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I've never really quite understood surfing.

How is a surfing contest judged? As in, who is declared the winner of a contest? Is it the one riding the waves the longest or the one riding it with stunts and tricks of varying difficulty or by an entirely different criteria?

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    It is like ball room dancing, but in the water. Very subjective. Points for tricks, length, etc.
    – geoffc
    Commented May 12, 2013 at 13:26
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    @geoffc I agree "What is the goal of surfing?" is very subjective. However, perhaps the question in its current form, "How is a surfing contest judged?," would be akin to a question like this.
    – user527
    Commented May 12, 2013 at 17:12
  • @edmastermind29 I mean the judging is subjective, not the question. I actually think the question is valid.
    – geoffc
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 10:19

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Surfing competitions are conducted in similar format as in sports such as Artistic gymnastics or Floor (gymnastics): users demonstrate the performance for a predetermined period and the referees handing out grades based on the number of rules and criteria.

The ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) Judging Criteria for 2012 is listed here.

Surfers must perform to the ASP Judging Key Elements to maximize their scoring potential.

Judges analyze the following major elements when scoring waves:

  • Commitment and Degree of Difficulty
  • Combination of Traditional and Modern Manoeuvres
  • Innovative and Progressive Manoeuvres
  • Combination of Major Manoeuvres
  • Variety of Manoeuvres
  • Speed, Power and Flow

Judges will utilize a 75-25% ratio being that surfers will only ever get a maximum of 75% ( 7.5pts ) of the scale for surfing only one aspect of Modern or Traditional, up to an additional 25% ( 2.5pts ) can be added when the 2 aspects are combined. Incomplete manoeuvres will not be rewarded.

It is important to note that the emphasis on certain elements is contingent upon the location and the conditions on the day, as well as changes of conditions during the day.

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All modern surfing contests are based on the Heat concept.

A Heat is basically a competition on water between surfers to determine who surfed better. Heats have a fixed period of time. Two up to four surfers may compete in a Heat.

For each surfed wave, each judge gives a single score between 0-10. The mean of all judge scores is assigned as the wave score.

At the end of the heat, the top 2 waves scores of each surfer are summed up and compared between the others. The surfer with the better total score wins the heat ("not winners" are not necessarily eliminated from the contest).

Surfing contests generally use backets of Heats to determine the winner of the tournament.

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