Rob Edgecomb, of Austin, Texas was selected as the October 2000

Footer of the Month.  

Rob is a college student currently attending University of Texas studying Spanish & International Business.

Rob called me up one day and asked if he could come skiing with me.   He wanted to start learning how to do surface turns on his feet.  He told me he could do them on shoe skis (Dawg Paws) with confidence.  I told him he was more than welcome and we set a date.

When we got out on the river, I asked Rob to do some turns for me on the shoes.  That's when I found out that he could only do his basic Front to back and Back to front.  I told him he should spend more time on the shoes and learn his reverse before going to his feet, but he kept bugging me and convinced me to give him some pointers.

I walked him through the steps via dry land practice first.  I knew he wasn't going to get close, so I figured I would at least get the motions down first.

When he got in the water, we started with the back to front first.   Rob had tried a few of these before, but would come to the front and face plant before he could get the handle.  He took three quick falls, but between each one we made some minor adjustments.  Then to my surprise, Rob nailed one on his 4th attempt.   Once he got the feel of the first one, he started nailing them one right after another.  By the end of the first set, Rob was fairly confident on the back to front and asked if he could attempt the Front to Back during his next set.

When Rob took to the water again, we went through the same process.   I told him not to expect to nail a front to back on his first day, so just concentrate on trying to turn and grab the handle backwards.  I gave him all the speaches about it taking me about a thousand tries to make my first one.  Then, just like the first set, after making a few adjustments between attempts, Rob nailed a his first front to back on only his 4th attempt.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so pissed.  I was looking forward to seeing this young 21 year old beat himself to death.  Then, just like the back to front, Rob started nailing the FB consistantly after only a handfull of tries.

Well I wasn't about to let him get away without experiencing some real falls, so I convinced him to try one long-line.  I told Michele to get out the video because we were about to see a good wipeout.  Of course I told Rob just to imagine he was on the boom.  Then to my surprise, he went and nailed his very first front to back attempt long-line and then finished his run with a back to front.  If you don't believe it, just click on the links below to bring up the video footage:

Rob's Back to Front    Rob's Front to Back

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Keep an eye out for Rob, he is sure to be one of the top footers in the nation in the next few years.

Congratulations Rob, on being selected the October 2000 Barefoot Central Footer of the Month. You are now eligible to win the "Mack Daddy" of all prizes.  Next January, you could be voted by your peers to be the 2000 Barefoot Central Footer of the Year.  It's no easy prize to win, just ask Heath Cooper, the 1999 Footer of the Year.

Want to see each 2000 Footer of the Month.  Just click on each month below: