SURFING TERMINOLOGY

To a non surfer listening to surfers talking about surfing, it can sound like a foreign language.

This glossary of the common (and not so common) terms, and phrases may help you decipher the jargon.

THE GLOSSARY OF SURF LANGUAGE

• Ariel or air. A high performance move involving hitting the top of the wave and flying above it.

• A-Frame. A wave that forms a peak and peels off in both directions.

• Aggro. A term signifying aggression in any context.

• Alaia. A traditional surfboard made of solid wood, used by the early surfers in Hawaii.

• Aloha. A greeting or saying goodbye in Hawaiian, but also means love and fellowship.

• Amped. Excited, fired up.

• Ankle slappers. Tiny waves that are too small to surf.

• Backdoor. When a surfer pulls into a hollow section of wave from behind.

• Backside. A surfer riding with their back to the wave.

• Bail. Ditching a surfboard, or purposely jumping off when riding a wave.

• Barney. Untalented surfer or one who disrespects surfing etiquette.

• Barrel. The most sought after thing in surfing. Entering inside a hollow section of a wave.

• Beach Break. A surf spot that breaks at a beach over sand.

• Bellyboard. A small wooden board used to ride waves prone (lying down).

• Blank. A rough slab of foam, that is the core of a surfboard, before it is shaped.

• Bodyboard. A small board, ridden prone or on one knee, with specific flippers.

• Body surf. To catch and ride waves with just the body and maybe swim fins.

• Bogging. When a surfer is too far on the board, sinking the tail and slowing or stopping the board.

• Bomb. A big wave.

• Bombora or bombie. A deep water off shore reef break.

• Bottom turn. A set up up turn at the bottom of a wave. Arguably the most important turn to do well.

• Break. When swell hits shallower water and breaks turning into waves and white water. A break is a place to surf.

• Burn. To purposfully steal another surfers wave, either by dropping in or snaking.

• Carve. To perform a turn on a wave face, often a sharp turn.

• Caught inside. Being stuck in the inside, between the shorline and the breaking waters.

• Chandelier. Water falling from the roof of a hollow wave, threatening to knock off a surfer in the barrel.

• Choppy. The texture on the surface of the water, caused by excessive wind, making lots of smaller waves.

• Clean. The surface of the water and the waves is smooth, caused by no wind or a gentle offshore wind.

• Corduroy. Lines of big swell marchig towards the shore, giving the ocean a 'corduroy' appearance

• Crest. Highest part of a wave.

• Cutback. A turn designed to to take a surfer back into the most powerful part of the wave (the pocket), when a wave slows down.

• Dawn Patrol. A surf session just as it's getting light enough to see.

• Deck. Top pf a surfboard.

• Ding. Damage to a surfboard.

• Drop in. Taking a wave that someone else is already riding, with priority. To drop in is also to take off on a wave and drop down the face.

• Duck Dive. Pushing a surfboard underwater to avoid a breaking wave.

• Fetch. The distance over which a wind blows, without a change in strength or direction.

• Fin. The pointy thing on the bottom of a surfboard. Very important for direction, turning and speed.

• Flat. No surf.

• Floater. A maneouvre when a surfer rides over the top of a crumbling section of wave.

• Foam. Whitewater.

• Foamie. A soft surfboard, made from foam and designed for beginners. Generally, long, wide, stable and buoyant.

• Frontside. Riding a wave facing it.

• Froth. Amped, excited.

• Glassy. When the sea surface and waves are smooth with no ripples. Caused by no wind.

• Gnarly. Dangerous, scarey.

• Goofy foot. A surfer how surfs with their right foot forward.

• Grommet or grom. A young surfer.

• Groundswell. A swell that has travelled from a storm far out to sea, powerful and with a long wave period.

• Gun. A surfboard shape designed for surfing big waves.

• Hang loose. A relaxed, laid back, carefree attitude.

• Hang five. Hanging five toes over the end of a longboard nose when surfing.

• Hang Ten. As above but all ten toes.

• Hanging eleven. A naked male surfer.

• Haole. Hawaiian word for clueless foreigner.

• Heavy. Generally big waves that have a degree of danger. Also very powerful waves.

• Hit the lip. Turning up the wave to hit the lipping part of a breaking wave.

• Hollow. A powerful wave that breaks forming a tube or barrel.

• Impact zone. Where waves first break, usually with force.

• Inside. The place between the shore and the impact zone.

• Jacking. When a wave suddenly rears up and breaks, going from deep to sudden shallow water.

• Juice. The power of a wave.

• Keg. A barrel/tube section of a hollow wave.

• Kick out. Finishing a wave by turning off it out to sea.

