![surfer 9 surfer 9](https://static.geekplace.shop/10233-large_default/fantastic-four-pop-marvel-vinyl-figurine-silver-surfer-9-cm.jpg)
And guess what? The smaller you are, the more days of decent, overhead surf you’ll get! It stands to reason that you can probably make it in and out of more barrels than a tall person. If you’re short you’re probably quite light as well, which lends nicely to small wave performance.
![surfer 9 surfer 9](https://www.theinertia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/officebound-670x388.jpg)
Less height allows for a low center of gravity, leading to good balance and a strong power base. The fact that twelve of the world’s top 34 surfers are precisely 5’ 9″ is probably just coincidence (or is it?!), but in many ways being short is advantageous to surfing. The surfers listed at this height are: Adrian Buchan, Conner Coffin, Stuart Kennedy, Wiggolly Dantas, Filipe Toledo, Kanoa Igarashi, Jeremy Flores, Josh Kerr, Taj Burrow, Miguel Pupo, Alejo Muniz and Kelly Slater. Quite unbelievably, greater than one third of the current men’s top 34 are exactly 5 feet and 9 inches tall. The height du’jour at the top level of men’s surfing appears to be 5’ 9″. (As an unrelated sidenote: it does strike me as a screaming hypocrisy that many women baulk at notions of sexism whilst simultaneously dismissing any male specimen who doesn’t meet their specified height requirement, even to the point of unabashedly mocking them). We are conditioned to see it as an oddity. You’re probably guilty of squinting curiously at couples where the woman is significantly taller than the man. It’s a well-documented fact that most women prefer taller men. Height prejudice exists in everything from business, to politics, to dating. It’s not a thing like war, or poverty, or racism but it is a thing like photobombing, deep fried Mars Bars, and #swag.
![surfer 9 surfer 9](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/e/e8/Silver_Surfer_Vol_3_9.jpg)
Short people, though diminutive in stature and sometimes big on chipped shoulders, are often particularly good at surfing!Īnd this is great news, because let’s face it, we do exist in a society where “heightism” is a thing. Do you struggle with issues pertaining to verticality? Have you spent hours Googling “famous short people”? Do you wish you were a little bit taller, wish you were a baller, wish you had a rabbit in a hat with a bat and a six four Impala?ĭream no longer, my stunted friends, because I am here to offer you hope! I can show you a world where you are no longer left upwardly wanting, a world where all the shelves are accessible, and all the rollercoasters rideable without adult supervision! It’s a magical world where the little man is king! It is the world of surfing! Yes, I swear it’s true.