That's awesome, I don't have a thing against contests, I actually like watching certain ones, but I think Bobby Martinez who is easily one of the best surfers was right when he said the sole focus on contests and appealing to judges makes surfing boring.
So I sometimes find myself practicing and perfecting the same limited range of maneuvers on a longboard skateboard (as surf training) rather than the much larger and more creative range of goofy fun creative stuff that is more of my natural creative flow!
I do that as well,using a carver skateboard; the technical performance aspects are essential as a foundation, though I think when you focus only on that your creativity starts to diminish. Regardless, surfing can be fun no matter you do it, I just needed to critique it so I can compare with other arts.