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N2K Newsletter
Surf Talk
The mainstream media more often than not sound totally ridiculous when they portray surfing — this is because it has its own language, or surf talk, which is constantly developing and changing. What was cool a few years ago won’t be now, so pay attention to the surf mags and websites if you don’t want to sound like a ‘kook’!
Aerial or Air
A manoeuvre where the surfer’s board leave the surface of the water.
A-Frame
A peak with both a left and a righthand wave breaking at either side at the same time, thus making it look like a letter A.
Alaia
Old wooden surfboard used in ancient Hawaii.
Aloha
Hawaiian greeting word which also means peace, good wishes, welcome.
Backdoor
Taking off behind the peak (harder than taking off on the peak). Good for getting into the barrel.
Backing off
When a wave breaks or begins to break and then hits deeper water and fattens out. Frustrating!
Bail
Leaving the board and diving under waves.
Barrel
Surfing’s nirvana. A hollow tube of a wave formed when the lip pitches out and forms a cavern that a skilled surfer can tuck themselves inside of.
Bathymetry
The measurement of depths of water in oceans, seas, and lakes. The topography of the ocean floor or underwater bottom.
Beachbreak
A wave that breaks over a sandy bottom.
Blank
A hunk of foam that will be shaped by a shaper into a surfboard.
Blown out
Really onshore, windy and messy, pretty much unsurfable.
Bodyboard
A short squarish board with no fins in it, ridden lying down with swimfins often attached to the feet. Also known as a lid, mat, sponge and many other slightly derogatory terms!
Bomb
A bigger or better wave than those that have gone before in a session.
Bonzer
A surfboard with a five-fin setup, created in the 70s by the Campbell brothers.
Carve
A long drawn-out and powerful turn which slices into the wave.
Clean
Either no wind or a light offshore produces clean conditions, where there is no chop on the face of the wave. Ideal.
Close out
Where a wave breaks top to bottom all along its length. Also known as a straighthander, because you cannot surf along the face.
Concave
A dip shaped into the bottom of a board to increase speed. Usually between the fins, sometimes at the nose.
Cooking
Often followed by ‘bru’, a South African favourite term for great waves.
Cowabunga
Please, do not use this . . . it’s an old, and now unused (except by mainstream media), term rather like a surfing war cry. Cringe-worthy.
Cranking
Sick (excellent) waves. You can also crank a turn, i.e. turn powerfully.
Cutback
A series of turns made to return a surfer to the power pocket, right at the peak of the wave.
Dawn Patrol
Early morning surf session.
Ding
Damage to a surfboard.
Double up
When two waves combine to form a larger wave, or when they don’t quite combine and thus neither is surfable.
Down-the-line
The direction a surfer surfs in, from the starting point on the shoulder along the clean face.
Drilling
Getting a kicking from a wave or a set. You can be drilled right into the sand if you’re unlucky!
Drop in
A surfer who takes off and gets in the way of another surfer who is closer to the peak has dropped in.
Dude
Californian term meaning surfer, cool guy, man. A bit cliched over here!
Elephant Gun
Or more commonly just a gun. A large board for large waves.
Epoxy
A type of plastic resin used by some manufacturers in place of polyester resin.
Face
The unbroken front part of the wave - the blue part you can see.
Fetch
The area across the ocean over which a wind with a consistent direction generates waves and sea state.
Fin
The pointy things on the bottom of the board… They dig into the wave and give the board directional hold.
Firing
Going off. Really good surf.
Fish
A shorter, fatter, rounder shape in general with a wide nose, designed to make the most of small waves. A plethora of options from retro to cutting-edge shapes.
Flat
No surfable waves in sight. Bad.
Floater
A manoeuvre where the surfer slides along on top of a broken section of a wave.
Forehand/frontside
Surfing facing the wave, i.e. righthanders if you are regular-footed and lefthanders if you are goofy.
Fullsuit
A wetsuit which covers the whole body.
Glass job
Final coating of fibreglass cloth and resin given to a new surfboard.
Glassy
Even cleaner than clean. Good!
Gnarly
Heavy, scary situation or waves. Slightly cliched now.
Goat boat
Surf ski, canoe or other unwieldy sit-down craft that should not be anywhere near surfers.
Going off
Really good surf.
Goofy foot
Surfing right foot forward.
Green Room
An old-fashioned term for the barrel.
Grommet
A young surfer.
Groundswell
Waves that have been generated far away and thus have a high period (10 seconds or more). Clean, powerful and the best for surfing.
Hang Five
A longboarding manoeuvre where the surfer puts five toes over the end of the nose of the surfboard.
Hang Ten
10 toes over the nose. Hard.
Heavy
Powerful waves which will give you a good hiding.
Hollow
Barrelling conditions.
Impact zone
Right where the waves are breaking, and right where you don’t want to be caught.
Inside
To be caught inside is to be too close to the beach when a set unloads, giving you a thrashing. The inside is where the waves are breaking.
Jack up
When a wave rears up quickly in height because it has just hit shallower water.
Keg
Another word for a barrel.
Kick out
A manoeuvre to end the wave, basically a top turn out through the lip and off the back of the wave. A flying kick out is a more showy version.
Kook
Bad surfer.
Layback
A turn where the fins are released and the surfer almost falls off the back but is pushed upright by the whitewater.
Leash
A urethane cord and Velcro contraption which attaches board to surfer. Pretty essential in these crowded days.
