The surfing world was shocked and baffled by one particular manuever during the Hurley Pro at Trestles in Round 2, and now its the talk of the town as the video of the move is replayed and replayed as we determine… WTF was that? World Tour surfer from Brazil, Heitor Alves, pulled out the move for a Hail Mary against local favorite, Kolohe Andino.  After being down in the heat, the much needed 9-point score threw off Kolohe’s team and the ASP announcers, flabbergasted by the move and causing some confusion as to what it was.

Media outlets worldwide are calling the move all sorts of things, from a rodeo flip to a frontside alley oop, also appearing to revert 540 degrees.  ESPN said, “Kolohe Andino’s loss to Heitor Alves was nothing more than a flukey rodeo flip that Alves pulled out of nowhere. Andino had been controlling the heat from the onset, maybe tactically he let his guard down a bit, and Alves went upside down to get a nine and steal the lead by a fraction of a point.” 

Watch the video, and decide for yourself!

 Footage provided by Hurley.

The win against the Trestles local was definitely the talk of the day and a huge shocker, up to win the “Most Innovative Maneuver” of the entire competition.

“I’ve tried it while traveling, but never in competition,” Alves stated. 

Heitor was a professional skateboarder before he made it onto the ASP World Tour, and his gymnast physique definitely helped him to complete the move. According to skate terms and snowboarding tricks, Heitor’s 9-point ride looks like a frontside ally-oop, pivoting out of a 360 to 540 degree turn. One wild rodeo flip or not, it was insane.

Whatever it was, the judges loved it, earning him a score high enough to get him through the heat to upset Andino and onto Round 3 of the Hurley Pro at Trestles.

Heitor Alves’ 9-point maneuver won him the heat and knocked out the local favorite, Kolohe Andino. Photo: ASP/Rowland

Shannon Q (92 Posts)

Shannon Marie Quirk is the Head Editor of the TheSurfChannel.com. She is a sports journalist with Bachelors of Arts degrees in English and Spanish Literature from UCLA, trained as a photojournalist by the Los Angeles Times. A San Francisco native, Shannon is a surfer, snowboarder, photographer, and believes that athletes have a responsibility to take care of their playgrounds. She has spent the last three years in South America working as an environmental activist, while shredding the hemispheres.