Hi Antonio, Thanks for your comment! I really appreciate it. I'm looking at creating more videos for those getting into surfing and this motivates me to take action.
Great video! A question about the OLD system pre-2022! *I know the last version was all about year-round points with no 5-surfer finale. It also didn't have mid-year cuts to the Challenger Series. Q #1) Did the Challenger Series and Qualifying Series still exist back then? If so, my guess is the best couple performers at Year-End would move UP to the harder series, and the worst couple performers would move DOWN to the lower Series.
Prior to 2022 there was no 'Challenger Series' (CS) it was only the Qualifying series (QS) and the World Championship Tour (CT). The challenges with this old system was that it was expensive for those surfers trying to Qualify through the QS because the events were all over the world and the number of surfers competing there made it extremely difficult to Qualify. Plus, if you fell off the CT (they would cull the lower end surfers at the end of the year) then you would have to wait an entire year to requalify and travel around the world again on the QS. Now the QS is done regionally (7 different regions) and those at the top go to the CS where they compete on a worldwide tour to Qualify for the CT. Hope this makes sense. The new system is not without problems or controversy. It's still expensive for the small group of surfers on the CS to fly around the world and try to qualify in the current environment of low sponsorship opportunities. And don't get me going on the Finals. While more exciting, it has been held at Trestles for three years (this upcoming will be the fourth). Trestles is an average wave for Pro level surfers and holding it at the same location gives CT surfers with small wave air skills an advantage (Filipe Toledo specifically) It can also be argued that it is unfair for surfers that have an overwhelming amount of points at the end of the season and then lose in the finals - Carissa Moore for example would have 7 championships rather then 5.
Thanks for creating this informative video. I've been trying to find information on the date ranges for the qualifying series and more information about how many of those surfers advance? I tried the rulebook but it was too much to sort through and specific search terms did not help. So looking for the date range of the qualifying series and what surfers get advanced out to the next level, Challenger series.
Hello and thanks for watching! If you go to the WSL website and click 'rankings' in the main menu, and then scroll down to the QS, you will see a 'men' and 'women' tab and then a menu that will let you select a region (there are 7 regions). Click men or women after selecting the region you would like and there is the data you are looking for! For example, Africa qualifies 4 men and 2 women (and a wildcard) to the CS based on best 2 results, While Australia/Oceana qualifies 7 men and 4 women (and a wildcard) based on 5 results. The QS season seems to be during the CS downtime as I've noticed those contests being announced during this time here in No. America. This would make sense to qualify surfers for the CS tour. I couldn't confirm that through the Rule book either. It's pretty weighty and a not my idea of a fun read! ha! Another important note is that those surfers that just missed CT qualification will not have to go back to the QS, but will be seeded in the following year. I did some numbers and if the QS qualifies 42 men (plus 7 wildcards) and 24 women (plus 7 wildcards) and there's 80 and 48 spots on the CS respectively, then the Top 31 men and the Top 17 women in the CS don't have to go back to the QS slog. Hope that helps and didn't put you to sleep! haha Best, Dave
I have a few questions about the movement of athletes between the QS and the CS. -It looks like 49 men and 30 women move up from the QS last year and into the CS. how many is that per region that move up from QS into the CS? -The QS, how many competitions per year do they take part in, and for what months of the year? Seems like CT is Jan-Sept. And CS is April-Nov. ~ approximately. -Do you know how many athletes approximately compete in each QS region?
More great questions.. Let's start with QS competitions. Each region determines their own schedule. You can view all the events by heading to the WSL website and in the main menu select 'SCHEDULE' and then in the toggle at the top select the year and select 'Qualifying Series". If you use the Tab to see 'Full Year' rather than 'monthly' you'll be able to peruse the events much more easily. I don't know the number of athletes that compete on the QS nor do I know how many qualify per region. I was asked this before and found the answer, but I don't see it now. I even went on a deep dive into the WSL rulebook (you can download this at the bottom of the WSL page where it says 'rules and regulations' and you can even download a pdf of the entire rulebook, which I did). If I can find this info, I'll come back and update. Cheers
THE MID YEAR CUT EXPLAINED: No one is exempt from the Mid Year Cut. It is based on rankings. You can see the most recent ranking here: www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/rankings The top 22 men's surfers and the top 10 women's surfers make the cut and qualify for the remainder of this year's tour and for following year's tour until the next mid year cut in 2023.
