Know Your Surfing Vocab
Aerial - launching off the lip of a wave where you catch some impressive air
Aggro - aggressive surfing
Bailing out - pulling out or deciding not to go for a wave, jumping off safely
Backside - surfing with your back to the wave
Barrel - the hollow section of a wave; tube; pipe
Barrelled - to ride inside the barrel of a wave
Beach Break - waves that break over a sandbar
Bottom Turn - the first big turn a surfer makes just after coming down the face
Blown-out - when the wind stirs up the waves making them undesirable or unridable
Carve - to turn your board in a manner so it looks as though you are slicing through the wave
Choppy - the ocean becomes rough and bumpy due to wind
Closeout - when a wave breaks all at once down the line
Curl - top section of the wave that is breaking
Cut-back - a turn that reverses your direction in order to get back to the breaking section of the wave
Dawn patrol - early morning surf session
Ding - a dent, crack, or puncture on a surfboard
Duck Dive - driving the nose of the board and yourself under the oncoming waves. For shortboarders.
Dropping in - The big surfing no-no! When you ruin someone's ride by taking a wave that someone has already caught. Probably the biggest surfing crime you can commit.
Face - the front portion of the wave
Floater - when you surf across the top of a breaking wave. Cool trick!
Frontside - Riding a wave with the front side of your body facing the wave. Most comfortable style for most
Glassy - when there is no or little wind making the water still and smooth, i.e. "Four foot and glassy"
Gnarly - term to describe something that is intense or wild
Goofy Foot - surfing with your right foot forward on the board. Opposite of regular foot
Grom or Grommet - young surfer
Ground Swell - a strong ocean swell formed by distance winds; a good strong, desirable swell
Gun - a surfboard made for big wave surfing
Hang five - when a longboarder hangs five toes over the nose of their board
Hang Ten - act of hanging all ten toes over the nose the board
Impact Zone - the area where the waves are breaking
Inside - the area between to shore and the unbroken waves
Kook - an inexperienced novice surfer who should review this list
Left - a wave that is breaking to the surfer's left while looking at the shore
Lineup - place where surfers gather to wait for and set up for the waves
Lip - the very tip of the wave as it where the water is beginning to pitch over
Locals - people who live at or near a surf spot
Localism - locals who become territorial about a surfing area which leads to negativity in the line up
Lull - a period of downtime in between sets when there are no waves to ride
Mushy - when there is very little steepness to waves making them difficult to catch
Noseride - surfing on the front end or nose of your longboard
Offshore - when the wind is blowing from the land onto the ocean making it great for waves
Onshore - when to wind is blowing from the ocean onto the land making it bad for the waves
Outside - area of the surf beyond where the waves are breaking
Overhead - form of measurement of waves. The waves were double overhead
Pack - group of surfers in the lineup
Peak - the highest point of a wave and where it first starts to break
Pearling - when the nose of your board submerges underwater causing the board to nose dive or flip over
Peel - when the wave is breaking bit by bit down the line.
Pop-Up – the movement of going from laying down to getting on your feet
Pounded – when a surfer is hit repeatedly by waves
Quiver – refers to the amount of boards you own
Rail – the edge of your board
Rag dolled - when you get tossed from a wave and your body flies around like a rag doll
Regular Foot - riding a surfboard with your left foot forward
Reef Break - waves that break over a reef causing the waves to be very consistent
Reform - when a wave breaks and rebuilds again
Right - a wave that is breaking to the surfer's right while looking at the shore
Rip - a strong surface current
Set - a group of bigger than normal waves rolling into shore.
Shoulder - unbroken section of the wave that sits just above the surface of the flat water
Sick - term used to describe something incredible, i.e., "You caught some sick air off lip"
Snaking - to drop in or take a wave out of turn. Snaking a wave a bad surfing ettiquette
Soup - the frothy white water sections formed by broken waves
Stoked - feeling of happiness when something really good happens while surfing
Stringer - the thin piece of wood that runs down the middle of a surfboard, providing its strength and flexibility
Swell - wind inspired energy that moves towards shore and forms waves
Takeoff - when you paddle into the wave
Tube - when a wave goes into a barrel, it is also known as the Tube
Turtle Roll - a longboard technique where the surfer rolls the board over upside down in order to reduce impact
Wahine - a Hawaiian term for a female surfer
Wall - the area of the wave that has not yet broken
White wash - the foam that forms after a wave a broken
White water - section of the wave that has already broken
Wipe out - any fall off your board
Worked - getting punished by a wave
Glossary from www.surfkooks.com
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