I am 5'9" should be a ripper apparently - but am not. Must be the day job

www.theinertia.com/surf/5-9-is-the-optimal-height-for-a-surfer-aka-short-people-rule-surfing/


Do you struggle with issues pertaining to verticality? Have you spent hours Googling "famous short people"? Do you wish you were a little bit taller, wish you were a baller, wish you had a rabbit in a hat with a bat and a six four Impala?Dream no longer, my stunted friends, because I am here to offer you hope! I can show you a world where you are no longer left upwardly wanting, a world where all the shelves are accessible, and all the rollercoasters rideable without adult supervision! It's a magical world where the little man is king! It is the world of surfing! Yes, I swear it's true.

Short people, though diminutive in stature and sometimes big on chipped shoulders, are often particularly good at surfing!And this is great news, because let's face it, we do exist in a society where "heightism" is a thing. It's not a thing like war, or poverty, or racism; but it is a thing like photobombing, deep fried Mars Bars, and #swag. Height prejudice exists in everything from business, to politics, to dating.It's a well-documented fact that most women prefer taller men. You're probably guilty of squinting curiously at couples where the woman is significantly taller than the man. We are conditioned to see it as an oddity. (As an unrelated sidenote: it does strike me as a screaming hypocrisy that many women baulk at notions of sexism whilst simultaneously dismissing any male specimen who doesn't meet their specified height requirement, even to the point of unabashedly mocking them).These lonely, tiny people also have less money than others of greater genetic fortune.

According to research by the British Medical Journal: "Shorter height leads to lower levels of education, lower job status, and less income." This has been the finding of several studies. So theoretically, over the course of a 30 year career, someone who is 6 feet tall might expect to earn $19,200 more than someone who is 5' 4"! Crazy talk.But fear not, little guy! Surfing is your salvation! Get yourself a board with your meager pennies and get thee to the beach, because you're almost guaranteed to smoke Mr. 6-foot Big Time Charlie! You see, people over 6 feet tall just don't make good surfers.In fact, since the inception of the Men's Championship Tour in 1983/84 there have been 16 different world champions. Of those surfers only two have made the 6-foot mark: Joel Parkinson in 2012 (6' 0") and Andy Irons in 2002, 2003 and 2004 (6' 1/2").Of the current top 34 male surfers in the world only six men measure over 6 feet: Joel Parkinson, John Florence, Jordy Smith, Julian Wilson, Sebastian Zietz and Adam Melling.

In previous incarnations of the Tour, this number has been far less. All of these surfers are between 6' 0" and 6' 1" with the exception of our very own Gulliver: Jordy Smith, who, in the context of surfing's race of Lilliputians, stands at a gigantic 6' 3"!The best competitive surfer in the world (Italo Ferreira) is a mere 5' 6" - the size of a large child. I'm not sure how tall Mason Ho is, but he is certainly one of the best freesurfers in the world and has a big head like Tyrion Lannister.The height du'jour at the top level of men's surfing appears to be 5' 9".

Quite unbelievably, greater than one third of the current men's top 34 are exactly 5 feet and 9 inches tall. The surfers listed at this height are: Adrian Buchan, Conner Coffin, Stuart Kennedy, Wiggolly Dantas, Filipe Toledo, Kanoa Igarashi, Jeremy Flores, Josh Kerr, Taj Burrow, Miguel Pupo, Alejo Muniz and Kelly Slater.The fact that twelve of the world's top 34 surfers are precisely 5' 9" is probably just coincidence (or is it?!), but in many ways being short is advantageous to surfing. Less height allows for a low center of gravity, leading to good balance and a strong power base. If you're short you're probably quite light as well, which lends nicely to small wave performance.

It stands to reason that you can probably make it in and out of more barrels than a tall person. And guess what? The smaller you are, the more days of decent, overhead surf you'll get!Yes, in the surfing world the little guy truly is king. If you don't quite make it as a pro there will be other jobs for you (see: Glenn "Micro" Hall and Travis "Chimney Sweep" Logie). Surfing may be one of the few walks of life where above average height seems to be a distinct disadvantage. And if you're 6-foot+ you can pretty much forget it! At any rate, this has been part of my armoury of excuses for many a year, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm 6'3"... when I have a great days surfing I still feel like a world champ, I'd hate to shatter that ideal by seeing the reality in video footage of the same session though

Jordy?

6 3 and a hundred length and volume are my friends

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Ted the Kiwi said..
Jordy?

bahahha, LOL, haven't had a dream yet that would see me surf that well!

Tom Carrol... height..?

6" on a good day Ted.

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Cobra said...
6" on a good day Ted.

Folded in half ?

The little mans syndrome gives peeps strong drive to compete, you see it in all levels of life & there is no surprise to find short people in surf comps as a result

Surprised to hear your 5'9 Ted, thought you were taller. I guess I don't perceive 5'9 as being all that short...maybe just average...dunno...

I didn't even read all that before i came to the conclusion of who gives a **** and what a load of crap, inane written cods wallop by some half wit from over there

Ok so now I know why my surfing's average, I'm too tall. And here's me thinking it was because I lacked skill.

My two cents worth;
I'm a short arse, does that mean I surf better than I think? Probably not .
Nat Young was a good length, but so were the boards back in the day.
Being light does make it easier on the smaller days.
When I met my lady loves grand mother, the first thing she said to me was " I thought you would be taller" I told her mum and dad thought so too.
If you see me at the pub and you rest your beer on my head I will punch you in the nuts
lighten up Ricardo

Short people have it easier with their lower centre of gravity.

Me? 6'2".

