Day 27 – COD?

a) Crack of Dawn
b) Cash on Delivery
c) Call of Duty (the 4th installment is the best video game ever)
d) Claim or Don’t
e) None of the above

I’m so stoked! It is a weird occurrence in sports when you get into the zone. I’ve been there in basketball, tennis, ping pong and of course surfing. Things slow down; the most minor adjustments come natural but are so critical to your performance. You know you're starting to hit your stride in surfing when you drop in and fade for a turn (turn the wrong way at first) and then bottom turn (go the other way) into a perfectly timed gouge – there is no margin for error, you know it and don’t think twice about it. Little adjustments to the way you're bending your knees, where your weight is, the positioning of your arms results in fluidly timing turns, maximizing efficiency in every movement. You're reacting with lightspeed and you don't even know you're reacting until after the wave is over and you have a second to think back at how you felt, you realize that some critical adjustments made the difference between surfing optimally and falling. It is interesting how many intangibles there are in surfing (or at least they seem like intangibles – they are not really, just hard to see). A good example is to look at the difference between the technique of a very good surfer and a kook, the subtle differences are sometimes not apparent to the naked eye (usually they are, however). When they are not, it is hard to pinpoint the reason one surfer goes really fast and turns without effort in the most critical spots and the other flails. Jason and I saw the latter occur yesterday. On a perfect left, a guy dropped in, we anticipated something special, we waited for the action, but then we both winced in disgust as the ugly reality of a wasted wave pained us. His effort reflected desire, but his technique was left behind by his mind’s eye. This happens a lot and the realization that it happens to you as well typically occurs the first time you see yourself on video. You realize how much of a kook you really are. You are sure that each turn is perfect and that you are one step below a pro, that sponsors are probably waiting for you on the beach, that other surfers watch you in awe, but have a look at the video man, it tells a different story. Arms are flying everywhere; you cannot believe how slow you are going, and what about that turn? It was ugly! Back to the drawing board…

So, with that introduction as a disclaimer, let me go through my most memorable experience that I had today. I had one wave in particular that doubled up (the wave is artificially thick as it is the combination of two waves) and a guy outside had just missed it so I turned and dropped in backside. I had plenty of time to set up for my bottom turn, which faded against the grain allowing me to fully wind up, wrapping my trailing arm around my body like a spring. This set me in position to unload underneath the lip with my body perfectly positioned over my board. Wow that felt good! I over-extended my turn, technically completing about 270 degrees resulting in a slide that was as out-of-control as my skills will allow, nudging up against disaster (blowing the wave) ever so softly, I was still at the top of the wave. As physics would have it, this position requires an air drop to get back into the transition part of the wave. This is what happened and I landed in control. To my surprise, I took one pump and was going very fast. The on coming white water was asking for my fins, I obliged throwing a have stalled rock-in-roll to complete the wave – a bit of a safe move, but I wasn’t going to blow it at this point. I have to admit it. There is not much better than that. Barrel, yep, but that is about it. I mean, I cannot stop thinking about how high I get when things just click out there. That’s why so many people surf. That’s why I’ve been doing it for 24 years. That’s why I wake up in the dark, put a wet wetsuit on and walk blindly down to the water’s edge. That’s why I do a surf streak. How many seconds did that all take? I would guess, front to back, less than 15. I’ve done a lot of things, but those 15 seconds take the cake. It is just too damn rewarding and yet, the question remains: did that tree just fall in the forest? The weirdest thing about surfing is that it does not matter. In this case, somebody saw the tree fall, but the anonymous kid didn’t change things much. It is certainly better if somebody sees it, especially one of your bros, but the marginal benefit (of a friend seeing it) is very small. I could feel the kid in front of me, he was looking at me, he wanted to give his approval for the ride, but I looked down at my board, turned it around and paddled back out. I almost never look up in those cases. It is not cool to admit to yourself or anyone else that this was not just business as usual.

And now the point of today’s entry: let’s talk about the claim, YOU DON’T DO IT. Now there are times where emotion gets the better of you and you claim a wave. The definition of a claim is basically a fit of emotion that signifies to the external world your satisfaction with your own accomplishment. YOU DON’T DO IT! If somebody sees you claim a wave that is not worth claiming, well you can't live that one down. You become a claimer, which is a bit derogatory. You’ll hear claiming jokes for the rest of your life. Things like, “Wow, way to open that door! Why don’t you claim it?” or “Dude you just parallel parked your car. Are you going to get out, throw your hands in air and claim it?” or “Way to put cream cheese on that bagel. Come on man just claim it!” Yeah, you don’t want to be claimer, so it is best to never claim. The interesting thing about claiming a wave is that it is your body’s natural reaction to want to release all of that emotion, and sometimes there is just so much adrenaline running through your system that you can almost explode by repressing a claim. But, once again, DO NOT CLAIM YOUR WAVE. The best answer is: d) Claim or DON’T.