Proneman!

Roger "Proneman" Kelly has been riding his impressive collection hulls both prone and on his knees for some time now. His Instagram page is here.

Here are some stills of him in various right points around the globe...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Richard Safady was the first hull rider I knew of who starting knee riding his stand up boards, then evolving into laying down. I'm not sure when Roger started relative to Saf, but I think is was after.

I built a 9'4'' Greenough/Simmons last August, with the intention of riding it standing up, kneeling, and laying down. It's been a boon for me, because I hate riding mats in small, crowded lineups. Over time, I pretty much got into riding prone all the time in those conditions. It goes on nothing!


Here's an odd little video of the board. I picked up a foot high wall of whitewater in the shorebreak and rode it onto bare sand. Even when it was down to 3'' or 4" high, the board just kept going...






2 comments:

tuskedbeast said...

In lieu of surfing, some landlocked thoughts...
Nice stills.
He's really far forward in those knee riding photos.
Would love to see your video embedded here.
Have had tastes on my 6'8" Pointbreaker. The performance kneeboarding feels great, also use my 6' fish as a knee/stand hybrid. Great alternative to riding backside. Turns "ugh" into "Hey!"
Prone feels amazing too but what a learning curve! R's surfing is amazing.

Paul Gross said...

It's amazing how long it takes to learn how to ride a long hull prone...but it can be done.

You have to learn when and how to move on the board. Since you are prone, it's not easy at first. But I've gotten to where I can pick up a swell while paddling forward on the board, then move back to take the drop, then hike the outer rail over with my hand, then pull forward into trim. It's getting to be second nature to me now, and it's quite enjoyable. Not the smallest sense of compromise.