Here are a few waves from the 10ft SUP surfing division from the NSW State Titles held up at One Mile Beach a few weeks ago.
Waves were a little small but that didn't stop James Casey who surfed with flow, style and speed and ended up winning the finals.

Great to watch and compete against these guys, I only made it through to the semi's but did get a few screamers early on (not on camera though )

Jeremy Corne took some epic photos of the comp too, you can check them out at www.facebook.com/JeremyCornePhotograpy/

Nice 10ft work, thanks for sharing
Esk

Warning: rant ahead...

I dont really understand what is going on here. Why using a longboard to surf it feet glued in the same position and never move on the board? And in some cases even paddling instead of walking up/down the board to manage the speed?

I get the conditions did not really were longboard-friendly, and maybe the judging criteria were biased towards shortboard-style manoeuvers, but seeing this vid I just wonder why using a longboard SUP there as they would have had much more fun with small wave short SUPs, if it was just to try to thread roller/bottoms glued to the tailpad.

End of rant :-)

This said, the riders were quite talented, that's obvious.

It does seem like using all 10 feet of the board should be part of the judging criteria.

Interesting conversation; one in which all the competitors discuss amongst ourselves and also have asked the judges & yes, scoring is based on longboard style; meaning nose rides and cross steps etc...

However nice cutbacks, flowing lines and close out reos are also scored very well

A few key points:

1 - These waves were only a handful of waves ridden throughout the comp, in fact I think this was only the final, and you can see Marty getting up on the nose and stepping up and down the board, and Harrison Kane was doing some really nice noserides throughout the comp which I either was not filming, competing myself or he fell so I didn't add the clip
2 - Yes the waves were gutless, with not much face on offer to really do anything,

So for me personally, if the choice was a gutless boggy noseride for a few seconds, or try complete a top turn and close out reo, I for one would choose the later. This is a comp and those moves were scoring more.....so is this a case of the judges not scoring properly?.....Maybe......but also longboarding has come a long way. I see in long board comps guys doing 360's, helicopters and even airs, so I guess you can stay a purest and just trim the face, or try to mix it up and add both classic longboarding moves like cross stepping and node rides, but also add some new flair.

I am interested to hear everyones opinions on this - So what does everyone reckon for longboarding SUP? Should a wave surfed really well, even if it is a very short wave with little prospects, but the rider did not do a cross step or nose ride or drop knee bottom turn (one of my favourite to watch) - should they still get a good score?

Or should progression be allowed to be scored equally?

Perhaps with the growing popularity of longboard SUP there should be a loggers/classic division in comps... eg. Single Fin only, 50/50 rails etc

I for one much prefer watching traditional moves on a longboard (whether SUP or prone). There is just so much more grace and style.

for eg. I could watch Kelia surf all day www.surfer.com/videos/kelia-moniz-style-queen-noosa/

Guys like Harley Ingleby and CJ Nelson rip also. Harley in a more modern way, CJ in a more traditional way.

But the video OP doesn't inspire me at all... Granted the conditions aren't suited very well though.

I've had a performance longboard SUP for a few years now and to be honest, now my feelings are that I should have a log style Sup for traditional LB surfing and then shortboard shapes for aggressive surfing.

For me, trying to mix the two doesn't produce the best of either.

For me, longboarding is not a figure skating performance, trying to perform as many tricks as possible.

It is surfing the wave, finding the best trajectories, but instead of doing it by changing the direction of the board as with a shortboard, it is by moving a lot along the board to pilot it and adapt constantly its speed and trim to what the wave is doing, even if not changing the board direction. At the extreme, on a shortboard you turn the board but do not move your feet, on a longboard you move your feet but do not turn the board, but in both case you adapt to what the wave is doing.

In the video of Kaeila, what is impressive is the way she reads the wave and adapt to it, piloting the board by just moving fore and aft, not the number of 360s or seconds on the nose. It should be great to find judging criteria reflecting this.

