Surfing

What is surfing?

Surfing is like riding a snowboard or wakeboard, but the rider (called a “surfer”) is on a much larger board (called a “surfboard”) and rides on large waves in an ocean.

How to surf

The surfer lies on his/her stomach on the surf board and paddles out into the water. When a wave approaches, the surfer stands on the board and rides it on top of the wave. The goal is to stay standing on the board as long as possible, which gets harder as the waves get bigger and more powerful.

How to win

Surfing requires great strength and agility to stay on the board and make moves that demonstrate board control. Judges score surfers on their ability to stay up on the board and the difficulty of the moves they perform. The surfer with the highest score wins.

Equipment

Surfboard – this is the long board the rider surfs on
Bathing/body/wet suit - the surfer will wear a bathing suit or, in colder water or air, will cover more of his/her body with a body suit or wet suit

Sport lingo

Barrel – a wave that peaks and falls over, looking like a round barrel or tube
Tube riding – the surfer rides inside the barrel
Pop up – the surfer jumps the surfboard over a wave and into the air
Hang Ten – the surfer rides on the front part of the surfboard, with all ten toes hanging over the edge of the board