Leash plug
A small plug in the tail of the deck of a board with a bar to attach a leash string to.
Legrope
Or ‘leggie’. Another name for a leash. Common term in Australia.
Line up
Where surfers sit and wait for waves, just outside of where they will break.
Lip
The edge of the wave just as it’s beginning to break.
Log
Longboard.
Longboard
A board over eight feet for cruising and walking (cross-stepping). Longboards can be old-school, but there are now many progressive shapes that will pull some amazing moves.
Loose
A board that is easy to throw around in the waves. Often with two fins or a quad setup.
Lull
A period of relative calm between sets of waves. Ideal to paddle out in, or just catch your breath.
Lumpy
Literally, bumps and swells in the wave which make it harder to judge and ride the swell.
Macker
A big wave. ‘Macking’ can be used to describe a big swell.
Mal
Longboard. A Malibu board is a longboard design that came out of California.
Messy
Choppy, onshore, confused conditions. Not clean. Harder to surf, but often still plenty of fun.
Mushy
Weak, small mushburgers are not good waves. Little energy, usually from windswells.
Neoprene
Stretchy rubber made from melted down and moulded petroleum chips. Made up of lots of little insulating cells to keep you toasty.
Nose
Front of a surfboard.
Noseguard
A protective hard rubber tip often used to protect the board and soft body parts.
Offshore
When the breeze blows from the land out to sea. Cleans the wave faces up and makes for good rides (when not too strong, when it can be difficult to paddle into).
Off the lip
A top turn performed sharply at the top of the wave in the lip area.
Onshore
When the wind is blowing from the sea onto the land. Generally makes for messy surf.
Outside
Further out to sea. A cry of ‘Outside’ means the same as ‘Heads up! Waves coming!’
Over the falls
Wiping out from the top of the wave and falling to the bottom.
Overhead
A wave that is taller than the surfer riding it. Often used rather than arbitrary feet to measure wave height.
Pearl
Where the nose of the board pushes or catches the wave and stalls. Often results in a wipeout or fluffed takeoff.
Peeling
A wave breaking perfectly from one end to the other all the way down the line.
Pigdog
Crouching low and grabbing the rail of a surfboard when going backside to hold in the barrel or tube.
Pop up
Getting to your feet on a surfboard.
Pin tail
A tail shape which comes to a point. Often used on big wave boards to help them turn.
Pull in
Turning tight to get into the barrel.
Pumping
Going off; excellent surf, strong swell.
Quad
A board with four fins, two on each side. Looser to surf.
Quiver
A collection of surfboards.
Rail
The edges of a surfboard, which it turns on.
Re-entry
Performing a top turn followed dropping down with the whitewater.
Regular foot
Surfing left foot forward.
Resin
A liquid plastic that sets hard when mixed with MEKP. Used to seal a shaped blank and repair dings.
Reverse Vee
The opposite of a concave in the bottom of a board, i.e. convex.
Rhino Chaser
Old-fashioned term for a gun, a big-wave board.
Rip (current or tide)
A strong pull of water.
Reo
See re-entry.
SAS
Surfers Against Sewage, the UK pollution group. See www.sas.org.uk.
Set
A group of waves, usually from two to nine waves together. The legendary seventh and/or ninth waves are supposed to be the biggest and best…
Shacked
Getting barrelled.
Shaper
Surfboard maker.
Shorebreak
Or ‘shorey’. A line of waves breaking right on the beach which must be tackled before paddling out. Can be fun to ride, can also hurt! Often found at high tide.
Shoulder
The unbroken part of the wave that the surfer surfs on.
Shredding
Surfing powerfully and technically.
Sick
Really, really good.
Skeg
Fin.
Slop
Messy, weak, low period surf.
Slotted
Barrelled. Yes, there are a lot of words for this!
Snap
A fast sharp turn.
Snake
Paddling around other surfers to take pole position for waves. Bad manners.
Sneaker set
Unexpectedly large set during a session which tends to take out the entire lineup.
Spray
Water thrown up by the fins as a surfer slices into the wave. Good.
Spin out
Losing the tail during a manoeuvre when the fins slide out.
Square tail
A tail shape that looks…square. A good all round and popular choice.
Stick
Surfboard.
Stoked
Surfed-out and happy. Do not over-use unless you are from California.
Stringer
A line of wood running up the middle of a surfboard blank for strength and symmetry. One stringer is the most common, but you can have more.
Swallow tail
A tail shaped like a swallow’s wing or W.
Switch foot
Someone who can surf both ways around, i.e. goofy and natural.
Tail
The rear of a surfboard.
Take off
The start of a ride where the surfer paddles and pops up.
Thruster
The three-fin surfboard popularised by Simon Anderson in the 80s.
Tombstoning
When the surfer is deep underwater and their board is pulled by the leash until it sticks up like a tombstone out of the water.
Tube
Barrel.
Twin fin
A board with two fins. Loose and quite retro.
Wahine
Hawaiian term for a female surfer.
Wax
Sticky substance rubbed on the deck of the board to give grip.
Wedge
Where two waves come together and the size is magnified. Bodyboarders love this.
Windswell
Smaller, poor waves generated by local winds and thus without the organisation or power of groundswell.
Wipeout
Falling off.
Zipperless
A wetsuit made with any arrangement of flaps and Velcro rather than zips, which let water in.
Zoo
A crowded line up.