Part 4: What’s At Stake: The Wave Itself

Now we journey into the details of the most torrid of love affairs, one with the most immediate consequences, and the most complicated relationship of a surfer’s life- the wave.

Unlike any other playing field, the constant in surfing is change. No wave is ever the same. Even in the most consistent breaks (surf areas), every wave poses a new challenge. It would kind of be like snowboarding, if the half-pipe kept shifting size and direction, if the mountain slid, rose, fell, and churned. If the snowboarder had to paddle to catch it to even try their graceful carves. If, in order to fly high above the edge, they had to choose the right one, and read the shifting banks, and navigate the angle of lift just as the edges collapsed.

The major player in this sport, then, the one who always has the upper hand, the one that is always shadow dancing with the surfer, is the wave itself.

At any surf break, a wave has characteristics. The variables are infinite, but here is my attempt at an organized breakdown for competitive surfing.

Size: This is the most obvious variable, and depends entirely on mother nature. I will break down what creates size later, but let me begin by saying that the size of the wave defines what kinds of maneuvers can be done, and also the difficulty level in terms of scoring. Bigger waves typically offer better scoring possibilities, though there are exceptions. Bigger waves also dramatically increase the stakes and the consequences. Most contests won’t run until a wave is at least head high (around 5-foot faces), and waves with 8–12 foot faces (and bigger) are arguably the most exciting to watch. We don’t know what Tokyo will offer, but great surfing on any wave can be exciting!

Shape of the Wave: Again, we will deep dive into this in a minute, but a quick overview is helpful. In order for a wave to be surfable, it has to peel. That is, it has to break at the peak, then keep opening to expose a clean face, peeling along the line. If a wave breaks in one long CRUNCH, and closes out, there is nothing for the surfer to surf.

Pro surfers like steep, hollow waves that peel, and especially those that barrel. These are waves like the classic Hawaii-5–0 wave. It’s hard to explain how hard it is to even get to your feet fast enough on these waves to do ANYTHING other than get sucked over the falls, but for the pro surfer these are like skiing a black diamond run in perfect, untouched powder (if it shifted and moved and lunged unexpectedly). A world-class wave needs a lip (the top edge of the wave) that throws, so the surfer has a chance to “do something” on it. This will become clearer later. Many other waves are “mushy,” meaning they stay open a long time but don’t really have a lip that throws, are gently banked rather than steep, or they may crumble, or have too many “sections,” meaning there is just a short spurt before the wave devolves.

In the foreground, a left, with a barrel and a fast running wall. The right on the other side has more of a shoulder.

Wave Direction: Every wave breaks left or right. When we speak of left or right, we speak as if we are in the ocean, looking back at the beach, stage left, or stage right. A wave will break and peel to the right, or it will break and peel to the left. Sometimes, a wave breaks in both directions, like at Trestles, (an A frame) offering both options to the surfer. Every surfer has a natural stance, and we’ll get back to that, but a surfer either has their right foot forward, or their left. Surfing a wave “frontside” is different than surfing “backside.” Nearly every surfer has a slight strength in one direction, and is hoping to catch either “rights” or “lefts.” Surfers grow up on certain breaks which typically offer one direction or the other, so this is what feeds their strengths and desires. Only nature decides which waves are offered up in a single session or break.

Breaks: A break is, very simply, an area where the wave breaks in a consistent enough way to make it fun to surf, and that is at least somewhat accessible. Surfers froth over beautiful peeling waves accessible only by sheer cliffs, but they don’t get to surf them unless they are mountain goats (or dolphins) or have a friend with a boat. On the other hand, many accessible beaches dump the wave onto the sand without opening up enough for a surfer to surf.

The break itself affects every aspect of the wave, in addition to the other conditions of swell direction, wind and size. Even though the break itself can shift, most world-class waves follow a pattern. There are also different types of breaks.

A point break is where the swell comes in from deep water in one direction, then wraps around a point (a jetty, or a natural promontory). It will always break in the same direction (World-class point breaks include: Malibu, Rincon, Jeffrey’s Bay — right, Chicama and Raglan Bay — left).

At a beach break, the swell comes from the ocean onto a sandy bottom, or sand bar, and may break in one direction most consistently, or in both directions. This can and does shift with the time of year, the size of the swell, and the swell direction. Some beaches dump all of their sand onto the shore during storms, totally shifting the surface of the bottom. A drifting crab pot in a fishing area may build up a sand dune underwater which creates a new peak. Beach breaks are notoriously shifty, meaning the peak may literally move 5, 10, 15 or 20 feet in one direction or the other, which the surfer has to anticipate. (Famous beach breaks: Black’s Beach, Huntington and Trestles in California, Bells Beach in Australia.)

