Glossary

This glossary of surfing includes some of the extensive vocabulary used to describe various aspects of the sport of surfing as described in literature on the subject. In some cases terms have spread to a wider cultural use. These terms were originally coined by people who were directly involved in the sport of surfing.

About the water

• A-frame: A peak-shaped wave, with left and right shoulders, and the highest point of the crest in the middle of the peak
• Artificial Reef: An underwater structure man-made for one or more reasons: 1) aiding ailing ocean ecologies by giving sea fauna a home/feeding ground or 2) creating quality surf where there's otherwise none or 3) helping with beach erosion by lessening impact of swells pushing sand away from shore
• Backing off: The action of a wave as it passes from shallow water into deeper water closer to shore. The wave becomes less steep, or the broken whitewater fades away. Tends to occur shoreward of offshore reefs or sandbars. The wave may reform and break again in even shallower water closer to shore.
• Backwash: A reflected wave, caused by water pushed up onto a steep grade of beach, which then rushes back out to sea against the general wave movement. This can create spectacular explosive wave effects, as the backwash and incoming waves collide.
• Bathymetry: The measurement of depths of water in oceans, seas, and lakes. The topography of the ocean floor or underwater bottom.
• Beach break: Waves breaking over a sand bottom.
• Blown out: A surf condition caused by strong onshore winds, which create ugly chop on the wave faces and through the lineup. Generally considered unridable.
• Bomb: Bomb-A very large set wave, well beyond the session's normal wave size.
• Bombora: Australian term for big waves breaking further out and isolated by deep water. Also called bombie or cloudbreak.
• Bowl: A section of a given wave in which the line of the wave bends, or appears to bend, toward the shore. The bend creates added intensity, often causing the wave to build into a peak, or grow hollower or steeper throughout its general curve. Nicknamed "bowl" because the wave suddenly becomes concave from a variety of angles, not just from the base or lip.
• Break Line: The line where waves begin to break. All things being equal, waves will begin to break when they reach water depth equaling approximately 1.3 times the wave face height.
• Breaking: Breaking-When a wave passes from deep water to shallow water it steepens as the wave energy is forced upward. We call this "shoaling". With increasing steepness, the wave face finally becomes too unstable and the crest or top part of the wave tumbles or "breaks" down the face of the wave.
• Broken up: A surf condition in which waves approach the beach and break apart into different peaks/lines with a clear separation between the ridable shoulders. This is usually caused by two swells from different directions and or periods overlapping the same break. Also called "scattered peaks".
• Bumpy: Bumps on the ocean surface created by wind, usually between 6-10 knots in velocity. Definitely not clean but not choppy or blown out either.
• Buoy: A floating object moored to the bottom of the ocean to mark a channel, anchor, shoal, rock, etc. Buoys with sensitive meteorological and oceanographic instruments are also moored in deep-water locations to measure wind, weather, and wave information. This information is used to help forecasters monitor the progress of swells as they pass the buoy location.
• Central Pressure Index (CPI): The minimum atmospheric pressure in the eye or center of a hurricane, which is used to estimate the wind velocities in the storm. The lower the CPI, the faster the wind speeds.
• Choppy/Chop: Bumpy ocean and wave conditions that are rough due to strong winds and/or currents. Wind velocities are usually over 12 knots to create choppy conditions.
• Clean: Good surfing conditions with decent wave energy, a smooth or glassy ocean surface and very little onshore wind. Offshore winds blowing into the faces of the waves can create clean, groomed conditions.
• Clean-up set: A much larger wave or a set of waves, which breaks further outside than normal. A clean-up set usually "cleans" the line-up of surfers caught further inside.
• Closeout: When all parts of the wave-down the line or crest of the wave-break at the same time. (Opposite of closeouts, the ideal waves for surfing are ones that break from one side to the other so the surfer can angle across the face of the wave.)
• Combo swell: A combination of swells from varying directions, which will create peaky and crossed up conditions as the waves merge together. Combo swells are great for most beachbreaks but break up the perfect lines at most reef and point breaks.
• Consistent: A surf condition when waves are coming in very frequently and in predictable quantities.
