Surfing Terms A-D

A

Air
When a surfer and his board jump out of the top of a wave. You will also hear 180, 360, alley oop, Air to fakie and more. A trick not for the novice!

ASP
ASP stands for Association of Professional Surfing. These guys look after the professional side of surfing.

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B

Barrel
A barrel is where the wave is hollow when it is breaking. For some surfers it's the be all and end all of surfing. Sometimes called a Tube.

Beach Break
A wave that breaks over the sandy sea bed. You've not read up about Waves have you.

Bells Beach
Bells Beach is one of the great right point breaks. Find it on the south Victorian coastline of Australia. Check out the Bells Beach Pro held in March every year. Setting for that tearful end bit in point break when Patrick (twinkletoes) Swayze AKA Bodie ate it at the end of Point Break. (And no doubt that after reading the Waves page and finding out what a point break actually is you are feeling particularly chuffed with yourself!)

Billabong
What Australians call a watering hole, but to everyone else it is one of the largest surfing equipment and clothing manufacturers out there.

Board
The fibreglass thingy under your feet.

Boardies
Board shorts - check the men's boardshorts here and the women's boardshorts here. Quick drying, lightweight and worn by those lucky enough to be surfing in warm water.

Boardshorts
Same as boardies

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C

Carve / Carving
The classic surfing manoeuvre. Basically what turning on a wave is called. Carve is also a surfing magazine found in Europe.

Cutback
Reversing the direction that you are surfing in one smooth fluid move. (That's the idea anyway).

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D

Drop In
Dropping in is a crime in the surf world. A drop-in is where a surfer catches a wave where he / she does not have priority. I.E. there is already a surfer on the wave. Please see diagram above. Remember - it's a CRIME!

Duck dive / duck diving
Diving under an oncoming wave when paddling out. See duck diving in full detail in Surfing Lesson Three - duck diving.

Dumping
Often caused by onshore conditions, where a wave will fold over in big sections, making it un-surfable

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