Good thread - cheers for posting Slatz
Was heartening to see the NSW state titles held in similar conditions to what I mostly get up here in Darwin during the Dry Season (April to October-ish).
Clearly the surfing was really good with some good moves in small conditions - but yeah, a lot of short board style hacks on longboards.
I wonder in comps like these, do we (should we) follow WSL longboard judging criteria? Note the WSL directly reference traditional longboarding (see below):

Article 70: Judging Criteria for Longboard
The Surfer must perform controlled manoeuvres in the critical section of the wave utilizing the entire board and wave using traditional longboard surfing.
The Surfer who performs this to the highest degree of difficulty with the most style, flow and grace will receive the highest score for a Ride.

Further to that above, the following are key elements for Judges to consider:
Nose riding and rail surfing
Critical section of wave
Variety
Speed and power
Commitment
Control
Foot work

NOTE: It's important to note that the emphasis of certain elements is contingent upon the location and the conditions on the day, as well as changes of conditions during the day.
NOTE: The following scale may be used to describe a Ride that is scored: 0-1.9 = Poor; 2.0-4.9 = Fair; 5.0-6.4 = Good; 6.5-7.9 = Very Good; 8.0-10.0 = Excellent.

Anyway, still got me goin' and was great to see what's happening around the joint.
See ya's in the green room!

From a competitive perspective, the criteria of judging should be adhered to, and yes I agree it seems pointless to have a 10' division and then just go out there and try and rip those waves apart like you would on a smaller board. Style flow grace were some of the key points mentioned and this is exactly what I think of in
long boarding. While it's hard to make a critical judgment on this particular comp as the video is short it does seem to me some more styling could have been adopted.

Select to expand quote

MangoDingo said..
Good thread - cheers for posting Slatz
Was heartening to see the NSW state titles held in similar conditions to what I mostly get up here in Darwin during the Dry Season (April to October-ish).
Clearly the surfing was really good with some good moves in small conditions - but yeah, a lot of short board style hacks on longboards.
I wonder in comps like these, do we (should we) follow WSL longboard judging criteria? Note the WSL directly reference traditional longboarding (see below):

Article 70: Judging Criteria for Longboard
The Surfer must perform controlled manoeuvres in the critical section of the wave utilizing the entire board and wave using traditional longboard surfing.
The Surfer who performs this to the highest degree of difficulty with the most style, flow and grace will receive the highest score for a Ride.

Further to that above, the following are key elements for Judges to consider:
Nose riding and rail surfing
Critical section of wave
Variety
Speed and power
Commitment
Control
Foot work

NOTE: It's important to note that the emphasis of certain elements is contingent upon the location and the conditions on the day, as well as changes of conditions during the day.
NOTE: The following scale may be used to describe a Ride that is scored: 0-1.9 = Poor; 2.0-4.9 = Fair; 5.0-6.4 = Good; 6.5-7.9 = Very Good; 8.0-10.0 = Excellent.

Anyway, still got me goin' and was great to see what's happening around the joint.
See ya's in the green room!

I'm trying to implement this in every 10ft SUP comp:

The judging criteria for the 10+ longboard sup.

"The 10 foot plus longboard sup surfer must perform controlled traditional manoeuvres with the highest degree of difficulty in the most critical sections of the wave to gain the highest score. Judges will reward the performance with reference to style and flow, visual appeal, commitment, functional use of the paddle to increase the intensity of the maneuvers, variety of manoeuvres and use of the entire board, speed and power. Nose riding, trimming and footwork will be important elements in the Judges decision-making."

The words: continual motion, flow, style and grace directly relates to how the surfer reads the wave and performing the manoeuvres that "fits" to the wave. Stylish and flowing
traditional elements will become obvious when the surfer is committing to the entire criteria.
Classic nose rides are usually best when the walk to the nose is set up by a tail stall or directly in from the arc of a turn.
Nose rides, touch 5 and 10's and extended 5's and 10's, Cheater 5 nose rides.
Cross-stepping, reverse walks, layback cutbacks, cutbacks, drop knee cutbacks, cross step cutback, roundhouse cutbacks, tube rides, cover-ups, re-entries, off the face and lip floaters are all considered to have a high scoring potential in the competition system.