All the changes are good except for the mid year cut thats the only bad rule in my opinion, also that CT surfers are obliged in their contract to surf in at least one CS series is BS
@@WaveFlightSimulations I agree. In the video I called the new tour structure 'genius' and I regret that somewhat, but also was not aware of a lot of information. There is genius in the planning and logistics of it all, but it now seems overwhelming from a competitors stand point when you consider they are doing much more for less money. Further, I did not consider the injury statistics that show a sharp increase in surfers missing the tour due to injuries and there seems to be no good onramp for all of those sitting on the sidelines hurt from surfing. Until recently I was not aware of the rule where a CT competitor needs to surf 2 CT events (1 if they are a ten year veteran). I just looked it up in the rulebook (if you don't comply? $10,000 fine for first infraction, $25,000 fine for second- that's harsh). Here's the rule: During each Surfing Season, CT Surfers must compete in at least two (2) Challenger Series Events in different Regions, one of which must be licensed by the WSL Regional Office that controls the country of which the CT Surfer permanently resides for tax purposes. If there are no Challenger Series Events licensed by that WSL Regional Office, then a QS5000 Event from that Region or a Challenger from another Region must be competed in as a substitute. CT Surfers who have been on the CT for ten (10) years or more only need to compete in one (1) Challenger Series Event, which must be in their Region. If there are no Challenger Series Events available in their Region to compete in, the CT Surfer must compete in a QS5000 Event in their Region or a Challenger Series Event outside of their Region. Failure to comply with this Rule will result in discipline imposed in accordance with Rule 14.11.
This cut confuses me. Does this mean that surfers like JJF and Kelly Slater are exempt from getting cut or does it mean, that they too are potentially on the chopping block?
No one is exempt from the Mid Year Cut. It is based on rankings. Some have already qualified and I put that list at the bottom of this post. You can see the most recent ranking here: www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/rankings The top 22 men's surfers and the top 10 women's surfers make the cut and qualify for the remainder of this year's tour and for following year's tour until the next mid year cut in 2023. Here are the Men's Champions that have made the cut for 2022 (13 of 22): Filipe Toledo Kanoa Igarashi John John Florence Kelly Slater Barron Mamiya Italo Ferreira Caio Ibelli Ethan Ewing Miguel Pupo Seth Moniz Callum Robson Griffin Colapinto Jack Robinson
I’m slightly confused. So in the CS, only 12 men and 6 women will get spots into the following CT. But then once the CT reaches the mid season cut, there are 22 men and 11 women? Perhaps I’m getting the order of things mixed up here? Where do the extra surfers come from in the CT?
Hi Brandon. This is a great question and I may read this in an upcoming LIVE show because it is confusing! I'll try to explain it. There's 34 WCT Men's surfers and 17 Women's surfers that start the tour each year. At the midway point in the season (at Margaret River) the field is narrowed down or "CUT" to 22 men and 11 women. Those that make the cut qualify until the cut the following season. Those who do not make the cut can requalify through the Challenger Series (CS). The top 12 men and top 6 women at the end of the CS rankings qualify for the world tour and make it back on the WCT. So doing the math, add 22 mens surfers plus the 12 men that qualify, you get 34 men that start the season. Same for the women- 11 women plus 6 that qualify equals 17 women that start the WCT schedule. Hope this makes sense. Here's the advanced part Lol...Each event starts with 36 men and 18 women because there is a wildcard chosen for each event - 2 men's wildcards and 1 women's wildcard.
Thank you for your great video ! But could you please explain me why in the next cs event ( ericeira) just 48 Surfers already made it to the round of 64 , although there are 96 surfers in the cs( in the men’s class)? And the second question is : Who are the surfers in the round of 80 ? They are not part of the cs… Last question: Why have 30 surfers in the ct , after the fifth event, 10 leave , but you said there will be 12 newbies rising from the cs , so we have more athletes than earlier , that doesn’t make sense …
Great questions! You are right that there are 48 surfers already into the round of 64 and they are seeded in based on rankings. The other surfers are from the regional QS (Qualifying series) and again based on rankings and region get a crack on the CS (Challenger series). So that's my understanding anyway. On the World Surf League website on the bottom of the page is a 'rules and regulations' link that takes you to a page where you can actually download the rule book to fact check me! Ha! Now onto the Last question which is tricky because those 2 (1 in the women's) are Wildcards which are mixed in each event from either CS rankings, or the event's sponsors surfers or some random surfer that no one can figure out why they are there! The WSL often gets criticism for these wildcards, but you can see a pattern here of putting in surfers from lower tiers to compete on higher tiers. Hope this all makes sense and thanks for watching!
