This glossary of surfing includes some of the extensive vocabulary used to describe various aspects of the sport of surfing as described in literature on the subject. In some cases terms have spread to a wider cultural use. These terms were originally coined by people who were directly involved in the sport of surfing.
About the water
A-Frame: Wave with a peak that resembles an A and allows surfers to go either left or right, with both sides having a clean shoulder to work with. Barrel: (also tube, cave, keg, green room) The effect when a big wave rolls over, enclosing a temporary horizontal tunnel of air with the surfer inside Beach break: An area with waves that are good enough to surf break just off a beach, or breaking on a sandbar farther out from the shore Big sea: Large, unbreaking surf Blown out: When waves that would otherwise be good have been rendered too choppy by wind Bomb: An exceptionally large set wave Bottom: Refers to the ocean floor, or to the lowest part of the wave ridden by a surfer Channel: A deep spot in the shoreline where waves generally don't break, can be created by a riptide pulling water back to the sea and used by surfers to paddle out to the waves Chop or choppy: Waves that are subjected to cross winds, have a rough surface (chop) and do not break cleanly Close-out: A wave is said to be "closed-out" when it breaks at every position along the face at once, and therefore cannot be surfed Crest: The top section of the wave, or peak, just before the wave begins to break Curl: The actual portion of the wave that is falling or curling over when the wave is breaking Face: The forward-facing surface of a breaking wave Flat: No waves Glassy: When the waves (and general surface of the water) are extremely smooth, not disturbed by wind Gnarly: Large, difficult, and dangerous (usually applied to waves) Green: The unbroken portion of the wave, sometimes referred to as the wave shoulder Inshore: The direction towards the beach from the surf, can also be referring to the wind direction direction traveling from the ocean onto the shore Line-up: The queue area where most of the waves are starting to break and where most surfers are positioned in order to catch a wave Mushy: A wave with very little push Off the hook: An adjective phrase meaning the waves are performing extraordinarily well Outside: Any point seaward of the normal breaking waves Peak: The highest point on a wave Pocket: The area of the wave that's closest to the curl or whitewash. Where you should surf if you want to generate the most speed. The steepest part of a wave, also known as the energy zone. Pounder: An unusually hard breaking wave Point break: Area where an underwater rocky point creates waves that are suitable for surfing Riptide: A strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide Sections: The parts of a breaking wave that are rideable Sectioning: A wave that does not break evenly, breaks ahead of itself Set waves: A group of waves of larger size within a swell Shoulder: The unbroken part of a breaking wave
Surf's up: A phrase used when there are waves worth surfing
Swell: A series of waves that have traveled from their source in a distant storm, and that will start to break once the swell reaches shallow enough water Trough: The bottom portion of the unbroken wave and below the peak, low portion between waves Undertow: An under-current that is moving offshore when waves are approaching the shore Wall: The section of the wave face that extends from the shoulder to the breaking portion, where the wave has not broken and where the surfer maneuvers to ride the wave Wedge: Two waves traveling from slightly different direction angles that converge to form a wedge when they merge, where the wedge part of the two waves usually breaks a great deal harder than the individual waves themselves Whitecaps: The sea foam crest over the waves Whitewater: In a breaking wave, the water continues on as a ridge of turbulence and foam called "whitewater" or also called "soup"