Reef breaks are somewhere in between. The wave depends on the bottom surface, not a point or promontory, but the reef itself is fixed, not like the shifting sand bottom. In this case, the shape and direction of the wave depend more on the direction of the incoming swell (more on this shortly).

Some reef breaks, most famously Pipeline, even though they are technically fixed, can be affected by the amount of sand that has moved on or off the beach, adding a sand bar. A winter swell can take all the sand that surrounds the reef away, forming a certain shape on the bottom, then bring it back in the summer. In Kona, we have a beach (though more of a body board wave than a surf break) called “Magic Sands,” where the rocky reef is exposed only in the winter. (Famous beach breaks: Pipeline in Hawaii, Uluwatu in Bali, and Teahupo’o off Tahiti.)

Deep Dive: What Makes A Wave?

I am going to geek out on this just a little bit. When I started surfing, I took a community beginner class that was set at Humboldt State University. The class included a 4-hour educational session complete with a slide show and lecture. I was with 10 hung-over college kids who doodled their way through this section, but I took copious notes, because it fascinated me.

From “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Where Waves Come From,” www.theinertia.com

Waves are made of wind. A storm far out at sea begins to push on the water, which creates swell. As the wind pushes against the water, it creates trains of waves that travel towards land, and those trains ultimately divide into groups of waves, or sets. The very best waves are made from far-off storms (called groundswell), as the waves have time to organize as they travel hundreds or even thousands of miles towards land, to break in relatively even, forceful tunnels.

A swell that is born closer to shore, “windswell,” will be less organized, less consistent, and less powerful. For the sake of competitive surfing, every contest has a window of one or two weeks, which hopefully aligns with swell originating from far off and producing beautiful groundswell waves.

What Lies Beneath: Going deeper into how waves work, every break has its own underground shape. Some taper from deep water and gradually rise. Some rise very steeply. All of this affects the shape and power of the wave.

If you imagine a very large mass of water suddenly hitting a very steep bank, you can imagine that wave will grow in amplitude very quickly, and fall, or break, in accordance with that rise. If it is more gradual, it will produce a more gradual break.

There are many more variables. Each swell will have a different “period,” meaning a different amount of time and space between each swell. If a swell has a very long period, that means that when the mass of water hits the earth, there is a LOT more water, and the wave will be bigger. If it has a short period, the reverse is true.

The composition of the bottom also makes a big difference. Waves that break over reef, like in Hawaii or Fiji, are different than those that break over sand, like most of California. The placement and shape of each mound of reef will dictate when and how the wave breaks.

The bottom affects the amplitude of the wave, the direction, often its size, the speed that the wave breaks down the line (and that the surfer has to keep pace with), and the shape. The wave mirrors, to some degree, what is happening underneath. When I started surfing, despite my deep desire to stay far away from jutting rocks, I learned that these menacing objects are often the surfer’s friends. Against all better judgment, it can be helpful to sit right inside a rock as it is the rock’s sudden rise from the ocean floor that forces the wave to break. In the right configuration, the corresponding reef or sandbar then allows the wave to peel.

Swell Direction: Waves (referred to as “swell” until the waves actually break) come from different directions depending on the time of the year, and the particular storm. This is why, especially on an island, it might be flat on one side half the year but reeling the other half.

No area is more famous for this than the North Shore of Oahu. In the summer, when storms come from the southern hemisphere, the North Shore of Oahu can be like a lake, nearly motionless. In the winter, when waves generate out of the northern hemisphere, the most famous waves on earth break from 6 to 10 to 50 feet: Pipeline, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay.

How swell direction affects Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu

The direction of the swell plays a huge part in what is happening with the wave. To understand this, imagine a point sticking out into the ocean. Now, imagine the 360 degree clock. A swell that wraps from 90 degrees will break in a certain way when hitting a certain point, if at all. One that wraps from 330 will be completely different.

This is a simplification because swells cannot come from ALL directions (the land blocks off a chunk). But every break has an ideal direction, where the wave folds around, stays open, peels. Every break can handle up to a certain size. Every break will “close out”, meaning there is no face for the surfer to carve, in certain directions, and in certain sizes. There is a whole science that has grown up around surfing (you can start your education at Surfline.com), but the thing to know is that this affects the shape and size of the wave, and the opportunities surfers will have or not have, depending on direction.

