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December 9, 2006 (Saturday)
Post-session
Bigger, for sure, but very windy and sloppy. Pretty much empty, but surprisingly there were several people.
Nothing is more humbling than surfing with a pro. There was a guy out who was with two girls. They were all Japanese. They were on the beach just before me. As they were getting ready to paddle out, I noticed the guy's board was plastered with stickers. It was a high-performance short-board, thin and narrow. Okay, so he must be somebody, but we'll see, I thought to myself.
Sure enough, the guy was unreal. He had a super smooth and polished style with flawless execution. I saw him do a 180-air on a barely-waist-high mushburger. The rest of the time he was slicing and slashing and destroying waves that otherwise would be un-surfable.
He was definitely WQS material. There's no doubt. His level of skill was much higher than that of, say, an up-coming semi-pro. The gap between a true professional and everyone else is very wide as to be seemingly unbridgeable, unless, of course, you're already one of them.
With that guy in the water, it was painfully obvious to me how I lack in skill. I felt...ashamed? But why? I'm just out there to have fun, right?
After a while, I had to stop noticing his rides because it was affecting me and inhibiting me. I had to block him out and just do my own thing. I had my moments. I did a few really good turns and bashes. Still, the guy overshadowed everyone and he influenced my session negatively. That's my fault, I know. But it hurt to see that truly I'm a kook.
Posted at 4:23 PM