• Continental Shelf: The underwater shelf extending from a continent out to sea to a depth of about 165 fathoms or 1,000 feet. Long period swells of about 20 seconds will begin to feel the ocean floor at about 1,000 feet.
• Contour: A line on a map or chart representing points of equal value compared to datum or starting point. An isobath is a line connecting points of equal depth below a datum to measure bathymetry, and an isobar when used to represent atmospheric pressure.
• Corduroy: Describes the vision of a series of swells marching in from the horizon.
• Corners: The end sections or shoulders of waves. A term usually used on the more closed out days when surfers try to find shoulders or corners to ride.
• Crest: The top part or lip of the wave or swell.
• Curl: Older term used to describe the concave face of the wave just before breaking; the area just before the barrel. ("Shoot the curl" was a popular longboard expression from the '60s.)
• Cyclone: An atmospheric closed circulation rotating counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Can be a high-pressure or low-pressure cyclone.
• Deep Water: Water deep enough so that surface waves are not affected by the bathymetry on the ocean bottom. Generally, water more than 1,000 feet, or at least deeper than one-half the wavelength of the existing waves is considered deep water.
• Deepwater breaks: Surf spots where the swells have a steep transition from deep water to shallow water so the waves are generally bigger and more powerful than elsewhere. Also includes surf spots where the deep water bathymetry of the ocean floor can greatly focus longer period swells (over 16 seconds) to create larger and more powerful waves. Spots with underwater canyons like Blacks are a prime example.
• Degrees: A) The unit of measurement for direction to analyze where wind and swell direction is coming from. North is 0 or 360 degrees (12:00 o'clock); and then moving clockwise, east at 90 degrees (3:00 o'clock), south at 180 degrees (6:00 o'clock) and west at 270 degrees (9:00 o'clock). Northeast may be anywhere between 0 and 90 degrees, southeast between 90 and 180 degrees, southwest between 180 and 270 degrees and northwest between 270 and 360 degrees. B) Degrees also are used to measure Latitude and Longitude, with minutes and seconds used a fractionals between the degrees. One degree of Latitude will always equal 60 miles at that same location. One degree of Longitude will always vary due to the curvature of the Earth toward the poles.
• Diffraction: The process of wave energy filtering into the lee of obstacles such as breakwaters by the transfer of the wave energy along wave crests. Diffracted waves are smaller than the original waves.
• Direction: Where the wind or swell is coming from. In the marine community, directions are always identified as the direction the swell or the wind is "coming from," not the direction it's headed. Surfline uses directions in true degrees as:
• Double up: When two waves combine, often creating an extra powerful wave with twice the amount of energy. Double up waves often create the best waves to get barreled or tubed on because the interaction of the waves forces the waves to break in shallower water than normal, which creates hollower, steeper waves.
• Down-the-line: A reference to the direction further along the crest of a wave from the location from where a surfer drops into the wave. The direction toward which the surfer is riding. Waves can also be described as "down-the-line" when the wall is long and fast.
• Face: The forward-facing surface of a breaking wave
• Flat: No waves
• Gas chamber: The effect when a big wave rolls over, enclosing a temporary horizontal tunnel of air with the surfer inside
• Glassy: When the waves (and general surface of the water) are extremely smooth and glossy, not disturbed by wind
• Gnarly: Large, difficult, and dangerous (usually applied to waves)
• Line-up: The area where most of the waves are starting to break and where most surfers are positioned in order to catch a wave
• Off the hook: A positive phrase meaning the waves are a very good size and shape
• Outside: The part of the water's surface that is farther from the shore than the area where most waves are breaking
• Point break: Area where an underwater rocky point creates waves that are suitable for surfing
• Sections: The parts of a breaking wave that are rideable
• Set waves: A group of waves of larger size within a swell
• Shoulder: The unbroken part of the wave
• Stoked: happy, excited
• Shorey/shore break: A wave that lasts all the way to the shore before crashing
• Surf's up: A phrase used when there are waves worth surfing
• Swell: A series of waves that have traveled from their source in a distant storm, and that will start to break once the swell reaches shallow enough water
• Whitewater: After the wave has finished breaking, it continues on as a ridge of turbulence and foam, the whitewater

