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Bodyboarding
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Bodyboarding is a derivative of wave riding. The average board consists of a small, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam. The board can be shaped and adapted to different riding styles, and size of rider. Bodyboarding has been growing very rapidly over the last couple of decades and has now developed into one of the fastest growing extreme water sports in the world.
r to the 20th century, boards were made from paipo wood.
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Encyclopedia
Bodyboarding is a derivative of wave riding. The average board consists of a small, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam. The board can be shaped and adapted to different riding styles, and size of rider. Bodyboarding has been growing very rapidly over the last couple of decades and has now developed into one of the fastest growing extreme water sports in the world.
History
Prior to the 20th century, boards were made from paipo wood. Modern popularization of the sport was made possible by Tom Morey who designed the first mass-produced bodyboard coined the "Morey 'Boogie' Board". Though the initial rider for Morey was Ben Field, as the years progressed and the sport went to higher levels, competing became a larger aspect of the sport.
The board
The bodyboard differs from a surfboard in that it is much shorter and made of foam. The board consists of a foam 'core' encapsulated by a plastic bottom and a softer foam top known as the deck. The core is made up from dow/polyethylene, arcel or, more recently, polypropylene. Each type of foam gives the bodyboard a different amount of flex and control for the rider. Dow/polyethelene cores are best suited to cooler waters as they can be too flexible in warm water and the board does not flex properly.
Some boards contain one or two rods (usually of carbon or graphite) called stringers to strengthen the board, reduce deformation, and add stiffness and recoil to the core, giving greater speed from bottom turns. If a single stringer is used, it is placed in the center of the board running parallel to the rails. If two are used, they are placed symmetrically about the y-axis. Knowing the number of stringers and their placements is important to prevent damage to the board when punching a hole for a leash plug. Adding a stringer to a polypropylene/arcel core can make it too stiff for cool water. Speed from the bottom turn is increased when a bodyboarder bottom turns and the board flexes and recoils, releasing energy. If the board flexes too little or too easily, speed is lost.
Most modern boards are equipped with channels that increase surface area in the critical parts of the board which, in turn, allow it to have greater wave hold and control. The use of these channels also means that the tail of the board is free to move. Occasionally, skegs are installed to decrease slippage on a wave face. However, it also decreases the looseness and maneuverability required for many moves, leading to a decrease in their use. Skegs are very rarely used and even then almost exclusively by drop-knee or stand-up bodyboarders.
Crescent tails provide the greatest amount of hold (keeping a rider on the board) in steep waves but make it difficult to slide the tail deliberately. Crescent tails are generally preferred by drop-knee riders because the shape interferes less. A bat tail is better suited for prone riders because it is easier to slide the tail. The bat tail also makes the bottom of the board slightly longer in the middle, helping to keep the rider's legs out of the water, reducing drag.
Glued, or more recently, bonded via a hot air lamination technique, to this core is a thick plastic bottom (known as the 'slick') which gives the board strength and speed. Two main types of 'slick' are present in modern day bodyboards: the first and better-performing of the two is surlyn providing much more strength and projection. Another cheaper type of slick is known as High-Density Polyethylene or HDPE, which does not perform to the same standard.
The top of the board (the 'deck') is made from a softer foam to give grip and cushioning to the rider. Bodyboarders frequently wax their boards to increase the coefficient of friction on contact surface areas.
The shape of the board affects how it works. If the wide point of the board is near the nose, the board is best suited to prone riding as the riders weight is further up on the board. Boards with rails that are more parallel or ones with a wide middle and a narrow nose are ideal for drop-knee and stand-up riding as the rider's center of gravity is further back.
Male bodyboarders
Mike Stewart, with nine world titles and 11 Pipeline victories, is widely regarded as a master and ambassador of the sport. In bodyboarding's early years, riders like Daniel Kaimi, Ben Severson, Pat Caldwell and Keith Sasaki were instrumental in bringing the sport into the consciousness of the mainstream. More contemporary riders like Chris Won, Ben Player, Jeff Hubbard, Michael Eppelstun, Andre Botha, Guilherme Tamega, Matt Lackey, Dave Winchester, Brandon Foster, Mitchell Rawlins and Ryan Hardy continue to develop new techniques and maneuvers.
Female bodyboarders
Phylis Dameron was the first person — male or female — to ride big Waimea, North Shore Hawaii in the late 1970s. Carol Philips was the first women to ride big Pipe in the 1980s and to compete against the men at Pipeline, North Shore Hawaii. In Brazil during the early 1990s, Mariana Nogueira, Glenda Koslowski and Stephanie Petterson set standards that pushed women's bodyboarding to a world class level. Stephanie Petterson won the first official World Championship of Women's Bodyboarding at Pipeline in 1990. It was the first women's event ever held there and the longest running women's wave sport event in the world. 2009 will mark the event's 20th anniversary.
Aspects of the 'revolution'
Old school bodyboarding praised a more fluid and easy going style of surfing. The standard tricks were spinners (360° spin) on the wave face either in normal or reverse direction, cut backs and the bodyboarding trademark El Rollo.
Modern bodyboarding, while still paying attention to style, focuses mainly on aerial manoeuvers in heavier and bigger waves, in which the waves become launching platforms for these manoeuvres. These include aerial spinners, aerial reverse 720s (Jeff Hubbard and José Otávio are notable examples). El Rollos are mostly aerial too, and this basic trick evolved into critical variations, like the ARS (Air Roll Spin) pioneered by Michael Eppelstun (where the bodyboarder combines an aerial El Rollo with an 360° spinner).