Thank you for your detailed response , but what happens with the other 48 cs - surfers ? They can’t get into the ct if just the better 50% compete in events
@@LeviK-df8un It's a rough world out there and all those other CS surfers have to try again the following year! You can see how difficult it is to make the WCT. The best of the best is a very select few surfers.
BREAKING NEWS: It looks like the WSL Finals will be at TRESTLES! What?! I didn't see that coming. Looks like logistics and convenience helped make the call. Meanwhile the Trestles event currently on regular 2022 tour will now be replaced with El Salvador's Punta Rocas - A long right point that looks like a softer version of Barra. This looks like a great place for an event. Let me know what you think.
@@marcusbrandao7472 I just finished and posted a video about the New WCT Qualifiers and should have my Billabong Pro Pipeline picks video out early next week. Trestles is easy for the WSL with the Pandemic going on. I like the addition of El Salvador. The same place the ISA games were held btw. I just hope we don't get stuck there. WSL promised a FInals that would travel and an interview I saw on Stab seemed to back step. Dang.
it doesn't reset after the season, it goers to the next half season, that's dumb. It's also dumb to cut surfers people want to see, especially when certain surfers have waves that suit their style. Also, you potentially screwed the ability for a cut surfer to keep their sponsor. All surfers should keep surfing the tour but the "Cut" could simply be a change in the points system to cut vs non-cut surfers. meaning, only NON cut surfers can win the top to positions and title. Why would WSL want to dillute the contests into different tours? Go take a look at NASCAR and see how that worked out for them.
I made this video back in 2022 when everyone was excited about the new system. We saw G-land on the CT and the CS looked like a decent schedule. Since then things have changed...Surf Ranch is back and they took Haleiwa off the CS - Both big negatives to me. My thoughts on the new system have evolved, although the info in here remains factual. I think the WSL has financial issues or at least doing some cost cutting while the surfers themselves make less and less each year. I thought the CS would offer enough viewership to get sponsors involved, but it hasn't and it's sad that some CT surfers struggle to pay bills on the 'world's biggest surfing stage'. I like your idea of having the two tours parallel. I've never heard this before. Interesting. Qualifying new surfers on tour would need a system feeding from the QS, but I see it as workable especially with the women eventually expanding to an equal number as the men. The future though begs for a tour with less focus on the beach audience and more focus on streaming entertainment making competitive surfing more flexible to get better waves and increased viewership. If this doesn't happen I'll turn this into a channel about dogs and make memes or something. Ha!
You’ve over complicated it here old mate. Mid year cut= bunch of middle aged boomer Americans trying to turn surfing into a bland reality tv show like the ultimate surfer. Which equals boring bullshit drama and less diversity in the surfers. Such a disappointment.
Hi Mikael and thanks for this comment. First, I want to make it clear that I don't work for the WSL and am not affiliated with them in any way. I get no incentive to promote them. My goal is to simplify what has become complicated in the surfing world as it develops and changes. At one point in the video I call the new WSL plan 'genius' and I regret it in that it looks like I am co-signing all of this when instead I am acknowledging the intelligent logistics it took to figure it all out. You have to give it to them there. I made this video at the start of the 2022 season and before we got to see it work. To me there have been improvements and disappointments. The reality TV show aspect of what I see makes me sick. Its gross and I have said that in several different forums and comments on this channel. We are better than that. I come from a time when Curren and Occy and Andy and Kelly created plenty of drama and good surfing to make it engaging. Where world titles were won by points and surf stars partied. I also come from a time where flat Florida surf was part of the tour and G-Land wasn't on the menu. I wouldn't just blame 'middle aged boomer Americans' for the changes. I'd say the world we live in now with tiktok attention spans, excessive drama and scripted stories creates these changes. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes not so much.
Thank you so much! Im new to the surf world and this helped me so much in understanding how it works!
Hi Antonio, Thanks for your comment! I really appreciate it. I'm looking at creating more videos for those getting into surfing and this motivates me to take action.
Great explanation! Thank you so much
Thanks for watching!
Great Video! Keep up with the great work
Great video! A question about the OLD system pre-2022!
*I know the last version was all about year-round points with no 5-surfer finale. It also didn't have mid-year cuts to the Challenger Series.