Helicopters, tail 360's, dishpan cutbacks are considered but not highly scored.

The paddle is used in turns as a brace, a pivot, and a force multiplier. A surfer will be scored higher when he uses the paddle in some, or all, of these three ways to achieve sharper or more powerful turns

Use of the paddle when nose riding will be a critical factor when judging, style, finesse and use of balance will be considered.

Tricks such as twirling or otherwise using the paddle in a non-functional manner will earn no extra score for the surfer.

Yep - spot on Jonesy - love it.
You've captured all the key criteria that we want to see in longboarding.
I like the way you've referenced the tradition of longboarding and the elements that we are drawn to - especially those elements that make it so visually appealing to watch when surfed well. Style, form and function (and grace) - Boom!
Yep, there's nothing to be gained from trying to surf a longboard as you would a shorty. It doesn't look good and just doesn't work.
And, also that judges will consider the 'newer-type' moves but will not be scored highly, is again, good, smart scoring and will help to stand the sport in good stead.
Great stuff man - appreciate you taking the time to give an insight and keep up the good work!

"Use of the paddle when nose riding will be a critical factor when judging, style, finesse and use of balance will be considered. "
I find the paddle useful to help engage the right position in the wave face, then, in the noseriding itself, I find it pointless.

Shame about the music

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Funnsurfn said..
Shame about the music

... Specially when one gets used to the gr8 tunes Casso uses in his clips...

Yep I agree, the long board criteria needs to be followed. Nose rides, walking, and traditional surfing thrown in with progressive just as the long boarding criteria in the the ASP judging book. The boards in the video are small and have low volume more suited to turns and not trad surfing. In my opinion there was plenty of opportunity to walk the board in this video

I'm troubled that there are no points awarded for running over proners.

Surely some sort of bonus point system should apply to that?

Thanks Slatz, for sharing and stimulating these passionate emotional responses on Flow , Form , Grace , Style , full length use of the board to the conditions and the most underlying - our perception of surfing Heritage.

I'm for 2 categories, Logging and Progressive.
And I feel that the judging criteria needs to include points for the aspects of FUN,
those lower volume boards seemed like hard work ,
would higher volume n longer boards have allowed full length style with a different flow for the days conditions ?

Select to expand quote

colas said..
Warning: rant ahead...

I dont really understand what is going on here. Why using a longboard to surf it feet glued in the same position and never move on the board? And in some cases even paddling instead of walking up/down the board to manage the speed?

I get the conditions did not really were longboard-friendly, and maybe the judging criteria were biased towards shortboard-style manoeuvers, but seeing this vid I just wonder why using a longboard SUP there as they would have had much more fun with small wave short SUPs, if it was just to try to thread roller/bottoms glued to the tailpad.

End of rant :-)

This said, the riders were quite talented, that's obvious.

Absolutely Colas, it may as well have been, an unlimited sized board contest.
If you are going to have 2 categories, have 2 sets of criteria.
I found that whole thing very boring, great surfers, but boring.

Young fellas should blow a spliff before the heat.. That's why old boys rule the longboards.
Mellow out Mr Squiggles.

This is what i would call progressive longboarding compared to the traditional glide longboarding style.
Each style appeals to different people. However I do enjoy watching a traditional cross stepper, nose rider who is keeping the old style alive.

It's a comp so any opportunity to wiggle a turn or hit a section you need to take.
Some of its ugly but like I said with a rashie on style goes out the window for most. sometimes on a log less is more in my opinion

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Ashmullet said..
It's a comp so any opportunity to wiggle a turn or hit a section you need to take.

Yeah but it is a longboard SUP comp, my point is that if you have to move constantly to rake up points, on a longboard you move yourself relative to the board, on a shortboard you move the board. And the judging should encourage it, otherwise, what is the point of having longboard SUP contests at all, if they are to be considered as just "bad" (slow and bulky) shortboards, instead on focusing on their strengths?