After you’ve perfected the basics of surfing, such as catching a wave and popping up on your board, you can start attempting more advanced tricks. The moves described below are some of the simplest maneuvers that fall into the category of “advanced.”
Snap
The snap, or slash as it’s coined in some parts of the world, is a flashy move performed at the steepest point on a wave. A surfer will come up off a bottom turn and aggressively approach the lip of the wave, spraying water everywhere in their wake.
On the other hand, when you’re moving into a bigger wave and notice another surfer pullout on top of it, that’s when you need to follow suit. This technique entails jumping off the top of a bigger wave and riding the following ones until they come down and continue surfing.
If you try this technique on the wrong location of the wave, you’ll most certainly wipe out.
Floater
The floating wave is a variation of the standing wave in which the boarder floats on top of the water, as if he or she were riding on a boat. The surfer will push himself or herself to the top of the wave as fast as possible by generating maximum speed.
They’ll next lay their weight evenly across the board and slide laterally on top of the wave before dropping back down. This skill necessitates a lot of control and balance in your surfing stance.
Off-the-Lip
This move looks a lot like a top turn, only much more vertical. After making a sharp bottom turn, the surfer will go up the steepest part of the wave until half of their board is above the wave’s lip. Then they’ll quickly change direction and head back down the face again.
The key to riding a wave is to make a quick turn once you’re on top of it.
Layback
The layback snap is similar to a regular turn, except that at the last minute, the surfer will throw the board out in front of them and extend their back leg almost entirely. They’ll lean back so far that it appears to spectators that they’re laying on their backs.
This move requires a lot of strength in your abdominal and leg muscles to push the board out, as well as bring it back at the last moment. This move is typically performed on the face of waves close to the lip, and results in spraying water–hence its popularity.
Closeout Re-Entry
The last move you’ll make on a wave is the closeout re-entry. It’s a difficult last-ditch effort that, in professional surfing, might earn you last-minute points. At the peak of the wave, pivot and then descend off the lip.
Tube Riding
The experience of riding on a barrel is one of the most coveted in surfing. The maneuver entails surfing within the curling lip’s hollow portion.
This is all about timing and body awareness, so don’t go much faster than the barrel or get consumed by it. A perfect barrel is exceedingly uncommon, but certain breaks result in them more frequently than others.
Air/Ariel
An air, as the name implies, is a move in which the surfer leaves the wave and enters the air. It calls for the surfer to generate a lot of momentum and leap off the top of the wave with both feet still on the surfboard.
On the way down, they fly over the wave and then splash down on its front side. The air 350 is one of several variations of the move, as is a backflip an air reverse.
General Tips
These are just a few of the advanced and professional surfers’ many techniques. These tactics, not only do they have a variety of change choices, but they can also be combined in interesting ways to generate fantastic rides. Some of these moves may appear daunting, and others most likely are; nevertheless, some may be less so than you think.
You should always start with the basics to ensure your success. A perfect example of this is a solid bottom turn–it’s key for almost every trick you’ll want to do. By practicing different types of bottom turns like shallow, deep, backhand, and front hand varieties, you’ll be better prepared for more complicated moves.
Surf Competitions
Surf competitions are fantastic to watch. However, with so many variables to consider, they might be difficult to understand.
Whether you want to join the sport someday or just enjoy watching it, a discussion of how they function is definitely useful. The next time your buddies are talking about heats and wildcards, you’ll know what they’re talking about.
How Surf Competitions Work
Although the rules may differ slightly between competitive surfing events, most of them follow a similar structure. For example, the World Surf League and International Surf Association organize their competitions similarly in terms of number of surfers and prizes.
Surfers will be broken down into smaller groups (heats) and evaluated by a panel of judges. The judges will assign points based on a few categories, such as degree of difficulty, range of styles, originality, and so on.
In surfing, competitors try to catch as many waves possible but are only scored on their best two. The surfer with the highest score from each level moves onto the next heat until there is a final winner.