Modern bodyboarders place a heavy emphasis on riding within the barrel of a wave as well as completing multiple tricks on the wave face in a single ride, including inverts, aerial spins (forward and reverse), reverse spins on the face, spins in the barrel, ARS's and backflips.
Note: Although the world tour and world women's tour changed names in the timespan the world titles below were recorded, this article assumes as world tour and world women's tour titles those earned after the establishment of the world tour by the current International Bodyboarding Association and its former incarnations.
Drop-knee
Drop-knee is another form of wave riding on a bodyboard. It consists of putting your preferred foot at the front of the board while the other knee rests on the tail of the board. Notable riders such as Kyron Rathbone, Mason Rose, Matt Lackey, Scott Carter, Jack Lindholm, Kainoa McGee, Paul Roach, Mark Fuller, Aka Lyman, and Micah McMullin have been experts of this bodyboarding style, spending more time riding drop-knee than prone.
It was officially started when Jack 'Da Ripper' Lindholm started riding this stance at Sandy's.
Stand-up
Stand-up style is another form of wave riding on a bodyboard. It consists of standing upright on the board. James Pappas, Glen Sullivan, Cavin Yap, Chris Won and Danny Kim are probably the best known stand-up bodyboarding professionals of the last ten years.
Famous bodyboarding locations
Many surfing spots around the world are famous for their hollow, tube-like waves which are favoured by bodyboarders. In general, spots favourable for longboard surfing make for poor bodyboarding, whereas most advanced- and expert-level surf spots are also good for bodyboarding. Some particularly hollow or dangerous waves such as Sydney's Shark Island and Perth's Trigg Point in Australia are ridden almost exclusively by advanced bodyboarders due to it being far harder to access such waves while needing to stand up.
- Andicuri
- Sharkbay
- Wariruri
- Manchebo
- Dos Playa
- Rincon
- Spot
- Rancho
- Urirama
- Dooms
Australia
- Deadmans, New South Wales
- Mystics, beach , New South Wales
- Black Rock, New South Wales
- Sandmines, Urunga, New South Wales
- Bells Beach, Victoria
- Cyclops, Western Australia
- Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
- Box Beach, New South Wales
- Dredges, New South Wales
- Duranbah, New South Wales/Queensland
- Froggies Beach, Queensland
- Indicators, New South Wales
- Knights Wedge, South Australia
- Luna Park, Victoria
- Woolamai, Phillip Island, Victoria
- Maroubra Beach, New South Wales
- Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
- Koonya, Blairgowrie, Victoria
- Tama Reef, New South Wales
- Torquay, Victoria
- Mitchell's Wedge, Western Australia
- North Point, Western Australia
- Port Mac Break Wall, New South Wales
- Port Mac LHB, New South Wales
- Redsands, New South Wales
- Shark Island, New South Wales
- Shelly Beach, New South Wales
- Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania
- Stradbroke Island, Queensland
- Supertubes, Western Australia
- The Box, Western Australia
- Byron Bay, New South Wales
- Wheelbarrows, New South Wales
- Secret Harbour, Western Australia
- Scarborough, Western Australia
Brazil
Japan
Mexico
- Pláya Zicatela, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
- Punta Colorada, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
- Pascuáles, Tecomán, Colima
- Nexpa, Michoacán
- Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
- La Ticla, Michoacan
South Africa
- Cave Rock, Bluff, Durban
- Donkey Kong Island, Rocky Bay, Southern Kwa-Zulu Natal
- The Wedge, Plettenberg Bay, Southern Cape
- North Beach, Durban, Central Kwa-Zulu Natal
- Hoek, Noordhoek, Western Province
- Kalk Bay, Western Province
- Lucien, Margate, Southern Kwa-Zulu Natal
- Llandudno, Cape Town, Western Province
- Gas Chambers, Western Province
- Baggies, Warner Beach, Southern Kwa-Zulu Natal
- Jeffreys Bay, Eastern Cape
Peru
- San Pedro (Lurin - Lima)
- Explosivos (Punta Negra - Lima)
- Caplina (Chorrillos - Lima)
- Villa (Chorrillos - Lima)
- Cabo Blanco (Mancora - Piura)
- Pico Alto (Punta Hermosa - Lima)
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Continental
- The Wedge in Newport Beach, California
- 1st Street in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
- Point Mugu in Oxnard, California
- Garappata State Beach in Carmel By the Sea, California
- T-Street in San Clemente, California
- Southside at Indian River Inlet, in Delaware
- DMJ's in Oceanside, California
- Seal Beach in Seal Beach, California
- 40th Street in Newport Beach, California
- La Jolla in San Diego, California
- Imperial Beach in San Diego, California
- Salt Creek in Dana Point, California
- Jenks in Point Pleasant, New Jersey
- GoHomes in Long Island, New York
- Seaside Reef in Cardiff, California
- Green Hill Beach in Green Hill, Rhode Island
- Seven Presedents County Park in Long Branch, New Jersey
- Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon, Michigan
Hawaii
See also
Further reading
- Severson, Ben with Jake Grubb (1986). Bodyboard Handbook. Newport Beach, California: Grubb Stake Media Ltd. ASIN: B000GKJSQ6
andrew
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