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| WHAT IS KILLING BODYBOARDING PAGE 5 |
| SOAK IT UP! |
| Soak it up. I thought about calling this section "Read It And Weep." Will bodyboarding disappear? No. Bodyboarding knocked inflatable surf mats out of the market because of their low cost and durability benefits for the rental and retail markets, not their initial performance superiority. Nothing is on the horizon, unless there is a huge push to conventional foam/fiberglass construction. Yet don't forget those guys in the garage somewhere in Central California, San Clemente, Pearl City, Durban, Cornwall, and Coolangatta. Plus, the hostile climate for bodyboarders over the age of 20, and the realitively dormant state of bodyboards, is providing fuel for the redeveloping interest in surf mats. It isn't valid to say the individuals lead the media in any form of surfing. It's an unfortunate fact of life in these "extreme" times that the media validates the individual achievements. This doesn't mean that there aren't individuals out there doing mind blasting things.It's just the magazines can't say they only reflect the state of the art. What can the individual bodyboarder do right now? Remember how earlier I wrote that bodyboarding is ripe for revolution? Ripe means "ready right now." Start the revolution! Investigate new materials. Investigate new ways of surfing waves. Ride a kneeboard. Ride a mat. Ride a kneeboard on your stomach like a bellyboard. Ride a surfboard on your knees or stomach. Buy a bodyboard kit and hack it up, Get a foam and fiberglass "bodyboard". Lead. Last, and not least: STOP CALLING THEM SPONGES! A SPONGE TO MOST PEOPLE IS A DEAD SEA CREATURE! |
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