Techniques and maneuvers

• Air/Aerial: Riding the board briefly into the air above the wave, landing back upon the wave, and continuing to ride
• Angling: Original step toward performance in surfing. Refers to a surfer's riding across the wave face at an angle to the shoreline, rather than riding straight toward the beach
• Backdoor: (verb) The act of taking off deep behind the peak or a section on a hollow wave, and surfing through the barrel or tube of the wave to the other side of the peak. (Also a proper noun: the short intense right peeling off the reverse side of Pipeline in Hawaii.)
• Backside: Surfing with your back to the wave, a goofyfoot going right, or a regularfoot going left. (Also called 'backhand'.)
• Bail/Bail out: To abandon or ditch one's surfboard before getting wiped out by the wave, either paddling out, or while riding the wave.
• Barrel: The space inside a breaking wave between the lip and face. A surfer may be completely hidden from view during a barrel ride, especially from shore. One of the most difficult, best and most enjoyable acts in surfing, but often very difficult to complete due to changing variations in every different wave. Another name for tube.
• Bodysurf: The act of catching waves by swimming without a board. The most original form of surfing. In shallow water bodysurfers can push off the bottom, but usually need swim-fins to catch waves in deep water.
• Bottom Turn: A turn made at the bottom of a wave, following the drop down the wave face. Often (but not always) the first real move of a ride, a bottom turn is a sweeping, powerful move that enables the surfer to establish speed and direction for the ride. The bottom turn also establishes or re-sets the rhythm of turns to be completed during the course of the ride. Probably the most important turn in surfing as it sets up all other maneuvers.
• Carve: Turns (often accentuated)
• Carving: A surfing technique in which the surfer creates big, deep turns by sinking much or all of the rail of the surfboard during each turn; when a good surfer slices up a wave using his board like a large knife.
• Caught inside: When a surfer is paddling out and cannot get past the breaking surf to the safer part of the ocean (the outside) in order to find a wave to ride
• Climbing and dropping: Turning up and down the face of a wave as you surf down the line. A very good technique for gaining speed with each turn.
• Cross step: crossing one leg over the other across the board (usually to make it to the nose)
• Cutback: A classic surfing move used to change direction when streaking ahead of the curl of a wave with a powerful turn back towards the breaking part of the wave. Cutbacks are an important element in surfing as the maneuver repositions the surfer closer to the power of the wave. See also Roundhouse cutback.
• Dawn patrol: Early morning surf session before the sunrise. This time usually offers the least crowded and cleanest conditions before the winds pick up. Also the name of Surfline's early morning surf report.
• Drop: The initial part of a ride when a surfer slides down the face of the wave.
• Duckdive: To duck under a broken wave by pushing the front of your surfboard under the water, then levering the back of the board with pressure from your knee or foot as the wave passes overhead. The desired result is to pass your body and surfboard underneath the powerful whitewater to pop out the back of the wave. Originated by Shaun Tomson and the South Africans in the '70's.
• Duck dive: Pushing the board underwater, nose first, and diving under an oncoming wave instead of riding it
• Fade: A) When a surfer drops in and angles back into the power of the wave to get deeper and closer to the breaking part of the wave. B) A wave may fade or weaken as it passes from shallow water to deeper water closer to shore.
• Fins-free snap (or "fins out"): A sharp turn where the surfboard's fins slide off the top of the wave
• Floater: A maneuver in which the surfer rides over and/or along the top of a breaking wave, sliding across broken foam or a pitching lip, then drops back down into the main part of the wave. So named due to the floating weightless sensation induced by the move. Advanced surfers may finish the move with a free-fall down with the lip of the wave as it breaks.
• Forehand: (see frontside)
• Freeboarding: Generally refers to the act of riding a surfboard behind a boat, similar to water skiing. Tow-in surfing's humble origins.
• Frontside: Facing the wave while surfing. A goofyfoot going left or a regularfoot going right. Also called forehand.
• Goofy foot: A surfer who surfs right foot forward and faces the wave on lefts, and doesn't face the wave on rights.
• Hotdogging: Older term generally defined as surfing for flash rather than function, occurring in small conditions, with little regard for making the wave. Presently called getting rad, ripping or blowin' up, etc. For the most part, a state of mind is characterized by youth, as older surfers tend to grow increasingly conservative and set in their ways.
• Hang Heels: Facing backwards and putting the surfers' heels out over the edge of a longboard
• Hang Ten: A longboarding maneuver where the surfer hangs ten toes of both feet over the tip or front of the surfboard. (Hanging five is also possible.)
• Hard core: Extremely dedicated surfing or committed to the surfing lifestyle.
• Hit the lip: An advanced move in which a surfer turns the surfboard up to strike the falling lip of the wave, and allows the board to be swung back down with the impact. Generally seen as an aggressive, powerful move requiring excellent timing.
• Kick out: A ride-ending maneuver in which the surfer turns out through-or over-the back of the wave.
• Layback: A maneuver where the surfer leans back off his/her board, usually either in the barrel, or during a cutback.
• Locked in: A '60's term for when a surfer is tubed on a wave, or rides in the barrel. A surfer does this by pulling into the hollow part of the wave under the lip.
• Off-the-lip: An advanced move when a surfer turns the surfboard up to meet the lip of the wave as it is coming down. Similar to "hitting the lip".
• Off the Top: A turn on the top of a wave, either sharp or carving
• Pigdog: Crouching low and grabbing the rail of a surfboard when going backside to hold in the barrel or tube.
• Pop-up: The process of a surfer getting to ones feet on a surfboard, just after catching the wave.
• Pull in: The process of turning the surfboard up to enter the barrel or the tube.
• Pull out: See kick out.
• Pump: An up/down carving movement that generates speed along a wave
• Radical: Used to describe dramatic and difficult maneuvers, situations, or conditions.
• Rail grab: Holding or grasping the rail of a surfboard to maintain control. Most commonly used in backside tuberiding (see "pigdog") but also used in aerial surfing.
• Re-entry: A classic maneuver in which the surfer goes through and/or over the lip of the wave, almost to the point of pulling out, then drops back down into the wave. A re-entry is the base term for numerous move varieties, such as floaters and off the lips.
• Regular foot: A surfer who surfs left foot forward and faces the wave on rights, and doesn't face the wave on lefts. Also called natural foot in Australia.
• Roundhouse cutback: A complete 180-degree directional change in which the surfer turns from the shoulder all the way back into the curl or whitewater of the breaking wave, before completing the ride. A very advanced maneuver, which is difficult to complete if enough speed isn't carried throughout the entire 180-degree turn. A roundhouse cutback is usually complemented by a foam bounce recovery off the approaching whitewater.
• Rolling: See turtle roll
• Shooting the curl: A term from the 60's used when a surfer trims right along the breaking part of the wave, almost in the tube. Now fairly outdated.
• Shredding: Advanced, high-energy surfing with powerful snapping maneuvers.
• Sinus Drain: Post-surf nose drip. When we wipeout, water is bound to find its way into the nasal cavity-that opening behind our noses that processes air as it is inhaled. The nasal cavity boasts a roomy space of several cubic inches. When water settles within the cavity below nostril level during a session, it puddles so long as we're sitting upright. If, later in the day, we bend down or somehow force the water upwards, the floodgates are opened.
• Slotted: Positioned perfectly in the tube or under the curl of a wave. Can also be the same as getting barreled or tubed.
• Snapback: A quick, short cutback into the power of the wave. Often used in a steep part of the wave when the quick maneuver will keep the surfer in the "power pocket" of the wave. Also used when the wave is too fast to offer a chance to do a full cutback because the wave would pass the surfer by.
• Soul Arch: A classic maneuver when a surfer arches his back through a critical section of the wave to demonstrate casual control. Most people equate the soul arch with one man: Peter Townend.
• Spat out: When a surfer completes a deep barrel or tube ride in a hollow wave, and exits the tube at the same time air compressed within the tube, is also forced out of the tube as spray with the surfer.
• Spin out: Spin out-A wipeout caused by the fins of the surfboard releasing their leverage in the water so the surfboard will slide out from underneath the surfer. Usually caused by a surfer turning too hard in a steep part of the wave, or if the surfer turned too hard when going over a bump in the water.
• Stall: A maneuver designed to slow down a surfboard so the surfer can let the power portion of the wave catch up.
• Straightening off: Describes a move in which a surfer turns toward the beach when the wave has closed out or is too fast to make down the line. Used if/when there isn't an opportunity to pull out over the top of the wave. In larger waves the surfer may opt to lay down on the board to hang on.
• Tailslide: A maneuver in which a surfer breaks the fins free from the water so the tail slides around quickly. A very difficult maneuver and somewhat counter-intuitive, since it's based on taking weight off the board, not pressurizing it. The surfer must stay above the surfboard, staying in physical contact to maintain control. Popularized in the early '90s by Kelly Slater and friends.
• Tandem Surfing: The act of two people surfing together on a single board. Tandem riding was born at Waikiki. Over the years, it has evolved from a man and a woman standing together on a single board to a series of technical lifts and international competitions.
• Take-off: The beginning of a ride when the surfer paddles for a wave, and then pushes his/her body up to a standing position before he drops into the wave. The take-off is crucial for a successful ride as it sets the rhythm for the entire ride.
• Tow surfing The act of towing into waves behind a personal watercraft instead of paddling into waves. A major pull for big-wave surfing.
• Trim: A state in which the surfer and board travel across a wave face at precisely the speed needed to maintain position on the wave, without turning. Trim speed is a fundamental "go-to" for beginner surfers and super-skilled pros alike.
• Tube: See barrel.
• Turtle: A paddling maneuver to help reduce resistance when paddling through whitewater, by rolling the surfboard upside down (with the fins up), and then holding on to the rails of the surfboard while underwater as the whitewater passes overhead. Used especially with longboards because the board's increased flotation makes duckdiving (the preferred method) difficult.

