“During the many years I spent creating and perfecting the ‘backflip’ , there were a few things I was dead set on; 1, was to make sure my rotation was vertical, not horizontal, resulting in going completely upside down, and not over one shoulder. And 2, i wanted the backflip to be a functional maneuver.” –Flynn Novak
Mission accomplished Flynn. That was super on axis and you rode in and out of it no problem. Surfing has gone full videogame:
It took Flynn 8 years to perfect the backflip and he thinks progression could be much faster in controlled settings and wave pools are the future of surfing:
“How mental are the amazing backflips being pulled by the next generation at the @bsrcablepark ?? I am beyond stoked to see stand-up kids like @sethmoniz , @barronmamiya , and @elihanneman being able to practice and stomp a maneuver in ONE SESSION (in a controlled setting), that took me 8 years to figure out and polish(in the unpredictable ocean), and then another 2 years to bribe my friends to film me surfing so we could capture it!! WAVE POOLS ARE THE FUTURE OF SURFING!! I think they are the future of surfing in the sense that they are constantly-perfect ‘static training grounds’ for THE REAL-DEAL in the ever-changing OCEAN.
Wave pools are going to significantly boost the PERFORMANCE LEVEL of surfing because they are creating the same wave, same ramp, same tube, same wall for surfers to consistently practice their maneuvers on.
After the wave pool -experience, repetition, and approach is stored as muscle-memory. Then the surfer will be able to bring their polished repertoire into the ocean, resulting in a much better success rate, as long as they still have the impeccable ability most oceanic surfers have, of predicting the future just before it happens, and being able to make the mindless-reactions to achieve their intended outcome. Big Ups to @redtide83 for relocating his family to Texas for aiding this exciting chlorinated journey of changing surfing forever!! Also, Big Ups to my friends Toby @tiare_hawaii , @deepsea_hawaii , and @kalooneytunes for filming and cheering me on in this posted clip! Hopefully now, no one will have to dedicate practically 10 years of their life to creating and perfecting one single maneuver in surfing ever again!!”
images from flynn_novak ig