The Transition of Longboarding
Originally there was no such thing as longboards, just surfboards. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that surfers began differentiating between long and short boards. This went a whole lot further than just surf craft type and became an ideological, and cultural divide.
Progressive Longboarding
Through the 1990s and 00s longboarding reached an interesting place, and ultimately a crossroads. It had become a competitive sport, with points being scored for radical, progressive surfing. Shortboard-esque moves replaced the nose rides and drop knee turns of the previous generation. It wasn’t unusual to see longboarders hitting the lip with vertical turns, and even boosting airs. Longboard manufacturers embraced ultra-lightweight EPS and carbon fibre technology, a far cry from the boards surfers would struggle to carry down the beach in the early days.
Unfortunately, this progression often came at the expense of a primary element of longboarding. Style. As such it was frowned upon and derided by many surfers, despite the obvious talent required.
Traditional Longboarding
Traditional longboarding primarily focuses on nose riding single fin boards. The surfer flows with the breaking wave rather than attacking it.
During the “progressive” period, crews of longboarders around the world remained true to the old-school approach. Most notably, surfers in California and the Australian town of Noosa kept the original style of longboard surfing alive.
Modern Longboarding
Modern longboarding is very much following a traditional approach. The old-school single fin has returned as the staple of longboard shapes and hanging ten is the pinnacle of performance.
The World Surf League has reinvented the world longboard tour. The performance criteria are more akin to that of the early 60s than the ’90s and ’00s. Traditional surfboards and surfing are rewarded and a surfer has to be a student of history to succeed at the highest level.
Longboard surfers have reached a new level of cool and we are seeing the recent crop taking the approach of surfing legends while applying their own unique twist.
source: https://surfd.com/2021/10/the-18-most-stylish-longboard-surfers/