Longboard Competition Judges Are Looking for “Critical Section” Nose Riding and Have Issued a Memo About It
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
The WSA Longboard Contest Has Very Specific Nose-Riding Criteria and a Memo to That Effect
OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA — The Western Surfing Association’s longboard competition at Oceanside Pier has been preceded by a detailed memo from the head judge specifying the criteria by which nose riding will be evaluated, including the requirement that such riding occur “in the critical section of the wave” and that surfers demonstrate “control and foot work” throughout, with the additional warning that “crushing down sections on other competitors” may constitute an interference and will “hinder scoring.”
The memo also specifies that for a maneuver to be “deemed complete, the surfer must show control and ride out in front of the white water,” which is the kind of technical specification that sounds obvious until you have watched longboard competition and observed that the line between “controlling the nose ride into the white water” and “falling off the nose ride into the white water” is approximately the width of a longboarder’s attention span.
The Scoring System, Assessed
Longboard surfing is judged on “nose riding in the critical section of the wave, variety of maneuvers, speed and power, control, commitment, control and foot work,” with “control” appearing twice, which the head judge presumably did not intend as emphasis but which is accurate as a description of what longboarding requires above everything else. The WSA rulebook’s “Fundamental Surfing” section provides additional guidance that competitors are encouraged to review, especially the sportsmanship clause on page twelve, which exists because surf competition produces enough interpersonal friction to require a formal document about not being unpleasant.
The adaptive and push-in divisions are judged on the same criteria with accommodations appropriate to the division, which is either inspiring or technically complex depending on whether you are inspired by inclusion or confused by how you judge “critical section nose riding” for a competitor who is being pushed into the wave. The head judge has addressed this. The rulebook has addressed this. Precision sports develop precise rules; managing complex systems requires detailed documentation. The memo runs to several paragraphs. The waves at Oceanside Pier are what they are. The nose riding will be judged. The foot work will be assessed. Good luck to all athletes. Have fun.