Q #1) Did the Challenger Series and Qualifying Series still exist back then? If so, my guess is the best couple performers at Year-End would move UP to the harder series, and the worst couple performers would move DOWN to the lower Series.
Prior to 2022 there was no 'Challenger Series' (CS) it was only the Qualifying series (QS) and the World Championship Tour (CT). The challenges with this old system was that it was expensive for those surfers trying to Qualify through the QS because the events were all over the world and the number of surfers competing there made it extremely difficult to Qualify.
Plus, if you fell off the CT (they would cull the lower end surfers at the end of the year) then you would have to wait an entire year to requalify and travel around the world again on the QS.
Now the QS is done regionally (7 different regions) and those at the top go to the CS where they compete on a worldwide tour to Qualify for the CT.
Hope this makes sense.
The new system is not without problems or controversy. It's still expensive for the small group of surfers on the CS to fly around the world and try to qualify in the current environment of low sponsorship opportunities.
And don't get me going on the Finals. While more exciting, it has been held at Trestles for three years (this upcoming will be the fourth). Trestles is an average wave for Pro level surfers and holding it at the same location gives CT surfers with small wave air skills an advantage (Filipe Toledo specifically)
It can also be argued that it is unfair for surfers that have an overwhelming amount of points at the end of the season and then lose in the finals - Carissa Moore for example would have 7 championships rather then 5.
@@OldSurfDad incredibly helpful thank you
Thanks for creating this informative video. I've been trying to find information on the date ranges for the qualifying series and more information about how many of those surfers advance? I tried the rulebook but it was too much to sort through and specific search terms did not help. So looking for the date range of the qualifying series and what surfers get advanced out to the next level, Challenger series.
Hello and thanks for watching!
If you go to the WSL website and click 'rankings' in the main menu, and then scroll down to the QS, you will see a 'men' and 'women' tab and then a menu that will let you select a region (there are 7 regions). Click men or women after selecting the region you would like and there is the data you are looking for!
For example, Africa qualifies 4 men and 2 women (and a wildcard) to the CS based on best 2 results, While Australia/Oceana qualifies 7 men and 4 women (and a wildcard) based on 5 results.
The QS season seems to be during the CS downtime as I've noticed those contests being announced during this time here in No. America. This would make sense to qualify surfers for the CS tour. I couldn't confirm that through the Rule book either. It's pretty weighty and a not my idea of a fun read! ha!
Another important note is that those surfers that just missed CT qualification will not have to go back to the QS, but will be seeded in the following year.
I did some numbers and if the QS qualifies 42 men (plus 7 wildcards) and 24 women (plus 7 wildcards) and there's 80 and 48 spots on the CS respectively, then the Top 31 men and the Top 17 women in the CS don't have to go back to the QS slog.
Hope that helps and didn't put you to sleep! haha
Best,
Dave
Thanks for this explanation, now everything makes sense 🤯
Thanks for watching Arthur! New 2023 WSL season starts in January!
Very well explained. Thank you.
Thank you! New Season starts January 29, 2024 and my Fantasy League opens in the new year. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the clarification old dad! 👍🏼
I have a few questions about the movement of athletes between the QS and the CS.
-It looks like 49 men and 30 women move up from the QS last year and into the CS. how many is that per region that move up from QS into the CS?
-The QS, how many competitions per year do they take part in, and for what months of the year? Seems like CT is Jan-Sept. And CS is April-Nov. ~ approximately.
-Do you know how many athletes approximately compete in each QS region?
More great questions..
Let's start with QS competitions. Each region determines their own schedule. You can view all the events by heading to the WSL website and in the main menu select 'SCHEDULE' and then in the toggle at the top select the year and select 'Qualifying Series". If you use the Tab to see 'Full Year' rather than 'monthly' you'll be able to peruse the events much more easily.
I don't know the number of athletes that compete on the QS nor do I know how many qualify per region. I was asked this before and found the answer, but I don't see it now. I even went on a deep dive into the WSL rulebook (you can download this at the bottom of the WSL page where it says 'rules and regulations' and you can even download a pdf of the entire rulebook, which I did). If I can find this info, I'll come back and update. Cheers
THE MID YEAR CUT EXPLAINED:
No one is exempt from the Mid Year Cut. It is based on rankings. You can see the most recent ranking here: www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/rankings
The top 22 men's surfers and the top 10 women's surfers make the cut and qualify for the remainder of this year's tour and for following year's tour until the next mid year cut in 2023.
