I really think it looks very jerky-offy to see folks jumping up and down, jerky pumping their boards on small waves and I was wondering if a smoother weaving, short carving movements wouldn't work better to attain more speed in small slow waves - then the thruster fins give more thrust forward on the turns. Comments? I realise it's a surf releterad question but please bear with me for a short while.

Jag är böjd att hålla med dig Gaz, hellre små rollercoaster carves längs med vågen än hopp.

I agree to an extent:

Tom Curren, Taylor Knox do S-turns instead of the 'huntington hop' as it's called,
but sometimes the wave backs off so much that if you put that pressure on your fins, you sink too much board and bog, the point of the hop is to get air under your board and get you planing again.

If all you do is hop, you are on the wrong board in the wrong conditions. Weaving over hopping is a better option, but sometimes, it's necessary.