"I Feel Like When I'm Parallel And I Hit A Foamball, I Carry A Lot More Momentum" - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 2 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

4324 Views

“I Feel Like When I’m Parallel And I Hit A Foamball, I Carry A Lot More Momentum”

Watch Tosh Tudor deliver a veritable masterclass in alternative tuberiding.

cinema // Mar 13, 2025
Words by Holden Trnka
Reading Time: 4 minutes

“The key factor for this recent run in Hawaii, I believe, was the preexisting ocean state that’s been set,” Mark Healey explained to us recently. “So many storms took almost an identical track that all that energy’s flowing in one direction in the North Pacific. That’s when you see these hyper-consistent swells.” 

If you missed it, Hawaii spent almost all of February in an extended crescendo of remarkable swell, which you can read about in full here.

Above, Tosh Tudor reminds us that he’s quietly developing his status as one of the most barreled people on the planet — producing an entire video part of Hawaiian curtain calls from the extended swell buffet.

“It was pretty wild,” laughs Tosh. “I guess it was something like 13 swells back to back or something. I pretty much surfed every day as much as I could, but it was crazy. The pack didn’t thin out until the very end. It took 12 days of pumping waves for some of the guys to be like ‘okay, I’m gonna chill today.’

“The program for me was to get out there as early as possible before the boys get on it. And then I was just trying to time my windows with the crowd, but sometimes you just have to sit out there for six hours and just wait until your time comes.

“I was eating shit tons of food at night, but no food during the day because you’re just kind of sitting there watching it all day,” Tosh laughs. “I mean, I’m sure there’s way better ways to go about it, but I was having trouble leaving because when one of those windows happens, it’s so crucial to just be out there. Literally. It could be just 30 minutes where a couple guys go in and then boom, you have an opportunity to get one of those waves.”

As you’ll notice, the Tudor familys eldest son continues his evolution of parallel-stance backside tuberide, pushing it to previously unseen frontiers at V-Land, Sunset, Off-The-Wall and Honolua.

Off-The-Wall is a wave which invokes safety stance impulses in a lot of people. Not Tosh, apparently.

“I first tried the parallel-backside stance down at the points in Mexico and I was like, ‘Whoa, this actually works really well,'” he recalls.

“I felt like I could pump better, all my speed was centered and if I needed to get up and go, I was in a good position to do so. Plus, your body is facing straight instead of angled to the beach. And then I went down to some bigger beach breaks in Mex and figured I had to try it in proper tubes. I’ve always watched Torren Martyn do it in his own way on pretty solid waves. I figured there was no reason to not try.

“It ended up feeling like I was able to carry momentum off the bottom so much better than with a normal pig-dog — it worked really good in those beach breaks. So it just became something I got used to, and I’ve spent the last two winters in Hawaii pretty much doing the parallel thing on most rights I get.”

Tosh acknowledges the stance has a few limitations — and you can see him switching between a more standard pigdog throughout the clip.

There’s a whole bunch of standout frontside waves in the edit as well.

“Sometimes if it’s a really nuts drop, it’s kinda hard to go parallel,” he explains. “Sometimes you need to Barron Mamiya that thing and get your legs wide to properly airdrop it. And, when you hit a gnarly foamball, I would say it’s easier to be in more of a typical pig-dog, it’ll definitely keep your board from sliding all over the place.

“But, I do feel like when I go parallel and hit a foam ball, if my rail stays engaged, I carry a lot more momentum over it. In normal pig-dogs, my butt can catch sometimes and slow me down, whereas parallel shoots me out of it with more speed instead of getting stuck. I think the big thing is, no matter what, I’m in this little ball with my feet together over the middle of the board — so I’m going to keep my momentum going forward.

His tips for those of you who want to try it at home?

Pack a bunch of closeouts.

“Obviously if you do get a good wave somewhere, you don’t want to just try this parallel thing out of nowhere. It’s nerveracking, but if you do it a couple times, packing some waves and just pulling your back foot up, by the time the waves are pumping it feels so much easier. I’ve been just packing closeouts like that for a while.”

Click above for a free lesson on navigating the inside of waves — directed by Kalani Minihan.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025

Houshmand Bludgeons Field To Win Second CT — Molly Picklum Tastes Blood, Snatches World #1 In Brazil

You can't argue with big surfing — that's Saquarema wrapped.

Jun 29, 2025

37 Years Old And World #1 — What’s Changed For Jordy Smith?

On rediscovering decades old surfboard templates, having a personality on the CT, and why this…

Jun 27, 2025

Tom Lowe Stars in ‘Let Me Live’

The wild, improbable ascent of Britain’s best big-wave surfer.

Jun 27, 2025

Saq Wrap: Italo Celebrates Mid-Heat, Griff Drops A Freestyle, Jordy + Yago Continue BBQing 20-YOs

Top seeds sow ruin, Final 5 starts to crystallize.

Jun 27, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 2

Our seven surviving surfers confront an oddly large California beach break.

Jun 26, 2025

SEOTY: The ‘Once-In-A-Decade’ Caribbean Swell That Kelly Slater Passed On

Michael Dunphy stars in Jimmicane's 'Blue Veil'

Jun 25, 2025

Who Owns Bingin? Legal Fight To Stop Demolition Begins

Eviction notices served for all businesses built on state land.

Jun 25, 2025

Tony Hawk Just Named Hughie Vaughan’s Internet-Breaking Air Because… No One Else Can

89% of our IG poll respondents claimed the 'stale fish flipper' was the best air…

Jun 25, 2025

German Surfers: AN INVESTIGATION

Truth is the light by which the world can see. 

Jun 24, 2025

“I Lost Everything I’ve Ever Owned, But This Board Came Back”

One month after the LA wildfires, a surfboard washed ashore.

Jun 24, 2025

Shock Therapy: World 1 & 2 Eliminated Early In Saquarema

Gabriela Bryan and Caity Simmers fall victim on Day 1 of the Vivo Rio Pro.

Jun 22, 2025

German University Surf Contest Derails After Local Pushes Competitor Off Wave

The story behind the shove, and why wave-rental politics turned physical in Seignosse.

Jun 22, 2025
Advertisement