Pro Surfing and Contests
Where are the air shows?
There was a time a few years back, when there were the tour guys and the “air guys”, and never betwixt the two did meet. Guys on the pro tour either couldn’t or wouldn’t consider trying airs in heats. First off, there was always the chance they could fall or blow the wave, and second, judges didn’t know how to factor airs into the judging criteria. In fact, just a few years back, there was only a handful of guys on tour that could keep up with the “air guys”; and these were supposed to be the best all around surfers in the world. On the flip side, while some of the “air guys” were doing innovative new aerials, they were criticized for not being able to throw down solid turns. They were seen as one trick ponies, unable to do anything but punt a big air. The surfing on the World Tour and at air shows was so different that an entire pseudo-tour was set up for the “air guys”. Then things began to change. Guys like Taj Burrow, Andy Irons, Joel Parkinson, Cory Lopez, Kelly Slater and others began to bring aerial surfing to the World Tour. Now, if you can’t bring an aerial repertoire to the tour, you’re going to have a tough run of things, as one big air can bring higher points than five or six “safe” turns on a given wave. Even Occy learned to do airs towards the end of his run on the World Tour. As a result of the progress on tour and some of the best aerialists in the world now being on tour, the airshow is slowly becoming a sideshow, a thing of days past, forcing guys like Aaron Cormican, Eric McHenry, Justin Matteson and others to round off their abilities or become obsolete. The air shows haven’t completely disappeared yet, but their dreams of launching a full blown tour have come and gone with the tides.
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