Bodyboarding is currently experiencing a huge resurgence in popularity worldwide. After a promising childhood in the 70s and 80s and a misunderstood adolescence in the 90s, the new millennium has seen it mature into the most exciting and progressive water sport around. Having endured years of ignorance and small-minded abuse from some elements of the surfing fraternity, bodyboarding has finally come of age. The sport has chiselled out its own identity and style distinct from stand-up surfing culture and is now getting the respect it deserves. Bodyboarding has shed the unfair perception that it is merely something people do before they learn to surf "properly" and is now recognised as the most extreme and progressive form of wave riding.

New Zealand's diverse coastline boasts some of the best surfing territory in the world, so it comes as no surprise to find that we have the bodyboarding talent to match. Our riders are starting to make an impact on the rest of the world. Guys like Wanganui's Ben Mackinnon and Northland's John Diamond have had some excellent results in international competition. Bodyboarding New Zealand's executive are making a real effort to push the sport and as a result we now have a well-attended national competition circuit. Each year kiwi riders are growing stronger and gaining more international recognition. In the future we can expect to see our bodyboarders travelling the world and making a living out of the sport as professionals.

Thankfully, bodyboarding culture avoided the destructive superficiality of a fashionable, mainstream image which has blighted the soul of surfing for the last two of decades. The reason for this? Bodyboarding has never been "cooI". Bodyboarders have always been the underdog in the water, which has forced dedicated riders to cultivate an underground attitude. As Adrian Bray, one of the country's old-school riders puts it: "The reasons we bodyboarders are unknown to the majority of beach users are: We don't do it for some image. We don't do it to fit in with the crowd. We don't do it for chicks. We do it for the rush. We do it coz we fuckin' love it!"

The history of the modern bodyboard can be traced back to 1971, when backyard inventor Tom Morey created the first prototype board in his garage. Throughout the 70s and early 80s a small dedicated crew of riders developed the sport and invented many of the core manoeuvres, including 360s and barrel rolls. However, it wasn‘t until 1985 and the first issue of Bodyboarding Magazine that things really began to take off.

Over the years the worst insults aimed at bodyboarders have sprung from the fact that they don't stand up, which was supposedly the "manly" thing to do. This antagonism led to degrading nicknames for bodyboarders like 'Shark Biscuits', 'Esky Lidders' and worst of all 'Cripples'. Thankfully, in the last few years all but the most bigoted, red-neck surfers have accepted that high-level bodyboarding requires as much wave knowledge and skill as surfing. Most stand-up surfers have come around to the understanding that the two sports have almost everything in common. lt's all about the beauty and flow waves; harnessing the power of the ocean and combining it with your own style to express yourself. But, most importantly, it‘s about having fun. So, in the end it doesn't matter what you ride as long as you re out there enjoying the ocean.

Fair enough. But you may still be wondering "why don't they just ride a surfboard?" Well, in the long history of wave riding, there has never been a piece of equipment that allows you to experience the vast dimension of the tube as completely as a bodyboard does. A barrelling wave has many different personalities and the tube is by far the most exhilarating and challenging part of the wave to ride. Bodyboarders thrive in heavy and hollow waves, where the tube is the main attraction. Your average bodyboarder has probably clocked up more tube time in a year than most stand-up surfers achieve in their entire lifetime. The other key reason why bodyboarders choose the sport over traditional surfing is their love intense and dangerous situations. They charge the steepest and most risky waves that surfers often can't - or won't - touch. Bodyboarders choose to take on the most critical waves, because the nature of riding on their stomach means they can take the latest drops, get the deepest barrels and attack beyond-vertical sections of the wave. Consequently, bodyboards are designed with maximum air-time in mind. Riders launch themselves skyward as often as possible; contorting into dizzying flips and spins that most surfers can only dream about.

Bodyboarders ride their board in two distinct ways: either prone or dropknee. Prone is the traditional lying down style, which provide maximum speed to launch big aerial manoeuvres and is the easiest position to maintain balance. When riding prone the bodyboard is controlled with the rider's whole body. Thighs, hips, stomach, elbows, hands and feet are all part of the delicate balance of riding a wave in this style. Dropknee is the other riding approach. This partial kneeling style requires a more delicate sense of balance and, while it isn't quite as fast as riding prone, it can produce spectacular carves and impressive floating moves off the lip of the wave. Whichever stance is preferred, controlling a bodyboard is all about weight placement, timing and wave knowledge gained from many years in the water. And - just like surfing - the essence of good bodyboarding is about using these skills to make the most of what the wave has to offer. After all - good wave riding is a synchronised ballet of timing and co-operation between wave and rider.

Contrary to popular belief, serious bodyboarders don't ride $20 supermarket "boogyboards". High performance riding requires high performance equipment. Top brand bodyboards are just as carefully designed and tested as surfboards and don't come cheaply. Top label professional boards cost between $400-$500 and there are many design variations to suit different riding styles, just as with surfing. Dozens of factors affect how a board responds, including the length, tail, rail angle, channels, template shape, the location of wide points, core material and stringers. Each design element plays its part in producing a unique board to suit a specific rider or wave.

So, while it may be a easier to learn the basics, mastering the art of bodyboarding takes just as much time, dedication and skill as surfing does. But, that said, l challenge you to show me a surfer who can throw 360 spins inside the barrel, launch back-flips off the lip and free-fall into the tube. Sorry surfers - only a bodyboarder knows the feeling.