Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Monday, November 13, 2000
Surf judges When it comes to judging a surf contest, the reasoning behind a certain score can be as elusive as the perfect wave.
try to do their
‘average’ best
Surfers are talking more
with the judges about what
makes a high-scoring waveBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinJust like the sports of gymnastics and figure skating, beauty and points are in the eyes of the judges. It is very subjective.
Surfers do not usually win contests by catching as many waves as they can. Rather, they win by selectively catching the biggest and longest three waves per heat, and executing as many radical maneuvers as they can during the rides.
Just how "radical" each surfer gets is typically determined by a panel of four to five judges, each with their own -- often varied --opinion.
"Subjective is the right word,'' said Richard Robb, co-director of the National Scholastic Surfing Association's Hawaii region and part-time trainer of surf judges. "Judges are supposed to be trained to give approximately the same score for seeing the same maneuver. But a set point criteria doesn't exist either."
The pro surf season finishes out on the North Shore with five more events, conditions permitting. VANS/G-SHOCK
TRIPLE CROWN of SURFINGFor daily updates, call 596-SURF.
MEN
G-Shock Hawaiian Pro: Today-Nov. 22, Haleiwa Alii Beach.
WOMEN
Most contests worldwide are judged using the Association of Surfing Professionals format, regardless of whether a particular event is for professionals, amateurs or both. Surfers are graded on a 10-point scale by each judge for every wave they catch, with the total for each wave averaged by the number of judges on the panel to determine the posted score.
Only a surfer's top-three scoring waves in each heat count toward their final score for a maximum total of 30 points per round. Each heat typically involves two to six surfers, depending on the level and size of the contest, with either the winner or top two surfers advancing to the next round.
"Surf contests are not quite like an Olympic event with mandatory maneuvers, but they are sort of similar," said Hawaii resident Jack Shipley, who has judged amateur and professional events worldwide for the last 35 years. "Judges are looking for hard, clean, power-surfing, with good control.
"Competitive surfing is like a presentation that gymnasts make, and there are certain maneuvers that surfers can bank on for big points, like getting deeply barreled (riding beneath breaking crest of wave)."
After this year, Shipley will likely be retiring from judging premiere pro events, such as the Mountain Dew Gerry Lopez Pipe Masters on Oahu's North Shore, which he has judged every year of its three-decade existence. But Shipley has passed on his passion for the sport and scoring contests to his son, David, who has been one of only six international judges (four work at a time) on the elite World Championship Tour of the ASP circuit for just over a year.
The younger Shipley judged contests at the amateur level for 12 years before joining the WCT panel --the one that determines the overall world champion from a series of contests involving only the top-44 rated pros. He spends eight to nine months a year abroad with the tour.
As with most surf judges at any level, David Shipley went through the ASP's judges training course and his performance is routinely evaluated by association officials.
"The average of a judging panel is real important," David Shipley said. "Straying too far from the average lends to a poor review and could lead to your removal if done repeatedly. You always want to be within a point of the average."
And while subjectivity may still be the operative word in surf judging, both Shipleys said that many judges now play a proactive role in attempting to ensure that the best surfers and maneuvers are rewarded appropriately.
"Judges are more closely involved with surfers than ever before," Jack Shipley said. "There's a lot of dialogue now between the two groups about what should be scored highest. Plus, a lot of judges can surf real well too, particularly at the higher levels, so they know what's going on in the water."
"Judges definitely play a role in the progression of the sport," David added. "I'm proud that I've been able to influence other judges to notice the technicality of what's going on in the water nowadays, and the surfers will tend to do what is rewarded."