Leashes killed surfing

 

Somewhere in my past I have uttered this phrase.

On the surface it's hyperbole, something that is said to get attention or make some other usually obvious point.

Looks good as a bumper sticker.

BUT IT'S BULLSHIT!

However, the widespread use of leashes has changed our collective approach to surfing in such a way that it deserves some thought and discussion.

Not all the changes were bad. Surf spots are ridden today that, do to shoreline or approach conditions, would be out of the question previously. There is a very real safety benefit too.



A loose long board in the soup can do enough damage to visiting tourists that the local city fathers might want to reconstitute the black ball.

No one wants that!

What saddens me is that with the advent of the leash whole generations of surfers learned to surf without learning to body surf. No time spent in the water without their boards at hand. The time spent swimming and body surfing in to retrieve your board gave you time to analyze your mistakes and did a tremendous amount for your conditioning as well. By the time you developed average surfing ability you were a better than average swimmer and had some detailed knowledge of the local ocean. The time in the water also gave you a quick education in the motion of side shore currents, riptides and may have introduced you to a cute little sea creature we like to call the jelly fish.

Perhaps one of the most troubling effects of widespread leash use is on the crowd factor.

Let say you have a group of 30 surfers surfing a lone beach break peak.
(I live in SoCal so this is entirely in the realm of possibility)
In the pre-leash days, you might have 10 surfers sitting and waiting for the next wave, 5 surfing, 5 paddling back out and 10 beginners swimming in after their boards.

Since the leash, you have still have 5 surfing and 5 paddling back out but now there is 20 people waiting for the next wave. 

Half of them are kooks and should be bodysurfing the inside, a better time would be had by all.