No 10’s For One Trick Ponies (How Surf Judging Needs Change…)

I’m fed up watching competitive surfing with surfers taking off on fifteen closeouts in the hope of landing one big punt (sorry Italo).

It’s boring as, looks crap, and it’s just not good surfing. 

Something's got to change, and I think I might have the answer…

SURF IT LIKE IT’S MEANT TO BE SURFED

If I’m watching pumping Pipe, the best surfer in the lineup is the one getting the deepest, thickest, longest tubes. 

At J-Bay it’s the one drawing the best lines on the wave, surfing seamlessly from rail to rail, with power, speed, and flow. 

And at Trestles it’s the one mixing new school and old school, flaring big airs, big turns, all with crazy amounts of speed. 

Put simply, good surfing varies from spot to spot, with the benchmarks for each being very different.

But one thing it's not, is just airs. 

NOW HERE’S MY GRIPE

With this being said, I believe it shouldn’t be possible for a surfer to get an excellent score for a single manoeuvre, I think they should be capped.

Here’s what I mean. 

Should it be possible for a surfer to get an eight point plus ride at J-Bay for a single turn? 

How about a single turn at big Bells Beach?

Or, what about a single air at Trestles?

Is that what we want to see, surfers wasting entire waves chasing sections for one single manoeuvre and getting rewarded?

I don’t think so, and that’s why I think the judging has to change. 

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CAP SINGLE MANOEUVRES AT 8: SHAKING UP THE JUDGING CRITERIA 

My proposal to fix this discrepancy is to put a cap on any single manoeuvre.

Whether that’s a crazy back-flip at Snapper, a full-rota in Portugal, or a bonkers turn under the lip at maxed out Sunset Beach. 

No single manoeuvre should ever score more than 8 points.

I’m in favour of a rule change like this because I want to see good surfing win. 

I want to see waves being well ridden, not just Hail-Mary’s prevailing.

Waves where surfers link turns together, and surf each spot how it should be surfed. 

Now I’ll caveat that with the fact that crazy manoeuvres should still be highly rewarded, just not with the highest of rewards - I think that should still be reserved for complete surfing. 

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WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE

I’d like to think this’d put an end to the type of surfing we saw at Trestles this year in the final five with Italo hunting closeout ramps on a point break.

Sure, big airs should be rewarded, but they should be taken into context with the waves on offer in their entirety. 

Arthur Villa (12 Years Old)

As more and more kids are able to land crazy punts nowadays, without a change like this we’re just going to see the world's best surfers, surfing the world's best waves, hunting closeout ramps the whole time. 

Yuk.

And my guess is too that with the new crop of exciting women coming through the ranks (think Erin Brooks, Sierra Kerr, etc.) that airs are going to become a big deal in the Women's side of things too - and they need to get the scoring right before it ruins the sport. 

But that’s just what I think. 

I want to know, am I on to something? Or am I just barking at the moon? 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.