Rate your skills

[BoMan]

I found a fun thread on Reddit…

Tell us what type of surfing you like, how long you've been doing it, and in your local crowd, how you rate your skills from 1 - 10.

Shortboard scale:
• 1 - Can stand up and go down the line
• 2 - Changes direction on a wave, knows how to position themselves in the lineup
• 4 - Controlled turns, can ride around sections, decent bottom turn, able to handle steeper surf
• 6 - Can ride pitching, fast-breaking surf, does basic maneuvers like floaters, cutbacks, off-the-lips
• 8 - Controlled barrel rides, airs, shreds and actually looks good
• 10 - Pro

Longboard scale:
• 1 - Can stand up and go down the line
• 2 - Changes direction on a wave, knows how to position themselves in the lineup
• 4 - Adjusts position on the board for turning vs trimming, can maneuver a log, maybe sneak in a quick cheater 5
• 6 - Decent cross-step, can takeoff into the peak and swing back around smoothly, quick nose tricks
• 8 - Sustained nose time, graceful and smooth, hang 5, 10, heels
• 10 – Pro

SUP scale:
• 1 - Capable of falling in constantly in flat water
• 2 - Able to avoid sunburn for most of their vacation
• 4 - Knows which way to hold the paddle
• 6 - Can surf like they're on a really long, awkward longboard
• 8 - Able to paddle directly outside of the only other surfer out and catch every goddamn wave, even though there's a whole beach break to choose from
• 10 – Laird

I’ve been surfing 4 years in retirement after a LONG layoff. While in high school and college I rode a 6 foot fish with shortboard skills at 4. (before there were leashes...does that add anything?) Now I’m on a longboard, fighting the inevitable decline to kookdom and would generously rate myself as a 5. Still having a lot of fun though!

[oldmansurfer]

I also surfed for a while and quit then restarted. I would say I am around a 7 on the shortboard scale but ride a fungun. Long ago maybe an 8 but no airs. On a longboard scale maybe 4 plus . On SUP maybe a 5.5. However I would say that makes me about an average surfer and before slightly better than average. I am still learning this time around so hope to continue progressing. It's always fun

[Tudeo]

I'm somewhere between 5 and 6 for both shortboards and longboards I think. But I'm not so focused on specific maneuvers, I'm trying to make the most of each wave though. Sometimes when I'm on a board I didn't ride for some time or when the wave is challenging, I afterwards think I could have done harder turns on that wave. But the fun is always in the maximum rating, be it from hard turns on a wave/board I'm comfortable on or making the ride on a challenging wave. My stoke is what I rate.

On my last session I found an empty break not far from the prime wave that was too crowded for my liking. The wave was mainly a steep 1.5oh drop, bottom and then nothing, no wall. But I was stoked and a bit surprised of the drops I could make with my thick 6'6 Addvance. On the way back I stopped for a look at this prime wave to see the morning crowd had left, and the Right had improved and the wind was still offshore. I couldn't resist, just one I said to myself. I had the one, and some more and spent the next days icing the shoulders. But it was worth it

[Onelove]

I’m a 4 to a 5.

Started surfing at 31

5 years on a longboard or funshape
2 years on short boards

Unfortunately my breaks (east coast and a drive to best spots) are not consistent, and less often big. I am also an older beginner which had its trappings, and I grew up in Ohio so not tons of prior knowledge of the ocean.

I consistently surf at a 4 level on a short board. That has come with tons of work. Paddling flat water. Running for cardio and weight loss. Indo boards. The Carver. Pool. Diet. Study. Pop ups on ground. A lot of failure in the water and

When on surf trips at better waves I could slip in as a 6 on my best days.

I fairly regularly do maneuvers, floaters, smack the lips, etc., but it is not really by design. I miss those opportunities more often than I try to cash in on them.
I’m also not as smooth on my carves as I would like, I often feel a step behind in my decision making.

I am very comfortable in chest to head high surf. I’ve been in as big as 3-4 feet overhead.

I am absolutely a better surfer when it is bigger, but just not a daily thing in NE FL. Then it takes time to lock back into bigger surf. Then just after wiring it, the swell fades out.

On a longboard I can cross step pretty well and spend a second on the nose, but my current board is not a nose rider. I am getting one this summer. Long boarding is fun.

[Onelove]

Oh, and I’m a bigger guy, 5 foot 6 and between 175–195 lbs depending on the current moment. Bigger waves really help me on the short board.

[waikikikichan]

Longboard scale:

• 6 - Decent cross-step, can takeoff into the peak and swing back around smoothly, quick nose tricks
• 8 - Sustained nose time, graceful and smooth, hang 5, 10, heels
• 10 – Pro

An above average Longboarder should be able to "noseride" and do cheater fives ............... but HEELS ?? That is another level stuff.

As for my personal level, as I been told by more than one person, "Ha, he can't even surf".

[BoMan]

but HEELS ?? That is another level stuff.

Yep...Pro surfer Maud Le Car shows how its done!

[RinkyDink]

but HEELS ?? That is another level stuff.

Yep...Pro surfer Maud Le Car shows how its done!

She's just asking for a pressure ding.

[RinkyDink]

My skills degrade the longer I keep surfing during a session. 20 minutes after I get out back and rest is the time I'm at the top of my abilities. At the 2.5 hour mark I start popping up to my knee, my head starts slumping down, I get out of the way much slower, and I pretty much morph into a kook. That's about the time I go home. Anyway, when I'm rested and warmed up I'd rate my skill as follows:

Shortboard 6'6" - 1 (Just got back from taking it out and surfing it for the first time. About 5 takeoffs in 1.5 hours. I didn't make one drop. I got a thorough nostril cleaning though. I learned to refine my awareness of getting hung up in the lip and how to pull out of the wave when I'm too slow. I really wish I had been on my fun board because the waves would have been really fun, but I wanted to get some time on my shortboard.)

Fun board 7'10" - 5

Longboard 9'6" - 4 I ride my longboard like a shortboard so I haven't really developed any of the traditional longboarder moves aside from a strong carving turn.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah I ride my longboard like a shortboard so if I rate my longboard skills on the shortboard criteria it would be a 6 but a 4 by the longboard criteria because I don't cross step much.

[waikikikichan]

This is Toots doing "Heels".

Screenshot 2018-04-29 at 6.15.58 AM.png (357.08 KiB) Viewed 749 times

This is me doing a "jack knife".

Screenshot 2018-04-29 at 6.12.39 AM.png (234.14 KiB) Viewed 749 times

This is "Next Level" , like beyond Pro.

Screenshot 2018-04-29 at 6.16.10 AM.png (353.57 KiB) Viewed 749 times

[pmcaero]

I'd say I'm one of the top three surfers at my break when there are three or fewer surfers in the water.

[jaffa1949]

I'd say I'm one of the top three surfers at my break when there are three or fewer surfers in the water.

True that! Winning on persistence no matter what! Cheers

[oldmansurfer]

I'd say I'm one of the top three surfers at my break when there are three or fewer surfers in the water.

I am usually the top surfer out at the breaks I surf......unless there is someone else out Actually maybe more often than that because while there are lots of surfers here who are better than me they rarely show up at that beach at the same time as me. There is however a break where surf lesson are given so mostly I would be compared to just started surfing beginners.

[pmcaero]

Actually maybe more often than that because while there are lots of surfers here who are better than me they rarely show up at that beach at the same time as me.

I like it best when the conditions are such that only a few other people are out, and spread over a wide area so you never compete for waves. I do better with fewer people even in worse surfing conditions.