of girls. The whole buzz of the place sets me off. For those of you who’ve never experienced the Goldie, I’ll paint you a picture. The place has three of the world’s best pointbreaks, the mood’s laid back and it seems as if everyone takes advantage of Australia’s hospitable social security program. The crowds are evil. One morning Stamos, Beau Emerton and I checked Burleigh Heads. It was four foot and there was... nobody... out! See, when the sweep’s bad up there, no one can physically paddle against the rip. It’s the perfect place to get the ski out. Soon we were whipping into these crazy tubes and having the best time ever. But then I whipped Stamos into a bomb and instead of squirting over the back, I hung right out in front of the pit to see him get this incredible tube. I was hooting, freaking out, but then I realized I was too late to get out of there. I crept up the wave face, the sand sucked dry and the ski’s beak mowed under water and into the sand. A microsecond later and I’m tossed up over the hangers just like my old boy! I couldn’t believe it! The same mistake and I’m wearing a 1200 hp ski on my head. I seriously thought I was dead, the first person to die from whipping in... and on a three foot day! It turned out I was cool but the ski was toast. The moral of the story? You need to be able to create speed when you make late drops and hit the bottom of the pit with nothing. advertisement advertisement GET ON IN THERE, BOY.. Late drops only really happen on sucky waves. On fatter waves, there usually isn’t a problem. The greatest asset you’ll take into the late drop is confidence. The moment your mind questions itself it’s all over. The drop’s late, eh? You’re a good surfer, you’ve made thousands of drops, why is this one any different? If a ledging wave is peeling across a bank or reef don’t look back into the abyss. That’s not where you’re taking off so don’t let it rattle you. Spread your arms for balance, and use them to recoup speed after landing. Late drops go against all the physics you’ve learnt. Hang off your back foot when you take off and normally you’re going over the falls. With late drops, if you paddle hard enough and beat the lip you can hang off your back foot and still be sweet. Drops are usually your speed run into a wave and set you up for your ride. A freefall take off like the one pictured sees you land and almost stop dead. You’ve got to learn to climb from the bottom without any speed. Practice it. Okay, you’re on the wave… Driving your hand, arm, and shoulder in the wall is still the most efficient way of stalling. Make sure you’ve got a low center of gravity when you take it on otherwise you’ll get smoked. Kelly’s double-armed special. I’ve seen Kelly throw both arms in the wall to slow down. Try it without his style and the consequences could be tragic. The speed pump and the shimmy. Shimmying up your board through tubes is the best way to get out of quick pits. Wax accordingly. The doggy door. The sneaky front door exit before a wave closes out. No one can teach you when to find one, it’s purely instinctive. You won’t believe some of the tubes you’ll make. The frontside nose or rail grab? Only use in an emergency, especially for the style kids. A bit sketchy but like I’ve said if it works, it works.
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