Accidental

• Axe/axed: A heavy wipeout, usually involving the wave's lip impacting directly on a surfer. Also called drilled, pummeled, guillotined etc.
• Caught inside: A circumstance in which a surfer is trapped between the shoreline and breaking waves. This usually means the surfer will have to wait for a lull between the larger breaking waves for a chance to slip into clear water.
• Drop-in: When a surfer initially goes down the face of the wave after catching a wave. Also a term used to describe catching a wave in front of another surfer who is already riding, which is a general breach of surfing etiquette.
• Over the falls: When a surfer falls off the board and the wave sucks him or her up in a circular motion along with the lip of the wave. Also referred to as the "wash cycle", being "pitched over" and being "sucked over". This type of wipeout can cause bad injuries because the surfer will likely hit the reef or ocean floor.
• Pearl: A wipeout where the nose or front of the surfboard goes under the water, usually when dropping into a steep part of a wave. (After "pearl diving".)
• Rag dolled: When underwater, the power of the wave can shake the surfer around as if he/she were a rag doll
• Snake-: Snake-A person who regularly sneaks around behind other surfers in order to take more waves; the act of doing so. This is done in breach of etiquette according the Surfline Bill of Rights and Lefts.
• Tombstoning: A post-wipeout phenomenon, when a surfer is deep underwater with the surf leash stretched out to a point where the tail of the surfboard is being pulled down, so the nose of the surfboard sticks up in the air like a tombstone. Usually happens in larger surf.
• Two-wave hold down: During a radical wipeout, to be held under water for two successive waves. Usually only happens in large surf with very foamy conditions which make it difficult to swim to the surface. The actual time underwater may only be about 30-40 seconds long but seems like an eternity if you're the actual surfer being held down and fighting to rise to the surface.
• Wipeout: The classic term of falling off, or being knocked off, a surfboard while surfing a wave.

People

• Bodyboarder: One who rides waves lying down on a bodyboard. Often beginners, although some bodyboarders, like Hawaii's Mike Stewart, are considered among the best surfers in the world.
• Grom or Grommet: A young surfer generally less than 16 years of age.
• Kook: A person who has an exaggerated idea of his/her surfing capacity, and who as a result interferes with other surfers' enjoyment of the waves. Often-but not necessarily only-applied to beginner surfers.
• Locals: Long time regulars at a particular surf spot or area. Locals may or may not live at or near the spot, but their regular surfing means they are accepted as particularly knowledgeable or experienced by the local surfing community. Locals can be very protective of their surf spot and outsiders need to be very aware to the fact that they are visitors.
• Shaper: The surfboard worker who planes and sands a blank to the desired shape prior to glassing. Not necessarily a designer (see designer)
• Wahine: Hawaiian word for a female; used to describe a female surfer.
• Waterman: A person boasting total mastery of all oceanic endeavors, the revered waterman can fish, dive, surf, windsurf, kayak, bodysurf, interpret complex weather data, save the odd drowning man, etc. Generally built like a tank and typically soft-spoken (choosing to let his actions do the talking), loner watermen fear neither tempest nor shark and rarely head for higher ground. If need be, he can survive entirely on self-harvested ocean bounty, spearing his food from the nearby reefs he'll surf over when the swell is up.

