Quote:

not sure I'm following you, you seem to be implying that the evolution of the shortboard was more out of a need to fit in than performance.

Pretty much. I remember when not only the boards, but the blanks changed to catch the Slater skinny wave. No doubt for the lighter surfer or elite with less foam to throw around and superior skills they could do moves that before were unheard of. That never really changes, but elite surfers have always done that and average surfers on the whole simply try and copy but most end back up on boards that float them better in the end.

Quote:

The evolution of performance surfing makes me seriously disagree and whenever you watch clips of pros on overvolumed boards, I instantly wonder how much better they'd be surfing on state of the art high performance shortboards.

It's always been that way with pros. However, in my opinion there was a era of diminishing returns. Certain pros look good on the skinny little boards. Others like Sunny Garcia, Luke Egan, and Gary Elkerton had boards close to an inch wider and also thicker. It's back to the right board float for the weight. The board still has to support the surfer on the wave or he is going to bog unless he keeps the thing flailing through turns. In sizable good waves...I agree with you. Floatation is less of a factor if your are fit and able to paddle out of harms way if need be. Thing is, if you shape a shorter, thicker and wider board right there is nothing the modern board will do that it will not and yes..I do believe status quo plays a huge role in almost everything on the pro tour, with sponsorship and etc. Even the LB and retro revival started to become more a business model than any real movement. Not that there was not a real sort of movement still going on under even that thing. The fact that board styles come and go over and over tells me there is no one greatest design. I rode quads all through the early late eighties and early 90's. Went back to thrusters and have always played with wide tail singles and even twins.

Quote:

I disagree again. The standard shortboard was something that some people dialed in over years. I know I did. I spent all of the 90's and 00's dialing mine in with small increments.
and when i started expanding the quiver for smaller/slopier waves. I started looking into shorter wider. The 4" shorter than standard just gives a reference point. Sure it makes it easier for the sales person, but it sure has poop helped me nail the dims on almost all the boards i've bought that are shorter and wider.

No argument. Find a shaper that knows what he is doing and ask him to make you a shorter and wider one for bigger waves and see how you like that.

Quote:

i disagree again, in the eighties boards were fuller but still pros were on like 6' boards. now they are on 6' boards that are like a full inch narrower these boards that you think have come full circle are proportionately much smaller.

You will also notice that since the early eighties the size of most successful pros has gone down. It's a small frame guys sport now with notable exceptions and those don't ride chips.

Quote:

this is just plain snooty

Not my intention, but it does accurate describe the vast majority of the surfboard buying public today. Easily led and easily influenced by board names and advertisements and pro sponsorship. Not that is wasn't like that once the first pro tour was formed. It simply changes it's color about every ten years. It's why there are always claims about new things which are just copies of old things. Some of the old things were never bad. They just fell out of vogue.

Quote:

i don't know, I prefer my 4" shorter boards up to shoulder. From Chest + it's my 'standard shortboard' domain and my 4" shorter floatier board feels suddenly slidier and not as responsive. Bigger boards feel too tracky.
I'd bet the farm that plenty of surfers get good conditions regularly for HPSB.

No doubt where you live makes a difference. The average day at Florida or even HB likely doesn't call for anything heavy. Winter in the country of Hawaii is different.

Quote:

I also disagree with you on the industry pushing the glass slipper. Up until that point, the discrepancy between your average surfer wasn't as large, so naturally the consensus followed the pros. And it was also shortly thereafter that the longboard, Funboard fish faze started...coincidentally enough. And despite you rarely seeing any of those boards in a surfer magazine, they were and are still proliferating the line up.
And lastly, I don't get the motive. Why would the industry want to push a thin shortboard on the public?

Not only did the industry push it. Clark foam and others changed huge portions of their blank inventory. In my opinion that alone caused those shaping eggs and other wider boards to struggle because of the lack of good blanks. At least those who didn't use epoxy. What was the motive? Ultimately the same reason they quit doing gloss and polish like all boards in surf shops used to be and then moved to elf shoes and later to china and even fin boxes which were originally designed to ship boards more easy and had zip to do with performance. They needed a standard that was easier and quicker to produce and that didn't last as long so surfers would come back and by more boards quicker. What were made were inferior products that wouldn't last sold as the status quo and marketed much like automobiles were on a short buying cycle. It's still that way today for the most part, but the retro thing did bring back some common sense for the average surfer. Also...I am not saying there hasn't been some headway. There has, but it has had less to do with plan shape and more to do with materials and a more open minded public.