Priority
In both cases, priority is important. As it does at your local beach break, priority exists in competitions. The rules of the line-up apply to professional surfing as well. Whoever holds precedence has the right of way to the wave; if they do not catch it, the surfer with the next highest ranking gets to ride.
However, if a surfer with lesser priority catches the wave out from under the surfer with priority, they can get penalized for interference. This penalty is serious and will usually result in the loss of a wave score.
So instead of a possible max of 20 points, the penalized surfer will only have a possible max of 10. Heats don’t begin with assigned priority; instead, the surfers establish priority themselves after the first couple waves.
Earning Points
Each wave is graded on a 0–10 scale by the judges. The final heat score of a competitor is the sum of their two best waves; for example, a perfect heat score would be 20 out of 20 points. Each wave might be broken down as follows:
0.0-1.9 (Poor)
2.0-3.9 (Fair)
4.0-5.9 (Average)
6.0-7.9 (Good)
8.0-10 (Excellent)
The five judging criteria are as follows: Sudden Death. The event is held on one of the most hazardous waves in existence, and every minute spent out there is a death sentence.
There have been several fatalities during this encounter’s history, including some of the world’s best surfers – but if you survive, your reward will be the finest case scenario for any judicial enduro we’ve ever seen.
1. Commitment and degree of difficulty
2. Innovative and progressive maneuvers
3. Combination of major maneuvers
4. Variety of maneuvers
5. Speed, power, and flow
1. Commitment and Degree of Difficulty
Judges are primarily looking for high and tight moves when considering dedication and difficulty. They begin judging at the drop in, continuing to the end of the wave, as they do with all of the other criteria.
Surfers will want to perform more dramatic moves closer to the breaking section of the waves in order to do well in this category.
You’ll get more points for performing tricks on steeper parts of the wave or with a riskier style. It’s also important to be consistent: although starting strong with a deep take-off and vertical re-entry is great, if you then do just a few weak turns on flatter parts of the wave, your score will go down.
The key to success is being dedicated, without losing morale, and adding in easy or more difficult tricks along the way.
2. Innovative and Progressive Maneuvers
The next set of judgment criteria have to do with aerials: tricks where the surfer takes off from the water and then lands back in it. Although how complicated the move is does affect a score, there are other components that come into play as well.
The timing of the move influences how many points a particular wave will bring in.
So, because it’s considerably more hazardous to perform tricks like this early in the wave, an aerial at the start of the wave would score more points than one done later in the wave.
Furthermore, judges will take into account the height attained from the wave’s surface. If the surfer grabbed their board while in the air, and finally -their level of inversion- this will also be considered.
The surfer also contributes to the score. The size of the wave on which the aerial is performed, as well as his or her control throughout the maneuver, are factors that will be considered.
3. & 4. Combination of major maneuvers & Variety of maneuvers
A surfer’s performance on both of these fronts is linked. Surfers must combine their actions in order to achieve a higher score. The manner they put the moves together is also significant; the more tricks you can perform on a single wave, the better.
5. Speed, Power, and Flow
The final category judges evaluate is speed, power, and flow. Here, they look at how quickly the surfer moves down the line and how much power they put into their moves.
This category rewards a surfer who can move swiftly while digging into their rails and flinging water at each possibility. But to earn the greatest amount of points, they’ll need to surf smoothly and elegantly, maintaining control at all stages of the ride.
Professional Surfing Bodies
The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing organization that oversees surfing competitions. There are two levels of competition: The World Qualifying Series (WQS), and the elite-level World Championship Tour (WCT).
The WQS is where most professional surfers fight to earn a spot on the World Championship Tour. The WCT is the highest-level tour, with the title of World Champion being awarded at each year’s end.
The International Surfing Association (ISA) also runs tournaments, but they don’t offer cash rewards. Instead, the ISA coordinates annual international competitions held in a different nation each year. These games provide excellent sponsorship possibilities for players.