Cracking the Code

Dating surfers is not, I repeat, not like dating anyone in any other profession. It’s a lifestyle and there’s a certain pressure in the beginning of your relationship to fit in with the crew.

Everyone talks surf all the time and if you’re not sure what they are talking about and blurt out something that makes no sense, you’re bound to feel like a kook.

I remember when I made my first ‘surfer’s girlfriend’ best friend. Kelly was dating JP Nortier who is friends with Ian. We learned to bodyboard together (‘going straight’ totally counts as bodyboarding), spent hours getting sunburned on remote beaches (Caves), and once we were attacked by thousands of sea lice at Crayfish Factory where in our opinion we had surfed HUGE waves that same day.

Kelly’s favourite bodyboarding move was the Spin or what she liked to call “twirley-whirley’s”.

You might have your own names for moves but if you really want to impress your guy and his friends then read below. I’ve separated the moves into two sections: surfing and bodyboarding and then explained what they are and then what they look like. Ian has approved all this so I’m not making this stuff up!

Bodyboarding

The Spin (360): When a bodyboarder completes a full rotation (360 degrees) on the wave’s face. If the bodyboarder does this in the air then it’s an air reverse or air forward depending on which direction he spins.

The Roll: The rider follows the cylindrical motion of the wave and rolls over before landing on the face of the wave.

Looks Like: The easiest move to pull, apparently it’s not and calling it a “roley-poley” is sort of insulting.

ARS (Air Roll Spin): Not short for arse. (Don’t worry if you hear this thrown around by guys on the beach, they are not checking out other chicks’ bums!) This is a three-part move; a combination of an Air, Roll and Spin.

Looks Like: A gymnast in the water. Twisting and turning at such a speed it’ll be over before you can even identify it, but good to know anyway.

DK (Drop Knee): is kneeling on a bodyboard with one knee down at the back and one foot up at the front.

Looks Like: He’s proposing, except he’s looking deeply into the eyes of the ocean.

Surfing:

Aerial: An aerial is any move made above the wave; however there are many variations depending on the direction and where the surfer grabs the board while in the air.

Round-house Cut Back: When a surfer rides out onto the open wave’s face and then carves round back towards the broken foam (in an ‘S’ shape) and bounces off it to carry on riding the wave.

Looks Like: He’s learning cursive or carving the alphabet into the wave.

Floater: The surfer rides on the top of a broken section of wave and floats back down.

Looks Like: The name of the move is misleading and has absolutely nothing to do with ablutions (I promise) but merely looks as if he’s floating on the top of the wave.

Re-entry: A re-entry is half the movement of an aerial but the surfer will ‘pop’ or ‘lose’ his tail off the lip without his whole board coming out the water, then land and carry on riding.

Looks Like: He was contemplating doing an aerial and changed his mind halfway through.

Now that you’re all clued up on the moves, you can own your spot on the beach and the more you watch surfing the more you’ll be able to recognise the beauty of those moves and the art of surfing itself.