The board

• Airbrush: The tool used by an artist to spray color onto a surfboard. The airbrush is powered by compressor and sprays paint from a container (usually screwed or otherwise attached to the airbrush) out through a thin nozzle in a manner similar to an aerosol spray can
• Alaia: A type of surfboard, made of wood and usually around six feet in length, used by Hawaiian commoners to surf prior to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in the late 19th century
• Balsa: Light, porous wood used through the 1940s and 50s as a key core material for surfboard manufacture. Balsa grows only in Ecuador and must be imported to the USA; it became popular when laminating techniques allowed surfboard cores to be sealed from contact with water. By the early 1960s it had been largely replaced by polyurethane foam, but is still used for some big wave guns and collector pieces.
• Bamboo: Can be used in thin laminar sheets as a replacement for fiberglass in the surfboard manufacturing process; i.e., Bamboo Surfboards Australia.
• Blank: The original block of foam used to shape a surfboard. A blank often comes from a pre-shaped mold with a basic outline and rocker depending on the length and type surfboard being shaped. Usually made from polyurethane foam.
• Bodyboard: A small soft foam board used primarily with swim fins, and ridden prone (occasionally drop knee). Originated with the Morey Boogie-board invented by Tom Morey in the 70's.
• Bonzer: A surfboard design first invented by the Campbell brothers, Duncan and Malcolm, in 1971. Forerunner of today's popular single-to-double concave bottom shape.
• Bottom: Bottom-The underside of a surfboard.
• Bottom Curve: (see rocker)
• Buckle: (see crease)
• Carbon Fiber: A type of super-strong fiber, soakable in resin, which is occasionally laid in strips along the length of a board during glassing to help prevent creasing.
• Catalyst: (see MEKP)
• Channel: Bottom shape dating back to 1970, credited to Jim Pollard of Australia, in which grooves are cut lengthwise along the surfboard, usually through the tail half. Many different types of channels have a variety of effects on performance; generally they add drive and direction to turns, especially in the most common modern variation, the six-channel "clinker" bottom.
• Computer board/Computer shape: Many top shapers currently use highly accurate machines to cut blanks into near-ready shapes, or "pre-shapes". These are driven by computer programs, which use data from the shapers' prototype designs (see "plug"). The computer has reduced man-hours on a shape job to as little as 15 minutes.
• Concave: Design feature involving a slight scooping out of an area of the board, usually the bottom from rail to rail, during the shaping process. Concave is a paradox because it provides both lift (a skatey freeing up of the board) and drive (from pressure on the water along the exit rail).
• Crease: Damage to a surfboard caused by heavy general impact, in which the surfboard flexes further than the glass and resin allows. Usually indicated by a fracture line running across the board on bottom, deck or both. A bad crease may shatter glass around the rail and lead to a complete break in the affected board.
• Deck: The top surface of a surfboard on which you stand.
• Deck Grip: Rough-surfaced material patch, usually a fraction of an inch thick, which can be glued to the deck of a surfboard to increase traction instead of wax.
• Delaminate: A breakdown of the bond between the fiberglass and foam of a surfboard, where the fiberglass becomes separated from the foam. Usually caused by water seeping in under the fiberglass due to a ding of other fracture of the waterproof bond. Can also be caused by the surfboard being exposed to excessive heat like in a hot car, which will cause the foam to shrink slightly away from the fiberglass bond. Delaminations should be fixed immediately as they will spread and the surfboard strength will be weakened dramatically.
• Designer: An expert surfboard shaper or rider who originates ideas for surfboard shapes. See shaper.
• Ding: Damage to surfboard caused by dropping or collision with another hard object or surfboard. Dings must be dried out and repaired immediately otherwise water will weaken the strength of the board.
• Down Rail: A rail (see rail) shape in which the deck slopes down to meet the bottom, rather than vice versa. Credited to Mike Diffenderfer of the USA in the 1960s.
• Drag: The effect that causes water flow to be slowed or disrupted as it passes along a surfboard's surfaces. Causes of drag are usually present in the leading edges of a surfboard: the forward rail line, the forward rocker and outline, and the leading edges of fins, and in bottom features which cause water resistance, such as tail vee. Controlled drag is an essential requirement of surfboard design.
• Drive: The effect of water pressure pushed against a surfboard's surface, which creates acceleration down the line on a wave. This is the simple way of describing drive and its immediate effect. Looking at it more closely, we see that "drive" in a surfboard context implies a couple of factors. - First, it's about pressure. Specifically, water pressure working against a surface. To harness the pressure, you've gotta have a surface for it to work against (ie., a fin). - Second, it's about direction. Drive is aimed; it's purposeful, not random. Drive doesn't have an opposite so much as a corollary, which is Drag. Drag results from friction between waterflow and wetted surface, and it's not altogether a bad thing; without some elements of Drag, as without Drive, a surfboard would be virtually impossible to control. (Best example I can think of: a surfboard without any fins at all.) Almost without fail, wherever you create the possibility of Drive, you'll also have the possibility of Drag. Getting that balance right is the key to great surfboard design. A middle fin adds Drive and Drag at a central point of a surfboard's tail. This adds control and direction, providing an anchor for turns. In the classic Thruster setup, the side fins are reduced in volume in order to balance the design. Take the middle fin away, and both Drive and Drag are removed; waterflow gets past the fins more easily, giving the board a skatier, skimmier feel, but some control and direction is lost. This is only partially made up for by the larger fin size of the classic Twin-fin design.
• Fin or Fins: Fin-shaped inserts on the underside of the back of the board that enable the board to be steered
• Leash: A cord that is attached to the back of the board, the other end of which wraps around the surfer's ankle
• Nose: The forward tip of the board
• Quiver: A surfer's collection of boards for different kinds of waves
• Rails: The side edges of the surfboard
• Rocker: How concave the surface of the board is from nose to tail
• Tail: The back end of the board
• Wax: Specially formulated surf wax that is applied to upper surface of the board to increase the traction so the surfer's feet do not slip off of the board

