A “cheater five” is where the surfer is actually placing the majority of his or her weight on the back foot, and simply sticking the forward foot out as far as it can go. There’s no such thing as a “cheater ten,” you can’t fake hanging ten.ĭraping five toes over the nose of the board. Positioning yourself so that all your toes are draped over the nose of the board as you glide down the wave.

This term is used to describe a young and precocious surfer.Ī gun is a big wave board which is long and narrow in shape. This term could mean heavy, difficult waves which are usually quite big.Īrchaic, what we used to call Groms back in the ’60s when I was a gremmie… This is to surf with either light offshore wind or no wind at all. When riding a wave, facing the wave with your back to the beach. This term refers to surfing with your face to the wave. This refers to momentarily surfing on the outer, top portion of the lip before falling down and in front of the wave while it breaks and continues your ride. This is the smooth, unbroken portion of the wave. This refers to a dent or hole in the surfboard. This is a turn wherein you reverse your direction completely, right to left or left to right. It usually consists of a “peak” or long “peeling” lines of waves.Ī channel refers to a deep water gap between sandbanks or reefs.Ĭhoppy refers to the ocean under an onshore wind.Ĭlean refers to glassy, peeling waves and/or good surf conditions.Ī clean-up is when a large set catches everybody inside.Ī close-out is a wave that breaks along its entire length simultaneously. This refers to a turn at the bottom of the wave face.Ī place where the surf is exceptionally good. The impact zone, the place you don’t want to be when the sneaker set comes! This is the term used to refer to choppy surf resulting from onshore winds.īodyboarding is surfing while lying down on a bodyboard instead of standing up on a surfboard.īodysurfing is surfing without the benefit of anything except one’s own body, with only the use of fins.Ī bombora is a deep water, offshore reef break. The “tube” of the wave, the ultimate ride in surfing, to enter the wave itself as it breaks over you, and successfully exiting.īeach Break refers to the surf breaking on a sandy beach.Ī blank is a block of foam from which a custom surfboard is made. The bank is the sandbank on which waves break.

When riding a wave, facing the beach with your back to the wave. This means to surf with your back to the wave. This term refers to a surfer when hit by the lip of the wave which leads to a wipeout. There are 81 Surfing Terms in our Surfing Dictionary: If you know any surfing terms that are not mentioned in this list then go ahead and suggest a word for our dictionary. These are the Surfing Terms, Definitions, Slang and other words currently stored in our Surfing Dictionary. DecemSurfing Dictionary – Surfing Terms and Definitions

Surfer lingo for catching a wave