the wave
Waves are absolutely without a doubt 100%Â critical to surfing. Ever try surfing not a wave (yeah, thatâs not surfing, itâs called standing on your surfboard in the water, and, a word to the wise, can be dangerous to other surfers, speaking from experience).
Anyway, this post will cover everything you need to know about a wave, in a particularly nerdy way: a diagram!Â
Check it out, and spout some of your worldly wave wisdom to the random surfer next to you in the lineup. Just kidding, maybe donât do that.Â
So, imagine your paddling out and you see this wave in the ocean:
This is a beautiful wave, but strangely, it closely resembles a screensaver... Anyway, it works for this.
So you see this wave while youâre paddling out to the lineup, and you need to find a way to best get over, under or around it to get all the way out. This is just one thing knowing your stuff about waves can help you with.Â
On another note, imagine you are awesome and you want to catch this wave. Where do you paddle for it? When should you start paddling? These are other important factors of surfing that can be helped by knowing about the force of nature that allows you to pursue your passion.Â
Here it is, the long awaited DIAGRAM! Study it closely:
Letâs start at the top:
Lip/Crest
The crest is the highest point on the wave. When a surfer says, "That wave is cresting, broskiâ it means it is breaking. The crest is peaking, then falling down. Sometimes the area near the crest or forming the crest is referred to as the lip. It sort of looks like a lip *mwah* and is the part of the wave that âbreaks. Try to avoid getting caught under the lip. Waves break when the swell is over the ocean floor and the depth is less than the height of the wave.
Face
The face is the flat part of the wave that slopes down. Generally, you drop down the face. It is smooth and considered the green part of the wave. You may also know the face as the shoulder. Just like the lip of the wave actually resembles a lip (sort of ;)), the shoulder is actually reminiscent of a shoulder. It is the smaller, sloping, and unbroken part of the wave.Â
Trough
The trough is the opposite of the crest. It is the lowest point on the wave. It is sometimes called the pocket. The power is generated from the trough, so that is why surfers generally stay in front of the trough and the whitewater after dropping down the face.Â
Height
This sounds simple, but different regions of the world use different measurements for height. So be careful when travelling for the system used to measure the wave. And in case you were wondering, 5 ft is considered head high, generally. Other comparisons are ankle high (about 1 ft), knee high (2ft) waist high, chest high, etc. Oh, and triple overhead ;).Â
So that is the basic rundown of the wave. Letâs look at it from one more perspective:Â
This shows the front view of a set, as well as a few additional parts of waves. Have questions or insight? Please comment below.Â
















