Alana Blanchard: Best Bottom Turn in Surfing?

By: Janos Palko | December 3rd, 2009 at 2:34pm

If you are an avid reader of surf publications, you may have noticed that a little blond girl named Alana has been getting quite a bit of coverage as of late. Girls generally have had a tough time garnering much attention in the male dominated surf media, and the reason for this is simple: guys surf better than girls. There. I said it. Sorry ladies, but there isn't a maneuver out there that can be done better by a woman, even by the best female surfer. Alana Blanchard is doing her best to change this perception. Her signature maneuver, the frontside bottom turn, is arguably the most photographed maneuver in all of woman's surfing. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that no bottom turn, male or female, has graced as many pages as Alana's since Tom Curren in the 80's. Both have impeccible style, posture, positioning, and finesse. Curren was born and bred in the long flowing righthand pointbreaks of Santa Barbara, and it was this upbringing that sculpted his legendary smooth style. Alana was born and raised on the North Shore of Kauai, where powerful righthand reefbreaks and tiny bikinis provided the necessary elements for her to develop the most captivating bottom turn in surfing. After claiming her second professional victory 2 weeks ago at the Reef Hawaiian Pro Haleiwa, it seems that, like Curren, she is translating media attention into competitive success. One thing is for sure though, Alana can drop in on me anytime she wants.