Let’s be real: surfers suck at naming tricks. Perhaps “suck” isn’t the right word. A little harsh. Maybe it’s more like confused or disorganized, especially when compared to our boardsport brethren in the worlds of skateboarding and snowboarding.
So, recently, when young Aussie aerialist Hughie Vaughn landed a never-before-seen maneuver, one touted by many as the “best air ever done,” during the Swatch Nines event at the Waco Surf wave pool, the Birdman, Mr. Tony Hawk himself, was not only impressed, but also stepped in to help the disjointed surf community with what to call it.
Bu…was Tony right in his royal coronation? See below.
“Stale fish flipper.” That’s what Tony is calling it. Maybe just a stale fish backflip? Keep things simple? Anyway, it’s hard to argue with Tony. The dude, allegedly, has been the first to land 89 skateboarding tricks. 80-freaking-9. And that includes the first-ever 900 on a vert ramp during the X Games back in 1999, a moment etched in sporting history.
Related: ‘Craziest Airs I’ve Ever Seen’: 2 Freakish Flips Highlight Waco Extravaganza
SURFER’s very own August Howell was on the ground in Waco during the Swatch Nines event, and he got the inside scoop on what the other surfers were saying about it.
“Some of the highest quality surfing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Mason Ho said of Hughie’s flip. “It almost looked like snowboarding, it looked fake, but he wasn’t strapped in, and he was just surfing. I was like, ‘Whoa, I think this is what this is all about.’”
However, soon after Hughie’s flip, surfing’s very own Gumby, Maui’s Matt Meola, pulled off another aerial that many were also calling the “best ever done.” (Surfers love hyperbole, in case you haven’t noticed.) It was a tweaked alley oop with a double rotation. The rotation wasn’t stomped fully, however; a bit of revert in the whitewash. But…what do we call it? A 720?
Someone get Tony Hawk back on the line. Or Travis Rice.
Also, whose was better: Hughie’s or Matt”s? Ah, the subjectivity of surfing. Gotta love it.