Stab Magazine | The Pick Up: Pipeline Used To Be Dominated By Goofy Footers

Live Now: Chapter 11 Mini-Documentary With Dane Reynolds

1239 Views

The Pick Up: Pipeline Used To Be Dominated By Goofy Footers

Not any more…

vtcs // Dec 16, 2017
Words by stab
Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Tour’s no place for a goofy foot. On the 2018 CT schedule, there are five rippable, primarily-right breaking waves. With the loss of Cloudbreak in 2018, there are officially no lefts that fit this bill. 

But at least the goofies have Pipe and Chopes, right? Well…

What if I told you that only one goofy has won a Pipe Masters in the new millennium? Would that… surprise you? Or would it only reinforce your belief that goofies require afros to achieve greatness? (Rob Machado was the last winner in 2000.)

It’s been brought to my attention that surfboard design could be a culprit in this stance war. From the first Pipe Masters through the ‘90s, surfers rode long, pinny surfboards in anything above waist high. At the Pipe Masters, it wasn’t uncommon to see boards in the 7’6 range. This allowed surfers to get in early, set their line, and shoot through (mostly) lefthand tubes. 

Thanks to guys like Kelly Slater, boards nowadays are shorter to facilitate steep, late drops and technical tube-riding. The shrunken outline performs better than the older boards in Backdoor’s section-y caverns, thus giving the riders more incentive to go right.

And who loves going right more than regular footers?

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

Watch: What Happens When A Brand Takes Its Youth Team To A CT Event?

A: Good things, typically.

Mar 29, 2024

Full Frame: Scandinavia Is Surfing’s Next Frontier

A 30-hour drive, bathymetric maps, and 10 years of searching yield surfing's newest discovery.

Mar 29, 2024

Watch: João Chianca Had A Remarkable Hawaii Season Before His Injury

Plus an update on his condition.

Mar 28, 2024

Pittar’d And Feathered

Do the WSL judges deserve the internet's wrath? We asked the man of the hour.

Mar 28, 2024

Robbo, Pickles, And Tyler Wright Become The Underdogs Breakfast At Uninspiring Winkipop

The foreboding blade sharpens and inconsistent judging prevails on Day Two in Torquay.

Mar 27, 2024

“I Don’t Always Win Heats, But When I Do, I Try To Beat John John”

Slater shines and the axe begins its descent on Day 01 at Bells.

Mar 26, 2024

Back Against The Wall: The Ramzi Boukhiam Redemption

Morocco's first CT surfer on speaking six languages, having no coach, and snatching Fil Toledo's…

Mar 25, 2024

Will Kirra, Babies or JJF Stop a GOAT Winning at Bells?

Bluesky BOAG advice from a Superman specialist and former Trials winner.

Mar 25, 2024

Bells Preview: The WSL’s Victorian Sword Dancing Equinox Ritual

Will a Brazilian crack the Top 10 at Bells?

Mar 25, 2024

69 Shin Bones Later + the Anticlimactic State of Big Wave Record-Breaking

Lucas Chumbo might have surfed the biggest wave ever this year. But how will we…

Mar 23, 2024

Watch: ‘Fresh and Fried’ Ft the Quik Kids

How taxing is it to tackle the Gold Coast’s Triple Crown in a single day,…

Mar 23, 2024

The Popular Vote: The People’s Stab In The Dark With Kolohe Andino Champion

Which board looked best — to you —under Kolohe's talons?

Mar 22, 2024

Six Key Learnings From Portugal

Three CT events in, what do we know? 

Mar 21, 2024

‘Zipper’ Is Going On Tour, Here’s Where You Can Watch It  

Dates, times + locations for the Venice, Encinitas, Sydney + Byron premieres.  

Mar 20, 2024

Dane Reynolds On His Future, His Past, And Chapter 11’s Raison D’être

Our 9-minute plunge into the collective psyche of Ventura's pillar(s).

Mar 20, 2024

From ‘Blue Ribbon Cross Country Runner’ to Vogue – How Steph Again Is Back With A Rip Curl Remix

Everything we know about the she-GOATs sponsorship boomerang.

Mar 18, 2024

Stab Interview: Darren Handley Explains Why You Can’t Buy The Winning Stab In The Dark Model

And his decades-long standoff with Slater.

Mar 17, 2024

Griff Embraces Portugal’s Eternal Time Loop To Vanquish Medina + Ewing, Defay Delays The Inevitable

A redeeming closing act at Supertubos.

Mar 16, 2024
Advertisement