what do you think of

[surfinJ]

Maybe James Cook killed surfing.

True, but lucky for us as now we have heaps of fun on the dead horse.

Out alone back in my prone days I loved the feeling of surfing leashless, something pure. Two handed board grab at the end of the ride.

I quickly learned that with a paddle in one hand a one handed grab for board was useless. So how do you do it?

  but I still grab my board and paddle when ever I wipe out.

[blueplanetsurf]

I just saw this video today, looks like surfing before leashes was no better than it is today:
https://www.facebook.com/100008797413562/videos/1427794277523806/?pnref=story

[littleray]

Leashes altered surfing in a more dramatic way than any other innovation.
I made one instantly out of "Shock cord".... looped around your ankle.... other end pushed though a hole drilled in the fin..... with a knot on the end to keep it from pulling out.

Before leashes, to be successful, you needed to become a waterman.
You needed to plan your paddle out.... and where you would surf.
Watermen stood on the beach and timed the sets.... learning the rips and  the best chance of getting outside.

Think of the breaks now surfed.... rocky shores, cliffs, dangerous rips
Before leash - they were surfed only by the best and craziest, because if you lost your board into the rocks, cliff, channel..... it was destroyed or gone.

Before Leash- People didn't take off on every wave. They chose more wisely, and only went if they had a decent chance of making it.
With a leash - They go for every wave. They take off too far back , call the wave and never make it.... who cares... they can just pull their board back and repeat

Before Leash- Clean up set meant just that..... kooks got caught inside, hammered and lost their board. The line-up was clean for the next 1/2 hour
Waterman saw sets coming and moved to the right spot and enjoyed an empty line-up for a while.

Before Leash- People got tired and left the water to rest
now they never leave

Before Leash- people didn't sit inside so casually..... if a big set rolled through.... they ended up with a long, slow, tiring swim.
Now they are a pain in the ass.... every set wave is an exercise in threading your way through the kooks inside
That's almost the worst of the bunch.....
EVERY good wave seems to be ruined in some way by people who clog the inside....

Before leashes..... surfers became very good swimmers... and watermen.

I'm a "set" surfer..... I will wait for the bigger waves.... it seems like I'm always deciding if I should thread the needle or straighten out.... blowing a great wave. That's the worst. Great waves ruined.
Surfing is all about the surfing.... not kook avoidance. That really sucks.... it has happened to me countless times this week alone.... sheeesh.... what's the point of getting a good wave???

But I ain't giving up MY leash any time soon 
[/quoteSo the pack sitting too far outside,paddling like their life depended on it,only to miss the wave and interfering with the surfer(s) sitting in the pocket from making it,thats alright?I figure there are just as many kooks outside as there are inside.No hall pass for setting up outside.

[supthecreek]

So littleray....  so everyone outside is a kook??
we just say fuck it?.....the best sets just get thrown under the bus, because some kooks can't catch a wave?
What?

You are NOT "sitting in the pocket" if the wave breaks WAY outside of your "pocket" position.... that's why they are the bigger sets. They are bigger. They break further out.
I'm not talking about stroking into an unbroken swell on a monster board, I'm talking about taking off in the pocket.... on a bigger set.... properly positioned and executed.

When I wait patiently outside for a good set.... I still believe that the people who chose to sit inside should pay attention, and when they are to far inside.... get the hell out of the way.

if not.... what are we doing out there?..... The person paddling out  becomes the "focus" ....not the rider on the wave?

[littleray]

So littleray....  so everyone outside is a kook??
we just say fuck it?.....the best sets just get thrown under the bus, because some kooks can't catch a wave?
What?

You are NOT "sitting in the pocket" if the wave breaks WAY outside of your "pocket" position.... that's why they are the bigger sets. They are bigger. They break further out.
I'm not talking about stroking into an unbroken swell on a monster board, I'm talking about taking off in the pocket.... on a bigger set.... properly positioned and executed.

When I wait patiently outside for a good set.... I still believe that the people who chose to sit inside should pay attention, and when they are to far inside.... get the hell out of the way.

if not.... what are we doing out there?..... The person paddling out  becomes the "focus" ....not the rider on the wave?

STC,i'm not sure you read my posting clearly. I wasn't talking about the cheery pickers inside.I'm talking about the ones that come barrelling into a wave from 20-25 yds out,trying for all their worth to climb over the back of the wave to get into it,only to miss it and mess it up for the SUS (surfer) in the right spot to catch it.I agree 100% with your pictures.Now what if you took yourself out of the wave and superimpose yourself on the back of those waves,scratching to get in it and being to late?Is that not a kook move? Typically,they then turn their attention to the following wave and try to get into that regardless of who else is in position.

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

if they are not in position they are not in the pocket if they  have to scramble for the outside  then they are too far inside.

Take it form me I know  I am outside wave  for a reason

 if want inside  waves i s'll surf inside. If I want set waves I wait  and get a set wave.  It actually comes from surfing without a leash and with early leashes.    You pick your location a lot  more carefully and your waves a lot more carefully  In my mind when I was surfing prone  and  also standup there is nothing worse  than sitting out side  and have some douche   paddle out trying to make a set and  going over the green water forcing you to hit  them or   back off or straighten out   or when  another douche  paddles out and tries to to a quick jam turn underneath you  to snake you, 
Now some times I will call a set   because every one goes  for the first wave and that  also cleans out the slalom  boys on the inside.

STC is right on. you want sets you sit outside  you want baby waves you sit inside  until you are good enough to sit outside  and get waves.

 I think in hawaii  that is like the pecking order?

[PonoBill]

It's kind of a different world than it used to be, but I remember surfing in Californicator back in the late 60's and early 70's and all the best breaks were swamped. Twenty people in every wave, most of them going straight. More than today. So I'm not sure what that's about.

Back in those days most people surfed without a leash. If I saw a board coming towards me I'd do everything I could to catch it and hold it for the other guy.  Now for the most part if I see a board zooming towards me and I know it's from a guy who was surfing without a leash it's "Ole" and wave goodbye. You wanna swim? Swim. I violated my rule to catch a 14' race board that I knew a guy was surfing at Dogpatch without a leash. I caught it and it clobbered me. That'll teach me. I should have let it roll around in the shore pound.

So yeah, things change.

Robert's video link is of nuttiness at Sunset, in big surf that always cleared out the posers. Any break south of Rincon in the early 70's had ten times that number of people in them. I remember pulling into Malibu on my motorcycle after a canyon ride out to the Rock Store and seeing what looked like 500 people surfing. Insane numbers popping up on every wave, all along the wave.