• Kook. A clueless surfer of any ability.

• Layback. A maneouvre that invloves lying back on a wave after a hard turn.

• Leash. The cord taht attaches a surfer to their board.

• Left. A wave that breaks left when looking towards the shore.

• Line up. Where surfers 'line up' to catch a wave, just past the impact zone.

• Lip. The top of the wave as it's breaking.

• Localism. Territorial preotection of a spot by local surfers, ofetn aggressively.

• Longboard. The longest surfboard.

• Lull. A gap inbetween sets of waves.

• Macking. Amazing surf.

• Maxed out. When waves reach there maximum size before becoming unsurfable at a spot.

• Messy. Irregular and unpredictable waves, usually caused by onshore windy conditions.

• Mushburgers. Weak waves with no power and difficult to surf.

• Noodle arms. Tired arms from too much paddling.

• Nose. The front of the surfboard.

• Nose riding. Riding on the front of a longboard.

• Outback/outside. The area past the breaking waves.

• Over the falls. When a surfer is dragged over with the lip of the wave after wiping out.

• Overhead. When the waves are higher than an average surfer.

• Party wave. When more than one surfer rides the same wave.

• Peak. The highest part of a wave that then breaks in both directions.

• Pearling. Being too far forward on a surfboard and digging the nose into the water and nosediving.

• Peeling. When a wave breaks and peels in a direction.

• Pit. The hollowest part of a barrelling wave.

• Pitted. Tubed, barrelled. To ride inside the hollowest art of the wave.

• Pocket. The most powerful, steepest part of the wave where a surfer aims to stay. Just in front of the whitewater.

• Pointbreak. A wave that peels along a section of land like a headland.

• Pop up. The act of going from lying down to standing with a fast pop up motion.

• Pulling in. Turning or slowing a surfboard to get into the barrel.

• Pumping. Really good surf or the act of generating speed along a wave.

• Punt. Performing an ariel maneouvre.

• Quiver. A collection of surfboards owned by a surfer.

• Racy. A fast breaking surfable wave.

• Rail. The sides of a surfboard.

• Rash vest. A lycra under wetsuit garment to prevent wetsuit rub.

• Reef break. A surf spot that breaks over rocks or coral.

• Re-entry/reo. When a surfer goes vertically up and oftern over the lip and then re-enters the wave.

• Regular foot. A surfer that stnads with their left for forward.

• Right. A wave that breaks to a surfers right, when surfing.

• Right of way. Priority is given to the surfer closest to the breaking part of the wave or peak.

• Rip. To surf really well.

• Rip current. A strong current of water returning water back out to sea after the waves have brought it close to shore.

• Rocker. The curve of a surfboard.

• Set. A group of bigger waves.

• Shacked. To get barrelled or tubed.

• Shaka. A surfer greeting, extending thumb and little finger.

• Shaper. A surfboard designer and maker.

• Shore break. Waves breaking right onto the shore.

• Shoulder. The unbroken part of a breaking wave.

• Sick. Amazing, awesome.

• Sketchy. Tricky, dangerous.

• Slab. A heavy reef break. Waves come out of deep water to very shallow water suddenly and break with huge amounts of force.

• Slotted. Well positioned inside the barrel.

• Snaking. Aggresively paddling around, under or over another surfer to get priority.

• Soup. White water waves.

• Spit. Water that is sprayed out from a barrelling wave.

• Spat out. To exit a barrel with the spit.

• Stall. Slowing down a surfboard.

• Stick. A surfboard.

• Stoked. Excited, exhilerated extremely happy.

• Tail. The back of a surfboard.

• Take off. The start of riding a wave.

• Thurster. A three finned surfboard, the most popular set up.

• Tombstoning. After a heavy wipeout and a surfer is deep under water. Just the nose of the surfers board is visible as a tombstone.

• Tow in. When surfers use jet ski's to tow them into very big waves.

• Trimming. Riding the unbroken part of the wave.

• Tube. The inside of a powerful hollow wave.

• Turtle roll. Used by surfers with boards too big to duck dive under a wave. They turn the board upside down and hang underneath it to get through large waves.

• Twin fin/twinnie. A surfboard with 2 fins.

• Wall. A steep part of the unbroken wave.

• Washing machine. Getting rolled around underwater by a broken wave.

• Wave hog. A selfish surfer who doesn't share waves, snakes and even drops in.

• Wax. Wax rubbed onto a surfboard deck to provide traction.

• Whitewater. Foamy waves that roll to the shore after a wave has broken.

• Windswell. Messy waves genrated by local winds, that tend to not have much power.

• Wipeout. Falling off a wave.

• Worked. Getting knocked off by a wave and then washing machined.

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