How To Surf The Smallest Barrel Of Your Life

Big barrels are a bit overdone, aren’t they?

I mean, how many backless Teahupo’o monsters can a gal tackle in her life? How many times can we traverse the Shippies step? Win Wave of the Winter? Etc.

Because if you think about it, big barrels are easy. There’s so much room to move. You can totally mess up and still “succeed”. Case in point: Italo’s first wave at the Box. A clear blunder turned stupendous because the tube was more forgiving than the Lord himself.

In that spirit, I hope Hay-zeus will pardon me for saying: small tubes are where the fuck it’s at. Not only do they promote the general concept of pretzels (which are supremely underrated), but they’re also a thousand times more abundant big tubes, making them truly aspirational for the everyman. 

In the video above, east coast tube barron Brett Barley describes in great detail the mechanics of both frontside and backside mini-pipes. If that’s too pious for you, just watch what Cory and Shea Lopez did to these poor Gulf Coast knee-slappers a few decades back.