Webs Paddling Gloves
The great thing about surfing is how simple it is; all you need is a surfboard to go out and enjoy the waves.
But pick up any surf mag and flick toward the back. There, filing the cheaper ad spaces, are accessories of all kind that claim to increase the surfing experience: balance boards, surfing skateboards, soft racks, fin systems, all manner of deck grip...
Of course some surfing accessories are a necessity - you wouldn't wanna hit Norwegian surf in nought but boardies - but for the most part they are superfluous to the act of surfing. In a few issues time the advertisement will disappear to be replaced by another new product: stick-on channels, fins with holes in them, spray on wax...
Some products make a legitimate-sounding claim which gives them a foothold in the market. Such was the case with Webs Paddling Gloves in the late-80's. Webs claimed to increase paddling propulsion so you could catch more waves. Greedy surfers (which is to say, all surfers) pricked up their ears and for a short time they were everywhere on the beaches.
A lot of pros began using them: Glen Winton, Terry Richardson, Richard Schmidt, Richie Collins, Tony Moniz, Brad Gerlach, Fabio Gouveia, and the ads moved from the back pages of the magazines to the premium-priced inside covers. Webs, it appeared, were here to stay.
But a couple of years after their arrival - around the early-90's - Webs began to disappear. Paddling gloves weren't quite as necessary as first thought. A surfer could forget to put them on and still have a great session. In this ongoing process of attrition surfing gets whittled down to its essential items
In the intervening twenty years sports science has leapt forward and found that webbed gloves don't give the paddling advantage first thought, and further, using them increased your risk of injury. Tim Brennan is a sports physiotherapist from Perth:
"From a physiotherapy perspective webbed gloves are not necessary to increase paddling power when surfing. It would seem to make sense that if you add webbing to your hand and essentially make your hand bigger you can catch more water and therefore pull through the water harder. But the paddling stroke is much more than just the hands and a huge amount of the 'catch' comes from the elbow and forearm and how well we can maintain their position in the water."
"The risk of injury comes when our biomechanics around the shoulder girdle and flexibility in the thoracic spine - and spine in general - is not adequate. Many surfers paddle through the water with a dropped elbow or a straight arm. This could be from poor stability around the shoulder, stiffness in the shoulder joint , poor thoracic extension or a lack of muscular endurance. The combination of these things will load the shoulder muscles excessively as the majority of the pull phase is spent pushing down rather than back. Adding resistance to the hand here will exacerbate this further leading to early fatigue, excessive tendon loading and injury."
Comments
Bugger ... still wish I could try a pair ... my poor little lolly arms struggle sometimes!
I had a few pairs of these little arm wreckers in the 80's. They were good for the first half hour but after that they were just so heavy on your arms. To be able to surf with them all the time you needed to be on steroids. Glen Winton ended up using just one in the end because using two was such hard work.
Bring em back and watch the groms froth on them as we used to when we were still groms.
Ha ha, think I still have a pair somewhere, I will have to have a look. The only thing I remember about them was having really sore fore arms after about three or four waves. Remember those days, the sweet smell of bubble gum wax.
I remember seeing Camel at G land with a Ridor reef suit with pockets in the back, a helmut and a pair of web gloves and a 9ft rockerless yellow diamond tail which looked like he found at the dump paddle out at 6 ft Speedies.The new guys in camp wondered who the hell this guy was that looked like a total kook, that was until they witnessed his surfing.Gloves seemed to work for Camel who with Scardy is the best Ive seen in all the years at the G with Eddie Blackwell my pick of the backhanders.
Cheers,
The Lopez?
As in Gerry?
Scardy and Dibbles still rule the G.
Heard Camel can now return to Indo.
Yes Freeride Dibble is impressive not mention Kingy from sunny coast. But no one knows the break like Camel.Good to hear he can return, great effort living in INDO on the run for 2 years on 20,000 rupees a day.(LOL)
cheers,
They work, but imagine how terrible they'll look in the photos! So thats why they're gone, simple.
Back in the late 80's, I'm sure the general consensus was that they looked pretty good. That's certainly what I thought as a thirteen-year-old grommet.
I'll assume you were more impressed by critical take-offs and Tarzan wave counts than fashion. Less is more though, MP didn't need them but dwarves and hobbits might get an edge with todays crowds. I'll be watchng for the new wave!
I'm a kneeboarder and I'm not as young as I used to be. I've been using them for years. They really do make a difference for me. Like bodyboards, kneeboards don't paddle as well as regular surfboards and the gloves have certainly helped me get more waves. Of course they're no substitute for good positioning and wave selection. In my opinion, the best ones are H2Odyssey which you can get on eBay or online at The Surf Guru.
I used a pair in the late 80's I think, ended up with arms like Arnie's, didnt get any more waves though.
whenever i get up to angas,theres a local guy still wears them,and the sun hat heard some locals call him gloves, accessory man , ma hat ma gloves, he's a phsio or chiropractor ,has always worn them ? should he know better ? story goes while getting changed one day some one hid them, so he had to surf without them --but couldnt catch waves...only lasted 10 mins.....this guy certainly not built like arnie he's scrawny little fella.
does terry richardson still wear them ?
I had a pair for awhile, but they were black neoprene, and during a goldie summer your hands got cooked.
The other hoax was the gath helmet, great if you liked getting dragged by bucket on your head. Tho' the screened models were good sun protection.
Still waiting for a adapted water version of the Jonathon Thurston headgear type.
You can still buy them online. I never surf without them. Always was a weak paddler and they certainly increase my paddle power plus they keey you hands & wrists warm.
Long time since the article but I was just about to buy more gloves after using them for 2 years. Mine are almost worn out. I have to admit - flag 'em. I don't know whether I catch more waves or not with them, but I know for sure my shoulders start killing me after about an hour. After two hours I have a sore neck and often get out with a headache. I know the benefits of using paddles when you swim, and yes, the gloves have beefed up my biceps and shoulders. But I think now, after reading this article I'm going to stop using them. I think they are really just false reassurance for me, and I don't need a crutch - I think it's strength, timing and technique - not the gloves. However as the article entails, I need to cut down on gear and recently I burned my head in the midday sun - now have some horrible lumps I should probably get checked and cut out. So I have a hat instead. Therefore I need to ditch the gloves because it's just too much gear :D I like the days I can just go out with my board, boardies and rashy - but it was one of those days I burned my scalp. Anyhoo - no more gloves for me.