Kelly Slater, release the beast! (at Snapper Rocks)

Kelly Slater was, uh, quite amazing yesterday at the Quiksilver Pro, Gold Coast. Which is easy to forget when he’s not dazzling with airs. If you really stop and watch the bottom turn into those turns, the part of the wave where they’re placed, the speed that’s carried through them, the recovery out of them, it’s hard to get one’s head around. There’s nothing raw, it’s all precision! And, what you’d never know by looking at him (but would know if you read this), is that Kelly’s actually been feeling a little like the Tin Man of late. “I’m actually carrying three injuries right now,” he said yesterday after putting an 18.27 heat total together (weird, right?). “I’m just scraping by, to be honest. A couple of days ago, I wouldn’t have been able to surf very well. I’ve just been stretching a lot. Trying to work the right muscles out, watching my diet. But, almost 30 years of competing full on, it weighs on your body. Dude, I got all kinds. A lot of guys hide these injuries, they don’t tell you. I don’t know how that’s gonna make your injury any better. I have my patella tendon here, and I have an old hip thing that I kinda battle a lot. That kinda makes my back hurt.” Watch the Floridian light up today in the quarterfinals, over here.