To make it more complicated, often a swell will be “mixed”. There may be a westerly swell mixed with a northwesterly swell. Or they may even be, during shoulder seasons, a southwesterly mixed with northwesterly, which can create unique convergences in the wave patterns.

Other conditions: The face and shape and surface of the wave are all affected by conditions.

Wind: The wind can be friend or foe to the surfer, and, like everything else in surfing, is constantly changing. Surfers flock to morning or evening sessions in many places because the wind is typically mildest during these times. At many breaks, glassy, smooth surfaces happen just after dawn, or right before sunset. Winds kick up usually between 8 and 10 am, and often change throughout the day.

An onshore wind blows from the ocean onto the shore. This usually makes the wave crumbly and bumpy and difficult for the surfer to make strong carves, or to read the wave. It takes more skill, balance, and strength to ride these kinds of waves as they create turbulence for the surfer.

Offshore winds blow directly against the wave. If the wave is big enough, this helps “clean up” the face so the surfer has a beautiful canvas. But offshore winds that are too strong make it difficult to paddle into the wave. The surfer can be held off the face, or the massive spray coming off the back of the wave can blind the surfer as they try to drop in. The bigger the wave, the bigger the blind. And, if the wind gusts at the wrong time, it can blow you straight out of the wave.

In some of those famous breaks on the north shore of Oahu, you can see the power of the wind blowing spray many feet into the air as the offshore winds help create these huge open faces. It looks like the surfer is literally paddling into a snowstorm!

Sideshore winds are a variation and can create either onshore or offshore conditions.

Wind also affects the surface of the wave. Elite surfers are on relatively small boards, and having more bump and chop on the wave can dislodge even the most sure-footed surfers. Longboards often handle these conditions better given the volume displacement of the boards, but it is also easy to catch an edge or ripple in choppy conditions and ruin an otherwise flawless ride.

Other conditions include currents. If you’ve ever gone out for an innocent body surfing session, and discovered you are suddenly five lifeguard towers down the beach, you know what I mean. The current can be so strong that it feels like a treadmill. Surfers need to paddle to stay in the right position, in the area where they can best take off on the wave. We talked a little about this in terms of even getting OUT to the lineup, but there is a whole other dynamic even once you are through the churning whitewater. When currents are very strong, surfers can get worn out just trying to stay in position, or can be dragged down into dangerous areas where the wave breaks more powerfully and there is no channel.

Consistency of Sets: The other completely crazy thing about this sport is that the ocean has its own sense of timing. Because they have to hold contests on certain days and for specific durations, a lot goes into predicting how big the waves will be, what direction, and all these other conditions. But even with the most brilliant predictions, the ocean does not cooperate. Professional heats are from 25–40 minutes long. It is possible for the ocean to go flat during that time, as the “sets” just die out for a period. Sometimes the best surfer in the world will be shut out by mother nature, and a wildcard (a local favorite who has a chance to be mixed in with the crop of pro surfers) will be blessed with the opportunity to take out a world champion. This is also a tremendous test of spiritual capacity in the water when you are free surfing. There is nothing quite like having 20 people waiting for waves for 30 minutes, and then ONE comes. You can imagine how that goes.

Density: The power and poundage-factor (my word) varies from location, based on the shape of the wave, whether it comes from deep water or shallow, from far or close, and also temperature. Cold water is denser than warm water. But don’t be fooled, the conditions and shape of Hawaiian waves make them feel like massive freight trains. Water weighs 60 lbs. to 2500 lbs. per foot, so the punishment you take when you fall off a wave and get caught inside can be brutal. We talked already about wipeouts, but just know that some waves feel like they are falling on you like a mack truck, and some, not so bad.

Where the Wave Itself Breaks — Peaks: A surfer has to take off in the right place on the wave. I’ll talk more about this when we talk about scoring, but this is just so you will have an overview.

The word “peak” has two related definitions.

At world-class breaks, where professional events are held, the wave breaks at its peak, and then peels with an open face, so that the surfer can carve along the surface of it. Mother Nature often has her own ideas about this, and not every wave cooperates. There is usually a spot in the lineup where the wave MOST frequently does this, known as a peak for that break. There will also be subpeaks, where smaller waves may break, or where the swell direction, if mixed, will offer other opportunities. A surfer can’t get a score if they don’t take off from these key positions. This part of surfing is difficult and critical, and currents play a part in every surfer’s experience.

