THE SURFING CRITERIA

“A SURFER MUST EXECUTE THE MOST RADICAL CONTROLLED MANEUVERS IN THE CRITICAL SECTION OF A WAVE WITH SPEED AND POWER THROUGHOUT.  THE SURFER WHO EXECUTES SUCH MANEUVERS ON THE BIGGEST AND OR BEST WAVES FOR THE LONGEST FUNCTIONAL DISTANCE SHALL BE DEEMED WINNER.”

ANALYSIS OF THE SURFING CRITERIA

The criteria has purposely been broken into two sentences.  The first sentence being the major emphasis of the Criteria, concerns the maneuvers, how radical and controlled they are, the section of the wave they are performed on, and how they are strung together.

The criteria can be graded into four main sections:

1.  RADICAL CONTROLLED MANEUVERS

     This is by far the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE CRITERIA.  Contemporary

     maneuvers basically constitute change of direction of the board on the wave (not the

     surfer on the board).  Such maneuvers would include re-entries, cut backs, floaters,

     aerials, tube rides, etc.  How radical they are, followed by the amount of control and

     commitment put into each of them, will determine how high they will score.

POWER                    COMMITMENT                         CONTROL

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE, EVEN IF A SURFER HAS COMPLETED 90% OF A MANEUVER, IT WILL NOT SCORE IF HE LOSES CONTROL AND FALLS!

2.  MOST CRITICAL SECTION

     This part of the Criteria describes the positions on the wave maneuvers should be

     performed to score the maximum points. 

THE CRITICAL SECTION OF THE WAVE IS THE “POCKET”, CLOSEST TO THE CURL. 

The degree of commitment and risk involved in performing a maneuver close to the curl is the reason that it scores higher.  Generally, the most critical section of a wave is the first section...”out the back” or “outside”. 

THE BIGGEST AND OR BEST WAVES

WAVE SELECTION IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR A SURFER IN

HIS HEAT.  The waves he selects will dictate the maneuvers he is able to perform.  Today

 there is less emphasis put on wave size in small to medium conditions due to the fact that                       the best waves may not necessarily be the biggest waves.

4.  LONGEST FUNCTIONAL DISTANCE

     It is important to note that the functional length of a ride means the longest possible distance      that can be ridden in the horizontal plane across the judges “field of vision” WHILE PERFORMING MANEUVERS. Once the maneuvers end, so does the score – milking a wave or doing “spinners” on the white water does not meet the criteria.

JUDGING

The point scoring system to be used is zero to ten broken up into one tenth increments like this:

0 -  2.0                          BAD

2.0 -  4.0                       POOR

4.0 -  6.0                        AVERAGE

6.0 -  8.0                       GOOD

8.0 -10.0                        EXCELLENT

NOTE: Refer to this to establish first wave exchanges.

USE WHOLE POINTS AND HALF POINTS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN DURING A

HEAT.  RESORT TO DECIMAL POINTS ONLY WHEN NECESSARY.  DO SO TO

DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WAVES IN THE GOOD TO EXCELLENT RANGE AT

THE END OF A HEAT.

During the course of a heat, try to use the whole of your scale from 0 -10 regardless

of surf conditions.  Score the good waves up and the bad waves down. 

Avoid scoring higher as the heat continues.  Bear in mind the previous scoring waves.  The final wave exchange in a heat should be in context to the first waves scored in a heat.

It is important that a judge concentrates on the scoring of individual waves and ignores the final outcome of a heat.

No rides are identical, so try to differentiate between all scoring waves.

Do not deliberate on your scores, put pen to paper.