This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

What is this

Some kind of "apartheight"

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SRrat said..
My two cents worth;
I'm a short arse, does that mean I surf better than I think? Probably not .
Nat Young was a good length, but so were the boards back in the day.
Being light does make it easier on the smaller days.
When I met my lady loves grand mother, the first thing she said to me was " I thought you would be taller" I told her mum and dad thought so too.
If you see me at the pub and you rest your beer on my head I will punch you in the nuts
lighten up Ricardo

I like the Boy..

I'm a short arse 5'6"..so now I have no excuses ..

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chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

I think height can actually help in the air game, allows more projection. Watch John john and Jordy, they kinda use their height to really slingshot themselves into maneuvers.

I think in the SB game there's advantages to both dependent on the wave.

I think when it comes to logging weight is way more important, I'm pretty sure that if I could drop 10kg i'd get way more tip time, (like that runty lil TC) problem is i'm far too partial to a beer or ten and good feed

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chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

Only thing a short person are good for are gymnastics. Or dwarth throwing.

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AndyrooMac said...

chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

I think height can actually help in the air game, allows more projection. Watch John john and Jordy, they kinda use their height to really slingshot themselves into maneuvers.

I think in the SB game there's advantages to both dependent on the wave.

I think when it comes to logging weight is way more important, I'm pretty sure that if I could drop 10kg i'd get way more tip time, (like that runty lil TC) problem is i'm far too partial to a beer or ten and good feed

No way,jj and Jordy are the rarity of the air game. Check out your local and see what size are doing what. Put Jordy against Felipe in two ft surf and tell me that size will help them.

Plus it is amazing technique and speed generation plus a amazing skill level to do what those two can do.

On the longboard weight I used to think like everyone else until I saw people like Thomas Bexon surf. I think it would help me to noseride if I had just a way bigger board.

After thought, surely if a 60 kg whippet can noseride, why Don T we just have mals that are weight proportionate for a bigger persons needs?

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Cobra said..

chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

Only thing a short person are good for are gymnastics. Or dwarth throwing.

Ahh, finally an area that I can demonstate a natural aptitude and genuine ability, Dwarf throwing !

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Surf69 said...

Cobra said..

chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

Only thing a short person are good for are gymnastics. Or dwarth throwing.

Ahh, finally an area that I can demonstate a natural aptitude and genuine ability, Dwarf throwing !

Wouldn't you be more of a midlength human?

Sorry Ted but I don't give out that sort of information.

I get too embarrassed.

ET.

5'8 down from 5'10 at school how the **** did that happen....I wish I surfed as good as my height says I should...maybe its cause I weigh 85 internet kilos

6'3" and 105kg's. I love riding sub 6' boards, but my wave catching was seriously compromised. I've now got myself a 9'2" and thinking of getting a 9'6" or bigger as I'm quite enjoying the longboard experience. Still want to get myself some sub 8' boards too though.

Best thing about being tall and heavy is in bigger heavier waves... unfortunately I don't get many of them around where I live.

Have alwaays been just over 6' until age shrinkage (63 now) kicked in ..so by the time I'm 70 I'll be correct height for rippin'.. (stewards don't check the weight!)

Ted,
There was a reason Napoleon never got off his horse!

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chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Because most stop skating when they a children.

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chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

UMMM... The Birdman AKA Tony Hawk 6'3"

Some surfers over 6 foor that come to mind would be,
Simon Anderson, Ian Cairns, Nat young, The Duke, Laird, Margo, Terry Fitz, Dean Brady, MR ( 6ft ??)- Unsure , Parko, John John, AI,
And me

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Locky24 said...

chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

UMMM... The Birdman AKA Tony Hawk 6'3"

Some surfers over 6 foor that come to mind would be,
Simon Anderson, Ian Cairns, Nat young, The Duke, Laird, Margo, Terry Fitz, Dean Brady, MR ( 6ft ??)- Unsure , Parko, John John, AI,
And me

Hawk is a vert skater......and a rare farking bird is he.

On your surfers doing airs,well from that list ut is easy to see who can. Parko doing airs looks old and funny and funny compared to the air game these groms have.

But you locky I would assume from.your post that you are doing back flips and rodeos, you are very blessed and skilled big man

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Locky24 said..

chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

UMMM... The Birdman AKA Tony Hawk 6'3"

Some surfers over 6 foor that come to mind would be,
Simon Anderson, Ian Cairns, Nat young, The Duke, Laird, Margo, Terry Fitz, Dean Brady, MR ( 6ft ??)- Unsure , Parko, John John, AI,
And me

Yep MR is tall, so was MP...according to 2016's surfboard of the year. Teamrider Parko...oh hang'on, yeah he's 6'0. I was thinking of his 5'9 surfboard haha
www.jsindustries.com/blak-box-2-squash-tail

Just wish I'd stopped skating when I was a kid instead of farking my knee at 22

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AndyrooMac said..

chrispy said..
This applies moreso with the coming of the aerial. Not many tall successful skaters out there.

Tall people should be playing basketball not pretending to be surfers.

I think height can actually help in the air game, allows more projection. Watch John john and Jordy, they kinda use their height to really slingshot themselves into maneuvers.

I think in the SB game there's advantages to both dependent on the wave.

I think when it comes to logging weight is way more important, I'm pretty sure that if I could drop 10kg i'd get way more tip time, (like that runty lil TC) problem is i'm far too partial to a beer or ten and good feed

Drink spirits not beer old man Or has that time passed?

For everyone else interests, I am about 5'9 And only 62kg so maybe a bit runtish as andy so kindly describes me