Surfing Waves

What constitutes a closeout? Is it where the whole wave throws over at the same time so there is no way to ride it except at the very end of the wave? Is it where the wave breaks so fast you can't keep up with it? Is it where it breaks so fast you can't keep up with it but someone else could or you might be able to on a different board? Is it a closeout when you do a maneuver that takes speed off like a tail sliding turn or a cutback and the wave passes you by because you slowed down too much to keep up with it? I notice in the pro contests the surfers often opt to do some spectacular maneuver to end their wave rather than trying to stay on it by doing speed turns. The announcer will say it closed out but they could have stayed on the wave and maybe would have if making the wave counted for something. Just putting this up for discussion but the answer doesn't really matter except for interest sake. To me I think a closeout is a wave that pitches all at once, a closeout section is one that pitches out so much that it makes it impossible to proceed down the line for me or in my estimation anyone and that may not be very accurate but sometimes I know I probably could have done better or someone else definitely could have done better. So how do you define a closeout? Of course if you ask me I might still say it closed out

I'd agree with your definition of close out.

You raise an interesting point about the pros doing huge moves. I don't like it when the turns they do are so big that they blow the rest of the wave. For me, I'd much prefer a move that allows the rider to continue on the wave.

When I started out I decided one day to work on my popup in cloesout waves. I'm talking about waves with zero rideable sections, just one long 40 foot wall that jacks up and then throws down the portcullis with force. I gave that up pretty quickly. You can pop up on those waves, but I found it difficult and a bit hazardous. It feels to me like you have less time to actually get out in front of a closeout. Every wave is different though so I'm not sure why closeouts feel more hazardous to me. I think they actually might plunge faster than waves with rideable sections.

oldmansurfer wrote:A closeout is a wave that pitches all at once, a closeout section is one that pitches out so much that it makes it impossible to proceed down the line.

Well said. I don't mind closeout sections because they give me a chance to practice floaters. It's fun climbing to the top, carving a turn, and bouncing down the white water. Of course sometimes...

I don't make it over the lip, (THWACK)
Miss the turn, (SLURG) or
Stand on the drop (KOINK)

Getting fancy there BoMan bodysurfing the floater

A closeout to me is a wave that slams down at once from one channel to the other basically a wave you can't ride the face of for more than a few seconds before you can slammed

BoMan wrote:

oldmansurfer wrote:A closeout is a wave that pitches all at once, a closeout section is one that pitches out so much that it makes it impossible to proceed down the line.

Well said. I don't mind closeout sections because they give me a chance to practice floaters. It's fun climbing to the top, carving a turn, and bouncing down the white water. Of course sometimes...

I don't make it over the lip, (THWACK)
Miss the turn, (SLURG) or
Stand on the drop (KOINK)

That is the kind of airs I do...... only the board goes in the air .....my boards are so much more talented than me, they do all this stuff without me

BoMan wrote:I don't mind closeout sections because they give me a chance to practice floaters.

For some reason the floater is not in my system, every time I escape a big closeout section by steering away from it, a few moments later I think, hey that was a perfect floater opportunity..

Also this morning, I took an overhead right, my takeoff, popup and bottom turn were just spot on. But then the section in front of me broke with intensity. I wasn't anticipating it, maybe I just saw it happening too late. Frothing on the bottom turn, to recognise the floater opportunity too late to at least try it. But I steered away, as I always do, and saw I couldn't get around. So did a bit of a foam climb and dove off.

When I surfaced I thought, hey that was a good floater opportunity...

I go through periods of time where I do floaters a lot or not at all. lately it has been the not at all due to too big or too shallow. I had opportunities to day to do floaters but never did due to too chicken. But then again it's probably sensible to not do them since the likelihood of injury to myself or my board goes way up in those instances but for me it is a timing maneuver and I often don't have the right timing. Today timing off for a floater I did a cutout through the back of the wave as it pitched over me and then I had a wave where I probably could have done a floater but didn't even attempt because it would have landed in a couple inches of water with a shoulder high whitewater coming after me

Safety first! The floater can wait

Tudeo wrote:Every time I escape a big closeout section by steering away from it, a few moments later I think, hey that was a perfect floater opportunity.

I mostly ride 3 foot waves and don't have a penalty when my floater.fails. If I faced an overhead closeout, I'd turn away too!

I still find it difficult to identify a closeout before the waves break. My teacher said that if you cannot identify a peak in the rising wave, it will be a closeout. Is this a good guideline or are there additional ones?

It depends on direction of the swell and bottom contour. Learning to read swells is an ongoing thing that you will keep learning as you surf (hopefully) or if not then you are stuck with surfing only whatever swell/condition that you can already identify. I surf most often in chaotic conditions but among the chaos there are usually some nice waves. Learning which swell will make which kind of wave is something I have to do every time I surf. Peaks shift and waves will suddenly wall up as they hit shallow water. I think if you are surfing a point break or reef break then things are more simple especially if there is consistent shape and interval and direction to the waves. Hopefully you will improve your judgement and learn more about the breaks where you surf. It's a lifetime process learning to judge what you can do with the board you have on the waves that are there. It will change with time

Oldie wrote:I still find it difficult to identify a closeout before the waves break. My teacher said that if you cannot identify a peak in the rising wave, it will be a closeout. Is this a good guideline or are there additional ones?

When you don't trust the shape of the wave so you let it pass you, just follow it with your eyes to see how it is breaking from the back. This way you see what a certain shape is doing, if it shows a consistent pattern you'll know what to do the next time you see that shape. Just make sure, when looking in the direction of the beach, there is no big wave coming next to surprise you from behind.