Surfing

I

Introduction

Surfing, act of riding on waves as they break over a shallow shoreline feature, such as a reef, sand bar, or other submerged structure. People can surf with just their body, called bodysurfing, or by lying, kneeling, or standing on a surfboard. Since the 1960s the popularity of surfing as a sport and pastime has grown worldwide, largely because it requires no formal training and can be enjoyed virtually anywhere that waves break.

II

Equipment

Modern surfboards are constructed of a plastic foam core that is shaped by hand or machine and then covered with a shell of fiberglass and resin. Individual surfboards can vary in dimensions. The high performance surfboards used by top professional competitors are typically about 1.8 to 2 m (6 to 6.5 ft) long, 47 cm (18.5 in) wide, less than 6 cm (2.5 in) thick, and weigh about 2.7 kg (6 lb). These boards are also known as shortboards. On the other end of the surfboard spectrum is the longboard. Most longboards are 2.7 m (9 ft) long, 51 to 56 cm (20 to 22 in) wide, and about the same thickness as shortboards. They weigh less than 7 kg (15 lb). The bottom of a board has from one to five fins near the tail, although the three-fin, or thruster, design is standard. These fins provide the board with directional stability and enhance performance by providing additional power and forward drive. While either board can be used in professional or recreational contexts, the shortboard is better for speed and aerial maneuvers.

III

Fundamentals

When a wave reaches the shallow shoreline of an ocean or other large body of water, the upper portion of the wave pitches forward and the wave begins to break—a motion often indicated by crests of foam called whitecaps. The size and forward motion of the wave subsequently diminish. The basic idea behind surfing is to ride the unbroken portion of a wave for as great a distance as possible, using a variety of maneuvers to speed up, slow down, and maneuver around the breaking portion of the wave. Proficient surfers continue to ride until the entire wave has broken and become whitewater.

Riding waves takes skill, stamina, and agility; surfers should be in excellent physical condition. After paddling to the point where waves are breaking, a surfer catches a wave and rides it using one of several basic moves. In the bottom turn, a surfer turns the surfboard sharply off the trough at the base of a wave and uses momentum and speed gathered from the wave’s motion to direct the surfboard up the face of the wave—the smooth section below the wave’s white crest. In the cutback, a surfer riding the face of a wave turns the surfboard in the opposite direction, toward the breaking curl of the wave. In the snap, a surfer turns very sharply off the top of the wave to redirect momentum and speed back down the wave face. In the floater, surfers use their speed and momentum to ride up the face over the lip, or breaking section of the wave, and along the crest of the wave as far as possible before dropping back down the wave’s face. Maneuvers in the air, known as aerials, have gained popularity with a younger generation of surfers, inspired by the moves of skateboarding and snowboarding. In an aerial called a 360, for example, a surfer completes a 360-degree spin while airborne.

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IV

Competition

Surfing competition can take place wherever waves are ridden, from the winter surf of Hawaii to artificial indoor wavepools. In competition, surfers are judged using a subjective system that awards points based on the size of the wave ridden, the distance ridden, and the quality of the maneuvers performed by the surfer.

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), founded in 1983, functions as the international governing body of professional surfing. It replaced the International Professional Surfing tour, which was founded in 1975 by American surfers Fred Hemmings, Jack Shipley, and Randy Rarick. The ASP operates a professional surfing tour using a two-tier system. The ASP’s World Championship Tour (WCT) is limited to 44 qualifying professionals from around the world; its World Qualifying System (WQS), which awards qualifying points for the WCT, operates within individual countries. Surfers are scored on a ten-point scale by a panel of five professional judges appointed by the ASP and its associated national tours.

At the WQS level surfers compete in four-person heats, while at the WCT level surfers compete against one another individually in the majority of heats. High and low scores for each surfer are thrown out and the three remaining scores are averaged for a per-wave points total. Surfers ride a limited number of waves. The number of waves actually scored ranges from three for preliminary rounds to four in final rounds.

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