All the changes are good except for the mid year cut thats the only bad rule in my opinion, also that CT surfers are obliged in their contract to surf in at least one CS series is BS
@@WaveFlightSimulations I agree. In the video I called the new tour structure 'genius' and I regret that somewhat, but also was not aware of a lot of information. There is genius in the planning and logistics of it all, but it now seems overwhelming from a competitors stand point when you consider they are doing much more for less money.
Further, I did not consider the injury statistics that show a sharp increase in surfers missing the tour due to injuries and there seems to be no good onramp for all of those sitting on the sidelines hurt from surfing.
Until recently I was not aware of the rule where a CT competitor needs to surf 2 CT events (1 if they are a ten year veteran). I just looked it up in the rulebook (if you don't comply? $10,000 fine for first infraction, $25,000 fine for second- that's harsh).
Here's the rule: During each Surfing Season, CT Surfers must compete in at least
two (2) Challenger Series Events in different Regions, one of
which must be licensed by the WSL Regional Office that controls
the country of which the CT Surfer permanently resides for tax
purposes. If there are no Challenger Series Events licensed by
that WSL Regional Office, then a QS5000 Event from that Region
or a Challenger from another Region must be competed in as a
substitute. CT Surfers who have been on the CT for ten (10)
years or more only need to compete in one (1) Challenger Series
Event, which must be in their Region. If there are no Challenger
Series Events available in their Region to compete in, the CT
Surfer must compete in a QS5000 Event in their Region or a
Challenger Series Event outside of their Region. Failure to
comply with this Rule will result in discipline imposed in
accordance with Rule 14.11.
This cut confuses me.
Does this mean that surfers like JJF and Kelly Slater are exempt from getting cut or does it mean, that they too are potentially on the chopping block?
No one is exempt from the Mid Year Cut. It is based on rankings. Some have already qualified and I put that list at the bottom of this post. You can see the most recent ranking here: www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/rankings
The top 22 men's surfers and the top 10 women's surfers make the cut and qualify for the remainder of this year's tour and for following year's tour until the next mid year cut in 2023.
Here are the Men's Champions that have made the cut for 2022 (13 of 22):
Filipe Toledo
Kanoa Igarashi
John John Florence
Kelly Slater
Barron Mamiya
Italo Ferreira
Caio Ibelli
Ethan Ewing
Miguel Pupo
Seth Moniz
Callum Robson
Griffin Colapinto
Jack Robinson
@@OldSurfDad "No one is exempt from the Mid Year Cut"
Ahh excellent, so it is fair then. Cool man, tyvm.
I’m slightly confused. So in the CS, only 12 men and 6 women will get spots into the following CT. But then once the CT reaches the mid season cut, there are 22 men and 11 women? Perhaps I’m getting the order of things mixed up here? Where do the extra surfers come from in the CT?
Hi Brandon. This is a great question and I may read this in an upcoming LIVE show because it is confusing!
I'll try to explain it. There's 34 WCT Men's surfers and 17 Women's surfers that start the tour each year. At the midway point in the season (at Margaret River) the field is narrowed down or "CUT" to 22 men and 11 women. Those that make the cut qualify until the cut the following season.
Those who do not make the cut can requalify through the Challenger Series (CS). The top 12 men and top 6 women at the end of the CS rankings qualify for the world tour and make it back on the WCT.
So doing the math, add 22 mens surfers plus the 12 men that qualify, you get 34 men that start the season. Same for the women- 11 women plus 6 that qualify equals 17 women that start the WCT schedule.
Hope this makes sense.
Here's the advanced part Lol...Each event starts with 36 men and 18 women because there is a wildcard chosen for each event - 2 men's wildcards and 1 women's wildcard.
Do they throw away the worse result out of the first 5 events pre-cut to determine the top 22 ?
Thank you for your great video !
But could you please explain me why in the next cs event ( ericeira) just 48 Surfers already made it to the round of 64 , although there are 96 surfers in the cs( in the men’s class)?
And the second question is : Who are the surfers in the round of 80 ? They are not part of the cs…
Last question: Why have 30 surfers in the ct , after the fifth event, 10 leave , but you said there will be 12 newbies rising from the cs , so we have more athletes than earlier , that doesn’t make sense …
Great questions! You are right that there are 48 surfers already into the round of 64 and they are seeded in based on rankings. The other surfers are from the regional QS (Qualifying series) and again based on rankings and region get a crack on the CS (Challenger series).
