The Official, Unofficial Rules of Surfing
Unlike other organized sports, surfing doesn’t have a universal rulebook or referee system that enforces everyone to surf under the same rules (unless you are contest surfing). There is nothing that anyone “has to” understand in order to participate. In football you can’t play unless you understand the rules like offsides, out of bounds, illegal hits or that each team has four attempts to get a first down, etc. In order to try surfing, all you have to do is buy a board and try to catch a wave. There are no official fouls that cause you to lose yards or sit in the penalty box. This is what makes surfing unique and special, but at the same time can make surfing frustrating.
I’ve compiled a list of things that can be considered the DON’Ts of surfing. You don’t want to do these things while in the lineup because they will either end in you having a bad session, someone yelling at you, someone sending you in, someone cracking you over the head, or someone getting hurt.
- Don’t paddle out in conditions you aren’t ready for. This happens too often and is not only dangerous for the surfer paddling out, but for the other surfers also. While it is good to have that desire to improve and get better at surfing, make sure you keep things in perspective. I have personally paddled out and realized the waves were just too big for me and had to kick my pride and tell my friend (who was comfortable with the waves that day) that I didn’t feel comfortable and was heading in. A bit embarrassing, but I’m alive to surf another day.
- Don’t paddle out with a crew of people. This is a don’t you will want to follow before you are even in the water. A crew is an unpleasant site for those who are already in the water. Imagine you are out having a great time and you look to shore and see a crew of 4-8 guys about to flood the lineup. If you paddle out with a crew you are automatically putting a sour taste in everyone’s mouth and no matter how good you surf or how respectful you are, they aren’t going to like you.
- Don’t disrespect the locals. Love it or hate it, locals deserve respect in the lineup. If you like to play basketball, would you drive to a basketball court across town and just start demanding to play? No. Surfing is no different. If you are new to a lineup, take some time to get a feel for the wave and the crowd and earn your spot at the peak. You should start by surfing the shoulder for a while. There is nothing worse then a random guy coming out and acting like he owns the place.
- Don’t drop in on other surfers. This is hopefully an obvious “don’t”. If someone has caught a wave and you are paddling for it, stop paddling and wait for the next one. Never drop in on another surfer. This will keep both you and others safe. If you drop in on others you are bound to get yelled at, sent in, or beat up. Many times you will get all three.
- Don’t take all the waves. It is not ok to catch a wave, paddle right back out to the inside of the pack and take the next good wave. A pack of surfers in the lineup is like the DMV. There is a lot of diversity and you have to pretend that everyone has taken a number. Sharing the waves will allow you and everyone else to have a much more enjoyable session.
- Don’t get in the way. If you just caught a wave and are paddling back out and another surfer on a wave is coming towards you, it is your job to get out of the way. If you can’t get far enough down the shoulder you may have to paddle to the inside, straight at the white water. Although this isn’t a favorable decision, it is the right one.
- Don’t make a ton of noise in the water. Yes, surfers want to have fun while they surf, but nobody wants to hear that one guy who is super loud and annoying throughout the session. There is nothing wrong with a hoot for a buddy getting barreled or smashing the lip, but don’t be a barney making a ton of noise throughout your session.
- Don’t let go of or ditch your board when duck diving waves. This is extremely important. If you have to let go or ditch your board while duck diving, you are out in conditions too big and shouldn’t be out there. This is an automatic way for other surfers to gauge your ability. If you do this you will be yelled at and sent it. Guaranteed. It is very dangerous because once let go of your board it flings towards other surfers and can cause serious damage.
In all, these rules of surfing will help you enjoy your session more and keep you safe. What don’t you like seeing in the lineup?
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great post as usual!
I agree! Your posts are awesome! Thank you for providing helpful tips. This is a big help for novice surfers like me. Keep up the good work!
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If I’m paddling out on a longboard, how can I duck under a wall of whitewater without letting go of the board? Please let me know if there is a better way. I tried to hold onto the part of leash closest to my board, but I really hurt my wrist bad like that.
Jon, There are two things you can do.
1- you can turtle roll. this takes a lot of practice and isn’t the easiest thing to do, but if you are surfing bigger waves it is necessary. Check out youtube and type in how to do a turtle roll. There are some videos, but in essence what you are doing is grabbing your rails and rolling over with the board above you and letting the whitewater pass over you. It is sort of like duckdiving on a shortboard but you use your body to pull your large board down and through the wave.
2- when you are surfing a smaller wave you can just do a knee push up on your board when the white water is coming at you. So what you do is you paddle as fast as you can and right before the wave hits you, you grab your rails and push up. what this does is allows the white water to pass over your board and underneath you. you might get pushed back a little bit but then you can start to paddle again and repeat until you get outside. it is important that you are pointing directly at the wave coming at you so that you don’t get turned sideways when you punch through. I just took two friends out surfing this morning and they were able to do this but quickly got tired and got stuck inside. It is important to realize that you need to be in good condition to surf. The friends ended up having to paddle around to the channel, which was a lot longer of a route back outside, but much easier paddle.
So if you are struggling getting out and having to ditch your board you might want to surf smaller waves or a place where you can paddle out through a channel. This is very important because ditching boards is very dangerous. Especially if you are longboarding, longboards are large and your leash is long and you can hit a lot of people which will make people very mad, and like I keep saying it is very dangerous. If all else fails, sit on the beach for a bit and watch what the other guys at your local spot do and then mimic that.
Good luck Jon. thanks for posting comments!
Thanks for the help, Pike. Turtle roll makes sense. So when you turtle roll, you get upside down and pull the longboard close to your body?
I’m 220# and my 9.5′ longboard’s my first stick, but now I want a 2nd board short enough to duck dive with: What size mini mal or mini tanker should I, as a beginner, be shopping for?
Chris,
Bolinas Jetty
Chris,
Mini Mals and Mini Tankers are still quite hard to duck dive. The reason being is how much foam they have. It isn’t always the length that makes a board hard to duckdive. Have you seen those super short SUP boards in the lineup? I have seen some that are under 7′ but have soooo much foam that they would be impossible to duckdive. So if you are looking for a board to duckdive, i would recommend you get a 7′0” + funboard or a mini mal. The mini tankers are most likely going to have too much foam to get under a wave.
I hope that makes sense and helps.
I tried duckdiving my 7′ long 23″ wide 3″ thick epoxy fish last weekend and it was impossible. However, I never had to bail my board thanks to the turtle roll method and just hammering through the whitewater when necessary. Sometimes it feels like you will go over backwards!