Surfing Glossary
[How to understand most in your first surf class]
You always saw those amazing looking surfers in videos and on the beach and decided it's time for you to get started as well? Congratulations! This page will help you to get familiar with the slang of this new and exciting world.
This surfing glossary helps you as a beginner to understand common terminologies of this sport. Below you find a small selection of basic expressions. Trust me, there are way more ;-)
A-frame
a wave peak breaking left and right with perfect shape
Air or Aerial
a maneuver in which the board leaves the surface or the water/wave
Ankle slapper
a wave that's too small to ride
Alaia
Hawaiian surfboard made of wood, from the 19th century
Backdoor
​When a surfer slides into a gnarly barrel from the backside, they’re threading the needle through that hollow wave
Bailing
Jumping off the board into the water to avoid collisions
Beach break
where the waves break over sandbars
Bomb
huge wave
Break
when the swell of the water breaks, turning into waves and white water
Carve
a maneuver that is a sharp turn on the face of the wave
Caught inside
getting "stuck" between the shoreline and the breaking waves
Charging
when a surfer is aggressively going for a wave, giving it all and putting on a show
Choppy
rough waves due to wind conditions, not building up and breaking yet
Closeout
a wave breaking suddenly without shape or shoulder
Clucked
being scared of waves
Cutback
a surf move done sharply in the shoulder or the wave or on its flats to get back on the surf line
Closeout
a wave breaking suddenly without shape or shoulder
Cutting off
catching a wave in front of a surfer, who wanted to take the same wave and was closer to it/ "stealing a wave"
Dawn patrol
early morning surf session
Deck
top of the surfboard
Duck dive
the technique of pushing the surfboard under a breaking wave
Epoxy
special plastic resin used to produce surfboards
Fin
object at the tail of a board to improve stability and control
Flats
horizontal part of a breaking wave, also known as the shoulder
Floater
a surfing maneuver where the rider goes over the top of a crumbling section and ends up in the flats
Foam
the white water that the wave produces after breaking
Frontside
when a surfer rides facing the wave
Funboard
mid-length surfboard, also known as Malibu or minimal
Glassjob
the fiberglass coat added to a surfboard during the shaping process
Greenroom
the inside of a barrel
Grubbing
falling off the surfboard while surfing
Gun
a big wave surfboard
Header
to fall off a surfboard from the front, head first
Helicopter
a surf move where the surfer spins their surfboard around from its nose
Impact zone
the area where waves break
Kickout
a surfing maneuver performed at the end of a wave ride to exit it
Leash
the cord that attaches a surfboard to the surfer
Line up
spot where surfers line up to catch waves, behind breaking zone
Lip
curling part of a wave
Lull
time between sets of waves with no waves breaking
Mushburger
a slow and fat wave
Outline
the shape of a surfboard from nose to tail
Overhead
when a wave is higher than an average surfer
Party wave
a wave that several people are surfing
Peak
highest point of a breaking wave that generates left and right surfable shoulders
Peeling
when a wave breaks perfectly
Pop up
the move surfers make to move from lying on the surfboard to standing up to surf
Quimby
a beginner surfer who is usually annoying
Quiver
a surfer’s surfboard collection
Rails
the sides of the board
Regular-footed
a surfer who surfs with their left foot forward
Riptide
a stretch of water that is particularly turbulent
Rocker
the curve under the surfboard
Set (of waves)
a series of waves that are approaching the lineup
Shaka
a sign surfers use: extending the thumb and the little finger
Shoulder
the part of the breaking wave that is unbroken
Spat out
the action that occurs when a surfer exits a barrel alongside air and foamy water
Stall
a surf move meant to slow down the surfboard
Stick
surfboard
Sufer's knots
swellings on the frontside of the leg, below the knee, as a result of kneeling on the surfboard waiting for a wave
Tail
the backside of the board
Take-off
catching a wave
Tombstoning
when the surfer is wiped out and sinking below the surface and their surfboard is bobbing up and down connected to them through a leash
Turtle roll
a technique used to get the surfboard to go through a breaking wave; it implies hanging on to the rails, turning over so that the surfer is fully submerged and the fins of the surfboard become visible.
Twin fin
a surfboard with two fins
Wall
a face of the wave that has no area to ride on
Washing machine
getting rolled around underwater by a breaking wave
Wipe out
falling off a wave while surfing