Impact Zone – The spot where the waves are breaking.
In the Soup – A term used when a surfer is in the white foam of the wave after the wave has broken.
Inside – The area of whitewater where the waves have broken, between the shore and the line-up.
Instinct – Popular brand of surf clothing.
Junkyard Dog – A surfer with poor style or a surfer who only surfs crappy waves.
Keg – Another word for a barrel / tube.
Kick Out – Finishing a ride by turning back out over the top of the wave.
Kickflip – A new school surf trick which involves rotating the board 360° along it’s length while airborne, and landing back on the board.
Kneeboarding – A surfing spin-off, kneeboarding is riding the waves on your knees using a special knee board.
Kook – A beginner or someone who is not very good at surfing.
Landlord – Shark.
Late Takeoff – Waiting until the last possible moment to get up on a wave.
Layback – The layback is a surfing manoeuvre where the surfer literally lays backwards on a wave. It’s one of surfing’s more extreme tricks.
Leash/Leg rope – This is the cord that is attached between your leg and your surfboard.
Left – A wave that breaks from right to left from a surfer point of view when facing into the shore.
Licked – Getting licked means wiping out and being hammered by the wave.
Line Up – The line up is the place just outside the breaking waves where surfers wait for their waves.
Lines – Unbroken waves heading towards the shore. See corduroy.
Lip – The tip of the breaking part of the wave.
Locked In – When a wave crashes and the surfer is inside of it.
Log – Slang for a Longboard.
Logger – Slang for someone who rides a Longboard.
Logjam – A surf break full of longboarders.
Longboard – A long surfboard with a rounded nose.
Lull – This is when the ocean goes flat between sets and everyone sits around waiting for the waves to arrive.
Men In Grey Suits – Yikes! Sharks!
Messy – Waves that close out, break irregularly and that are not ideal to surf on. The opposite of clean surf, generally caused by an onshore or cross-shore wind.
Mullering – Wipe-out of the highest order.
Mushy – Poor quality, slow, or non-powerful waves, often onshore.
New School – The term given to trick surfing — airs, shove-its, etc.
Noodled – Being exhausted
Nose – The pointy bit of the surfboard
Ocean – come on, you gotta know that???
Offshore – This is when the wind at a surf break is blowing off the shore, usually means ideal surfing conditions.
Onshore – This is when the wind is blowing towards the land, spoiling the waves. Always remember; offshore good, onshore bad!
Out Back/OTB – Beyond the breaking waves. “See you out back“.
Outside – The area beyond the line-up. You’ll sometimes hear surfers shout “Outside!” as a warning to other surfers that a larger than usual wave is approaching and will be breaking further out that normal.
Over the Falls – A wipeout where a surfer wipes out and either free-falls down the face of the wave or gets sucked up, over and back down by the circular breaking motion of the wave.
Overhead – Waves that are bigger than a surfer when standing up.
Paddlepuss – Someone who stays and plays in the whitewater close to the beach.
Party Wave – A wave surfed by several people at once.
Perl/Pearl – This is a common term describing when a person buries the nose of their surfboard in the wave and goes “over the falls.”
Pipeline – This is the classic Hawaiian wave — amazing, barreling, and mean. It’s one of the most famous and most photographed waves there is. If you’re just starting out – stay well away!
Pitted – Caught a tube, shacked.
Pivot Turn – A turn where the tail of the surfboard remains almost stationary while the rest of the board swings round.
Pocket/In the Pocket – The pocket is the most powerful part of the wave, just ahead of where the wave is breaking.
Pop-Out – A mass produced surfboard made by machine.
Pop Up – Describes the move a surfer makes to go from lying on the surfboard, into the standing position to ride a wave.
Priority – Which surfer has the right of way.
Pumping – A decent swell where the waves are nice and powerful, also used to describe a surfer trying to generate speed.
Quiksilver – One of the largest manufacturers of surfing equipment and surf clothing on the planet.
Quiver – A surfer’s collection of different surfboards.
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