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.