Riding a breaking wave, judged on the difficulty and quality of the manoeuvres performed on it. Eight tools take you from confused to the sharpest eye in the room.
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Riding a breaking wave, judged on the difficulty and quality of the manoeuvres performed on it. Two surfers per heat, a set time, and only the best two waves count — so wave selection is half the sport.
Australia, Brazil, the United States, Hawaii, Portugal, France, Indonesia, Japan and South Africa.
Children learn from about six on soft boards, and surfing is done well into old age. Competitive careers usually run from the late teens to the mid-thirties.
Brazil and Australia currently dominate the men's tour; the United States and Australia the women's.
South Africa is a genuine surfing nation. Jeffreys Bay is world-famous, Shaun Tomson and Jordy Smith are household names, and Durban's beachfront culture produced generations of professionals. The Cape's cold-water big-wave spots like Dungeons are internationally respected.
Surf schools at Muizenberg and Durban get you standing in one lesson.
A barrel / tube ride · An aerial · A power turn / carve · Reading & positioning · Nerve (big waves)
Facts here are the best we could verify, and estimates say so. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and it gets fixed.
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