Yea, I'd define goin vert the same way.
"In my mind a definition of surfing vertically is going straight up the wave (90 degrees) and whipping off the top and going straight down the wave - all with as little as possible down the line movement."
Seems to me there is a lot of times where the wave won't allow for that.
One is most times forced to keep traversing or be left behind.
Getting a chance to go vert and keep going is a buzz when it can be done without losing the wave.
Getting shots of such, is another matter.
Most of my shots are from the 80's.
Remember film?
That stuff cost money to develope.
Complete sequences eat up a lot of frames.
I was prone to be judicious with my shooting, trying to get peak action.
A bunch of pictures of kneeboarders groveling, doesn't do the sport justice or any good.
So sorry if the shots I posted aren't exactly what we need to see relative to the discussion.
But really, a decent wave, a decent board, the fitness and agility to make it go, will let you go vert when the opportunity presents itself.
John makes a very good point.
_ That real vertical surfing your after is what 90% of modern contest surfing is ........complete fin failure. Tons of toe -in with extra tail rocker combined .Wide point back, or more centered, also helps.The slide turn is modern surfing .....makes alot of spray and gives a great illusion of speed.
That said. I think any excellent musician can wail on a crap instrument.
We should be careful about calling a move "radical" just because the board is spinning out and the rider managed to hang on (most times barely so).
Are we not seeking
speed and control?
Shouldn't we?
As a rule I don't watch the comps when they come to town.
This year I did watch the finals of the Sunset event.
The surf was kinda junk that day, relative to the previous few weeks.
(By the way, Jake Pastterson won it on the first wave. Another, as good, never came through.)
It was a playful 4-6' Sunset Point a bit full mostly, semi wind swell, but some waves running long and rippable.
Jake and Andy were going beyond vert with their moves.
Full rail gouging bottom turns that projected them up the face with lightning speed. They'd drive the board back toward the top of the curl then carve the board around and drive straight down again, and again and again etc. So fluid so
FAST.
The boards were'nt tail sliding.
They exhibited supreme control of their speed.
There was no flat pivoting around the fin cluster like you see too often with a kneeboard built with the
Aussie tri-fin set up.
Sorry to inform a lot of you.............
Those things are
not "thrusters". They don't thrust.
(And every swallow tail ain't a fish")
They may seem more positive than the designs you previously were riding years back, but they don't have the action that a real thruster has.
A thruster has its fins clusted together where
the whole set acts as a unit providing THRUST through out the turn.
Setting the fins too far apart and 1/3 the way up the board negates a lot of drive. Set the center fin too far from the rail and it looses it's ability to hold and drive when you lay it over for a turn.
Crabbing , sliding and skittering around the surf due to wide, high volume boards and trying to control them with acute angled fins is not very efficient.
Yes, yes, yes, Simon and a few others manage to make them go real well.
Their surfing ability is overcoming the design flaw.
Like John said........
"I think any excellent musician can wail on a crap instrument."
With
real thrust out of your turns, you can get away with a lot less area in your board.
The most advance surfcraft going these days are tiny little things, some under 5' long.
They are riding the biggest, heaviest waves ever with them.
And WOW have you heard!? 
Many have fin set ups that are exactly like I was doing nearly 30 years ago!
4 really small, nearly equal size fins, (the rear ones being symetrically foiled), set with very slight angles at the back of the board.
And most are swallow tails!
The guys riding them tell me that they are "
really FAST".
Faster than anything else they've ever ridden!
Again,
Are we not seeking
speed and control?
Shouldn't we?
I am and have been since day 1.
).
).he is a major influence on what i think in terms of design and his guns are cutting edge equipment.
