Smartphones in the surf: Are they making us better surfers... or less present??

Okay I’ll say it—half the crew at my local break these days are glued to their phones checking wave forecasts???... Yeah I get it, knowing the swell is helpful, but where’s the art of tuning into the ocean yourself? My granddad used to read clouds and smell the wind to tell when a storm was coming... now it’s just ‘open the app’ and we’re all sitting on the beach doomscrolling between sets.??

But hold up! I can’t deny the cool stuff either—like that new app that tracks your performance and shows heatmaps of where you hit your best turns????? Or the guys who film themselves with waterproof drones and instantly share clips worldwide?? (Though honestly, isn’t there something soulless about getting validation through a screen?)..

So I’ll throw it out there—do you think these tools are enhancing our connection to the ocean, or building a wall between us and the raw, messy, salt-in-the-eye experience of surfing? Let’s hash this out... I’m ready to hear who’s team ‘tech-surf’ vs. ‘unplugged tradition’ 🛋️🔥