Sets: Waves travel in sets, or groups, created from storms that form far out in the ocean. Even within a set, no two waves are alike. Some may break further out, some closer in, some are bigger, some smaller, some are nicely shaped, some are not. Some sets have 3 or 4 waves, some have more, some, sadly, less. The ocean may go totally flat in between sets, or it might offer some smaller in-between waves. A surfer cannot surf without a wave, so long lulls between sets can mean whole heats can go by without the surfer getting a score. This is arguably the one thing that keeps professional surfing out of the mainstream. Some contests are so inconsistent that people watching just lose interest. But when they come, oh my, when they come, this is what we all wait for! You will hear announcers talk incessantly about sets — the lack thereof, sets on the horizon, “lines” coming in (these are sets), the next set, the last set, and the set waves. The set waves are the biggest and best of them all, and what every professional surfer needs to put big scores on the board.

One final geeky overview — it might help to understand the different parts of the wave, especially when talking about scoring.

Parts of the wave:

Face: This may be obvious, but it’s the clean open part of the wave that the surfer will use as her canvas. It’s that picturesque blue-green wall that calls and beckons and lures.

Lip: The lip of the wave is created as the crest bends towards the shore. In a hollow wave, the lip is the leading edge of a cylinder (tube) that meets the bottom of the wave. This becomes important for both scoring (hitting the lip) and wipeouts (getting drilled by the lip). In waves that are not hollow, and don’t form a tube or a barrel, the lip can look more like an edge, or even a crumble.

Peak: The part where the wave begins to break. This becomes important because a surfer who is nearest the peak (deeper) has the right-of-way, and it is also the steepest part of the wave. When you look down a wave from a peak, sometimes it looks like a sheer wall. Sometimes, the surfer literally airdrops from the peak, because the face of the wave sucks up and hollows.

Shoulder: This is the area just to the breaking side of the peak. Less accomplished surfers take off on the shoulder, just beyond the peak. The wave is less steep so you have more time to get to your feet, and the chances of being picked off by the lip greatly decrease. Pro surfers will rarely take off on the shoulder of a wave.

Pocket: The pocket is the sweet spot where the wave has the most power. It takes a lot of experience to understand how to find this spot, and skill to get into it. It takes even more skill to keep turning back into it to generate as much speed as possible.

Barrel: Also known as the “tube,” this is when a wave creates a cylinder for the surfer to disappear behind a blue-green curtain, and hopefully, ride out of. Not all waves barrel. Certain breaks always barrel. Riding in the barrel is one of the most coveted things in surfing because it is incredibly hard. It requires taking off on something that will feel like a sheer cliff, angling the board perfectly, and reading every nuance of its size and shape to maintain position. (At least, that’s what I hear. It is my lifelong dream to get barreled.) It also means that it is SHALLOW, and that the stakes for falling are brutal.

Foam Ball: Once the wave breaks, it produces a crash of whitewater. Big waves create massive foam balls. If the wave keeps peeling in front of the surfer, and the foam ball crumbles along an edge, surfers use this foam to generate power. They may carve back into it, or do a “floater,” where they literally fly across the top. If you or I tried this, it would just flick us off like a ping pong ball.

Section: Very few waves begin to peel at the peak, then have an open face all the way to the shore. Most waves will crumble in the center, or close out, then continue on the other side of that crumble or foam. Each time that happens, that constitutes a section. Novice surfers, and even surfers that have been surfing for years, often get “shut down by a section,” and the wave will simply be over. A pro surfer will have a bag of tricks and maneuvers that get them through that section. We’ll talk more about this with scoring, but the bottom line is, the longer a surfer can stay on a wave and perform maneuvers, the higher their score.

The point of this lonnnng missive is to make clear that the PLAYING FIELD of surfing is unlike any other sport on earth, because it is not on earth! Even in ski jumping, or slalom, or moguls, when storms and winds reshape the course, they don’t fundamentally change, and they don’t MOVE.

Links to the whole series:

Part 1: Why — And How — to Watch Women’s Surfing in the Olympics — What is Really Happening in the Water?

Part 2: What’s at Stake — Navigating the Ocean — The Wipeout

Part 3: What’s at Stake — Navigating the Ocean — The Paddle Out

Part 4: What’s at Stake — The Wave Itself

Part 5: What’s at Stake — The Surfer

Part 6: What’s at Stake — Scoring and Maneuvers

Part 7: What’s at Stake — The Olympics!

Sheila Gallien is a writer, channel, conscious creativity coach and soul surfer. Her screenplay, Dropping In, inspired by her own story of finding her voice and her courage through surfing is soon to be a major motion picture. She lives on the Big Island of Hawaii, where she dreams of someday getting barreled. Visit www.sheilagallien.life to find out more about her transformational work.

Why — And How — to Watch Women’s Surfing in the Olympics — Part 4 — The Wave