RELATED SEARCHES
Sponsored Surfing Maneuver Results:
Surfing Maneuvers: Hang Ten, Pop Shuv-It And Flip
By:
Published: October 30, 2006
Surfing has moved far beyond what its early practitioners could have envisioned. Where most of the early Hawaiians had been content riding the surfboard on their knees, lying down, or even standing up, the complex methods of wave riding now used by the world's surfers would have surely amazed them.
Common in other phenomenal sporting feats, the moves in surfing are not always intended, but a combination of circumstances and luck. As stable as a swell may appear, there is no such thing as a predictable wave–especially when you’re on it. A waves ability to drop off or expand, speed up or slow down seemingly instantaneous. In surfing, the surfer is at the mercy of her quarry–she moves to the ocean, not the ocean to her.
The list of surfing maneuvers is voluminous and by no means is this an exhaustive list. Some of the moves are easy, some difficult, others unimaginable, if not made up. Surfing is still predominantly dominated by its local scene, so the lingo is usually colloquial. Because of surfing's place in American pop-culture, some phrases have made it into the lexicon. For example, the move "Hang Ten" and its lesser counterpart "Hang Five" is a surfing maneuver that requires the surfer to ride the surfboard with all ten toes over the nose of the board.
Moves like the “McFlip” has only been purported to have occurred once at a beach in Florida (So-Cal surfers are hesitant to accept the reliability of the account). Moves like the "Pop Shuv-It" and "Chop Hop" are very similar, separated by a half-turn of the surfboard.
After being able to stand up on a surf board the most important basic surfing maneuvers are the "takeoff" and "carving" or "snapping." The takeoff is when a surfer begins his ride, dropping into the swell he's going to ride. Carving and snapping are both terms for turning. Carving is generally slow well-articulated turns to gain speed and momentum, while snapping is usually done quicker. Bottom turns and cutbacks are also important moves each surfer needs.
Once a surfer has mastered the ability to takeoff and the ability to carve to gain speed and momentum, he has mastered the precursors to more complex surfing moves.
The most complex surfing maneuvers are usually the combining of two, three or more simpler aspects. Moves like fakeys and airs are both basic moves. Combined, the air to fakey is an elegant combination of the two. Air is simply gaining the speed and momentum to cut up the face of the wave into the air and back into the wave. A fakey is done by a surfer sliding his bored down the face of a wave backwards. The two moves combined in quick succession would be a surfer cutting up the face of a wave and landing his surfboard backwards down the face of the wave.
Having the ability to get air, to perform aerials, is the first step in mastering more impressive displays like aerial barrel rolls–a horizontal full circle twist while air-born.
When a surfer is exiting a wave he can either kick out or cut. Cutting out is the most basic exit from a wave, kick outs are usually more elaborate, graceful exits like Kelly Slater's "flip," a 360 maneuver that requires a full flip, landing on the tail end of the wave as it breaks.
Although not as attractive, cut-outs beat the alternative–the spin-cycle or tumble dry after eating it after a bad surf.
Surf Lingo Lexicon. 2006. riptionary.com. 12 Oct 2006. www.riptionary.com
Surfing. 2006. Wikipedia. 12 Oct 2006. www.wikipedia.org
Common in other phenomenal sporting feats, the moves in surfing are not always intended, but a combination of circumstances and luck. As stable as a swell may appear, there is no such thing as a predictable wave–especially when you’re on it. A waves ability to drop off or expand, speed up or slow down seemingly instantaneous. In surfing, the surfer is at the mercy of her quarry–she moves to the ocean, not the ocean to her.
The list of surfing maneuvers is voluminous and by no means is this an exhaustive list. Some of the moves are easy, some difficult, others unimaginable, if not made up. Surfing is still predominantly dominated by its local scene, so the lingo is usually colloquial. Because of surfing's place in American pop-culture, some phrases have made it into the lexicon. For example, the move "Hang Ten" and its lesser counterpart "Hang Five" is a surfing maneuver that requires the surfer to ride the surfboard with all ten toes over the nose of the board.
Moves like the “McFlip” has only been purported to have occurred once at a beach in Florida (So-Cal surfers are hesitant to accept the reliability of the account). Moves like the "Pop Shuv-It" and "Chop Hop" are very similar, separated by a half-turn of the surfboard.
After being able to stand up on a surf board the most important basic surfing maneuvers are the "takeoff" and "carving" or "snapping." The takeoff is when a surfer begins his ride, dropping into the swell he's going to ride. Carving and snapping are both terms for turning. Carving is generally slow well-articulated turns to gain speed and momentum, while snapping is usually done quicker. Bottom turns and cutbacks are also important moves each surfer needs.
Once a surfer has mastered the ability to takeoff and the ability to carve to gain speed and momentum, he has mastered the precursors to more complex surfing moves.
The most complex surfing maneuvers are usually the combining of two, three or more simpler aspects. Moves like fakeys and airs are both basic moves. Combined, the air to fakey is an elegant combination of the two. Air is simply gaining the speed and momentum to cut up the face of the wave into the air and back into the wave. A fakey is done by a surfer sliding his bored down the face of a wave backwards. The two moves combined in quick succession would be a surfer cutting up the face of a wave and landing his surfboard backwards down the face of the wave.
Having the ability to get air, to perform aerials, is the first step in mastering more impressive displays like aerial barrel rolls–a horizontal full circle twist while air-born.
When a surfer is exiting a wave he can either kick out or cut. Cutting out is the most basic exit from a wave, kick outs are usually more elaborate, graceful exits like Kelly Slater's "flip," a 360 maneuver that requires a full flip, landing on the tail end of the wave as it breaks.
Although not as attractive, cut-outs beat the alternative–the spin-cycle or tumble dry after eating it after a bad surf.
Surf Lingo Lexicon. 2006. riptionary.com. 12 Oct 2006. www.riptionary.com
Surfing. 2006. Wikipedia. 12 Oct 2006. www.wikipedia.org
Featured Surfing Maneuver Products:
