Surfing has some of the most colorful and expressive terms, slang, and colloquialisms in all of sports. Since Clay Marzo is a lifelong surfer, he speaks the language, which appears throughout Just Add Water. Here is a glossary of the terms used in the book.
Aerial—Also known as “getting air” or “launching,” a dynamic maneuver in which the surfer and his board completely break free of the wave’s surface, then drop back into it. Clay Marzo has been known to bust off aerials as high as eight feet above the wave.
ASP—Association of Surfing Professionals, the sanctioning body of the World Championship Series and World Qualifying Series tours.
Backside—Surfing with one’s back to the wave.
Barrel—Also known as “tube,” “shack,” “pipeline,” “slot,” “green room,” or “slab,” the hollow, cylindrical portion of the breaking wave. Most everyday surfers consider tube riding the most exciting and fulfilling part of surfing.
Bottom turn—A basic surfing move in which the rider takes off, stands up, rides to the bottom of the wave, then turns into the direction he or she will ride.
Cutback—A maneuver in which a surfer rides on the face of the wave, then suddenly switches gears and heads in the other direction. A variation is the “S-turn,” in which the surfer cuts back and then switches again.
Dawn patrol—Early morning surf sessions, usually taking place between first light and sunrise.
Expression session—A noncompetitive surf session among friends, or contestants, in which they trade off their best moves for pure enjoyment. Also known as a “soul session.”
Face—The surface of the breaking wave.
Floater—A beautiful, graceful maneuver in which the surfer rides on the foam of the breaking wave, “floating” until he or she returns to the bottom of the wave.
Frontside—Surfing while facing the wave.
Goofy foot—Surfing with the right foot forward. Clay Marzo is a goofy foot.
King tide—An unusually high tide, which typically happens during full moons and tends to increase wave size.
Layback—A surfing move in which the rider bends backward almost to a prone position while riding along the face of a wave or inside a tube.
Lineup—The spot where incoming waves form and break. The term is used to describe both specific locations and crowds in the water.
Lip—The front portion of a breaking wave. It somewhat resembles a waterfall, and can attain six feet of thickness in large surf.
Longboards—Surfboards generally exceeding eight feet in length. Longboards are typically ridden on slower-breaking waves, with a greater emphasis on stylistic riding than fast performance surfing.
Menehune—A Hawaiian term for young surfers, typically under age thirteen. Also known as “gremmies,” “groms,” and “grommets.”
NSSA—National Scholastic Surfing Association, the most prestigious of several amateur surfing organizations in the United States. Clay Marzo surfed NSSA contests for ten years.
Offshore—The direction of wind when it blows into the breaking wave from the shore, causing the waves to hold up and improving conditions.
Off-the-top—A high-performance surfing maneuver in which the rider shoots to the top of the breaking wave and redirects by quickly snapping his board sixty degrees (or more) toward the unbroken surface.
Onshore—Wind blowing toward the shore. When an onshore wind is blustery enough, it diminishes wave quality.
Paddle out—Paddling from the shore into position to catch waves. In a far different circumstance, the term also describes a group of friends paddling into a circle to hold an in-water memorial for a fellow surfer who has died.
Pe’ahi—The Hawaiian name for a surf spot on North Maui called Jaws, which, along with Banzai Pipeline, is the most (in)famous big-wave break in the world.
Peak—The triangular point at the apex of a breaking wave.
Pocket—A term of wave positioning that means either (1) situated in the most powerful portion of a wave or (2) situated inside a barrel.
Reef break—A wave location that breaks over a rock or coral reef. Reef breaks typically produce steep, peeling waves that produce optimal rides.
Re-form—A wave that originally breaks outside, then dies down only to reshape and break again, usually on a sandbar or in very shallow water.
Regular foot—Surfing with the left foot forward.
Reverse throw-tail—A Clay Marzo signature move, and very difficult because of the coordination and torque involved. The surfer turns his or her board backward in a fast-moving wave, then snaps the tail (back) to its original position.
Secret spot—A choice location known to local surfers but rarely (if ever) publicized beyond their group (for fear of creating larger crowds in the water).
Set—A series of waves, breaking one after another at intervals of five to twenty seconds. Sets can range from three to ten waves, and more.
Shaper—The maker of surfboards. Much like golfers and their club sponsors, professional surfers form strong relationships with their board shapers to create the highest-performance, most customized boards to suit their style.
Shorebreak—Waves that break very close to shore. These waves are usually very steep and break top to bottom, or “walled off.”
Short boards—Surfboards generally less than eight feet in length. The fast, sudden, acrobatic, and snappy maneuvers are usually performed on short boards.
Soul surfer—A term for a surfer more concerned with the lifestyle, travel, spirit, and culture of the sport than its competitive aspect.
Style—The combination of moves and approach to wave riding that defines individual surfers.
Swell—A distinctive increase in wave size, lasting several days and caused by storms in other parts of the ocean. Swells are usually fueled by winter storms, hurricanes, tropical storms, typhoons, or other large offshore wind disturbances.
Vertical—A dynamic maneuver in which the surfer rides up the wave face and points the nose of his or her board directly toward the sky, at a ninety-degree angle, then snaps the board back into the wave face and resumes the ride.
Wipeout—A word that speaks for itself. Generally, the bigger the wave, the more dramatic (and injury-prone) the wipeout.