So that's my understanding anyway. On the World Surf League website on the bottom of the page is a 'rules and regulations' link that takes you to a page where you can actually download the rule book to fact check me! Ha!
Now onto the Last question which is tricky because those 2 (1 in the women's) are Wildcards which are mixed in each event from either CS rankings, or the event's sponsors surfers or some random surfer that no one can figure out why they are there! The WSL often gets criticism for these wildcards, but you can see a pattern here of putting in surfers from lower tiers to compete on higher tiers.
Hope this all makes sense and thanks for watching!
Thank you for your detailed response , but what happens with the other 48 cs - surfers ?
They can’t get into the ct if just the better 50% compete in events
@@LeviK-df8un It's a rough world out there and all those other CS surfers have to try again the following year! You can see how difficult it is to make the WCT. The best of the best is a very select few surfers.
Ok , thank you
BREAKING NEWS: It looks like the WSL Finals will be at TRESTLES! What?! I didn't see that coming. Looks like logistics and convenience helped make the call. Meanwhile the Trestles event currently on regular 2022 tour will now be replaced with El Salvador's Punta Rocas - A long right point that looks like a softer version of Barra. This looks like a great place for an event. Let me know what you think.
@@marcusbrandao7472 I just finished and posted a video about the New WCT Qualifiers and should have my Billabong Pro Pipeline picks video out early next week.
Trestles is easy for the WSL with the Pandemic going on. I like the addition of El Salvador. The same place the ISA games were held btw.
I just hope we don't get stuck there. WSL promised a FInals that would travel and an interview I saw on Stab seemed to back step. Dang.
Mentawai
it doesn't reset after the season, it goers to the next half season, that's dumb. It's also dumb to cut surfers people want to see, especially when certain surfers have waves that suit their style. Also, you potentially screwed the ability for a cut surfer to keep their sponsor. All surfers should keep surfing the tour but the "Cut" could simply be a change in the points system to cut vs non-cut surfers. meaning, only NON cut surfers can win the top to positions and title. Why would WSL want to dillute the contests into different tours? Go take a look at NASCAR and see how that worked out for them.
I made this video back in 2022 when everyone was excited about the new system. We saw G-land on the CT and the CS looked like a decent schedule. Since then things have changed...Surf Ranch is back and they took Haleiwa off the CS - Both big negatives to me. My thoughts on the new system have evolved, although the info in here remains factual.
I think the WSL has financial issues or at least doing some cost cutting while the surfers themselves make less and less each year. I thought the CS would offer enough viewership to get sponsors involved, but it hasn't and it's sad that some CT surfers struggle to pay bills on the 'world's biggest surfing stage'.
I like your idea of having the two tours parallel. I've never heard this before. Interesting. Qualifying new surfers on tour would need a system feeding from the QS, but I see it as workable especially with the women eventually expanding to an equal number as the men.
The future though begs for a tour with less focus on the beach audience and more focus on streaming entertainment making competitive surfing more flexible to get better waves and increased viewership.
If this doesn't happen I'll turn this into a channel about dogs and make memes or something. Ha!
You’ve over complicated it here old mate. Mid year cut= bunch of middle aged boomer Americans trying to turn surfing into a bland reality tv show like the ultimate surfer. Which equals boring bullshit drama and less diversity in the surfers. Such a disappointment.
Hi Mikael and thanks for this comment.
First, I want to make it clear that I don't work for the WSL and am not affiliated with them in any way. I get no incentive to promote them.
My goal is to simplify what has become complicated in the surfing world as it develops and changes. At one point in the video I call the new WSL plan 'genius' and I regret it in that it looks like I am co-signing all of this when instead I am acknowledging the intelligent logistics it took to figure it all out. You have to give it to them there.
I made this video at the start of the 2022 season and before we got to see it work. To me there have been improvements and disappointments.
The reality TV show aspect of what I see makes me sick. Its gross and I have said that in several different forums and comments on this channel. We are better than that.
I come from a time when Curren and Occy and Andy and Kelly created plenty of drama and good surfing to make it engaging. Where world titles were won by points and surf stars partied. I also come from a time where flat Florida surf was part of the tour and G-Land wasn't on the menu.
I wouldn't just blame 'middle aged boomer Americans' for the changes. I'd say the world we live in now with tiktok attention spans, excessive drama and scripted stories creates these changes.
Sometimes they are good. Sometimes not so much.