Clothing

• Asymmetrical zippers: Wetsuit zippers with staggered teeth, invented to keep a tighter seal and let less water in. Common in newer zippered suits
• Beavertail: Early wetsuit design in the '70s with a large flap affixed to the suit's lower back, wrapped under the crotch and secured in front. Designed to hold the suit in place, the innovation didn't really work and surfers took to letting the slab dangle. (Hence the term, "tail".)
• Blindstitched: Seam that's glued together, then sewn halfway through the material so you don't see the stitching on the other side; generally on higher-end suits and considered flexible, fairly watertight and durable.
• Board shorts: Shorts originally developed for aquatic sports, specifically for surfing
• Double blindstitched: Seam is glued together and blindstitched on the outside, turned inside out and blindstitched on the inside; considered a very watertight seal.
• Expanded Seam Technology (EST): Developed by a skin graft specialist in the late '90s, EST is a way to have a "stitchless" suit by weaving the panels together in hexagonal patterns; touted a few years back as the next giant thing, now mainly used in super cold water suits.
• Flatstitched: (flatlocked) Seams which have the stitching sewn through the material; generally usually used in warmer-water suits because-though it's super flexible-it does let water through.
• Fullsuit: As the name implies, a wetsuit that covers the whole body. (Though some companies make short-arm fullsuits) Ranges in thickness from 2mm to 6mm, but the most common fullsuits are 3/2mm and 4/3mm. (Called "steamer" in Australia.)
• Gaskets: Three areas on a suit-wrist, ankle and neck-where the rubber is rolled inwards to create a fairly inflexible seal, which inhibits water seepage. The neck in particular is a delicate balance between flexibility and tightness, seepage and breathing. Some companies no longer use gaskets, relying instead on form-fitting rubber.
• Gusset: The panel that runs down the arm, invented to make paddling easier.
• Hood: Generally made of super soft neoprene, as it needs to fit snugly; can cover up to just under the nose in ultra coldwater suits. Hoods can come attached to the suit (some companies feature snap on/off detachable hoods), attached to some kind of nylon or polypropelene rashguard, or on their own.
• Jersey: The molded inner material that holds the neoprene together, made from any combo of polypropylene, nylon, titanium, etc.
• Kneepads: Often made of slightly harder rubber than the rest of the suit to protect neoprene from constant duck diving pressure. Many suits feature molded kneepads, which are pre-formed rubber that ostensibly helps with flexibility.
• Millimeters (mm): Refers to thickness of neoprene. Wetsuits are rarely all one thickness, usually using a thicker rubber in the torso for warmth and a thinner rubber in the arms and legs for flexibility. While thickness can range from 0.5mm to 5mm, typical suits are 3/2mm for cool to cold water and 4/3 for cold water.
• Mini-back zip: Small zipper, often flanked by a layer of rubber behind it to prevent seepage, which was developed as a compromise between ease of entry of zippered suits and flexibility and warmth of zipperless suits.
• Neoprene: "Discovered" by Jack O'Neill in the '40s in the aisle carpeting of a DC-3. Wetsuit neoprene is ultra stretchy rubber made from melted-down petroleum chips which are blown into a mold-not unlike a waffle iron-that ends up 3 or 4 inches thick, which is then cut down to size and formed by a fitted jersey (see jersey). It is closed cell, meaning it's made up of hundreds of tiny cells that don't allow water to flow from cell to cell, which is why it works so damn well-one damaged cell doesn't affect the whole suit.
• Nylon: Smooth material, usually used as a liner/jersey, and to keep the neoprene from expanding and falling apart.
• Panels: Neoprene is cut into sheets that are formed to various parts of the body and then joined together at the seams. Panel development is ongoing and fierce, as rubber gets more and more flexible; fewer panels (and fewer seams, always a good thing) are needed.
• Polypropylene: Wicking material (i.e., it doesn't absorb water) replaced many nylon linings in wetsuits in the late '80s and is often used for insulating rash guards today.
• Rash guard: A close-fitting top for swimming or surfing, worn under a wetsuit, over swimwear, or alone
• Seams: Seams-The connecting area between panels on a suit; one of the most important zones and the focus for much of new developments in wetsuit technology. (See: flatstitched, blindstitched, double blindstitched, taped, stress point taping.)
• Springsuit: Short armed, short legged wetsuit, often 2mm. Used in cool water. (Some companies make long-armed springsuits.)
• Stress point taping: Gluing tape is cut into small pieces and placed on seams in various pressure points throughout the suit, such as at the elbows, knees, and under the arms. The goal is to provide durability where necessary while keeping as much flexibility as possible.
• Superstretch: (ultrastretch, highstretch etc) Trade name referring to a particular brand's most flexible rubber. Often only used in high-motion areas (i.e., the shoulders) as it's generally considered less warm and durable than other kinds of neoprene. (This changes dramatically from year to year; what was last year's superultrahigh stretch is this year's boring old neoprene.)
• Taped seams: Nylon tape is glued along the seams, covering up whatever stitching exists. Long considered a necessary evil to keep water out and add strength to the seams; often now only used at specific pressure points (see stress point taping) or replaced by liquid seam tape, a more flexible and perhaps equally durable option.
• Titanium: A soft metal occasionally weaved into neoprene as early as '91, supposedly to reflect heat back to the wearer.
• Velcro: Patented hook and loop fastener, used mainly in zipperless suits to connect overlapping panels and in zippered suits to tighten neck gasket.
• Warranty (for Wetsuits): Depends on manufacturer; often one year on materials and lifetime on seams, but as suits get more flexible, many only last one season before they start falling apart.
• Wetsuit: Typically made of a synthetic rubber called neoprene, wetsuits are worn by surfers for protection from the oft-chilly waters in which they plunge for pleasure. Contrary to what people in Nebraska think, the suits do not work by keeping the surfer dry, but are instead designed to let water in. The water is then trapped between surfer and suit and subsequently warmed by body heat and, when nature calls, pee-pee. For more see
• Zipperless: Often considered the "holy grail" of wetsuits, as zippers-no matter how tightly made-will always let water through. Invented in '89 by Body Glove, the first zipperless wetsuits were actually way too stiff for surfers to use; by '93, the Japanese came out with another model that was still too stiff, but by '95, most wetsuit companies offered a high end zipperless suit. Advantages include flexibility and warmth; disadvantages include short lifespan (due to super stretchy rubber) and difficult entry/exit.

Misc

• Aloha: Hawaiian word used as a greeting, a send-off, a sign of affection and/or a wish for good fortune or mercy
• Hang-loose: Generally meaning "catch that wave" or "well done". This message can be sent by raising a hand with the thumb and pinkie fingers up while the index, middle and ring fingers remain folded over the palm, then twisting the wrist back and forth as if waving goodbye, see shaka sign
• Rubber arms: The feeling of very weak arms after a lot of paddling. Beginners will often feel "rubber arms" until they build up paddling muscles in their shoulder and arms. Advanced surfers may feel rubber arms after multiple hours of intense paddling. Also called "noodled".
• Stoked: Extremely happy or elated. An original surfing term.
• Surfari: An older surfing term for a surf trip, from African safari.
• Surfer's Ear: Long-term exposure to cold water and wind leads to a build-up of bone within the ear canal called diffuse exostosis, or surfer's ear. The auditory-afflicting condition worsens with repeated exposure to the elements until surgery becomes the only respite from total hearing loss. Surfer's ear takes years of cold-water sessions to develop, so the affliction is endemic to older surfers. For more see
• Surfology: The science of surfing, surf forecasting, and the surfing lifestyle.