*1/31/2023 I will update the table below to be mobile-friendly soon. I know it’s messed up.
*This list was made with short boarding in mind.
Fundamental To Advanced?
The goal was to try and arrange the maneuvers from fundamental to advanced. Like hey, you’d probably want to learn to do a snap pretty well before you progress to sticking a tail waft but do you – there’s no one path.
With that mindset, I had questions like “is a 360 a fundamental maneuver?” And what about speed generation techniques besides pumping?
While this list is by no means complete or perfect by any means, here’s over 100 moves and variations to consider when you get the opportunity to go ‘deeper into your playbook’.
| Techniques | Progressions | * = Fundamental | ^ = Advanced | ! = Elite/Specialized | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standing Action | Popup* | Athletic Stance* | Switch^ | ||
| Drop Ins | Roll In* | Knifing In* | Air Drop* | Out w/lip^ | |
| Bottom Turns | Minor* | Mid Face* | Major* | ||
| Fades / Setups | Light / Steering* | Breaking the Line* | Post move* | Tube Setup* | |
| Stalls | Stillness* | Lean* | Tail Stomp* | ||
| Speed Generation | Huntington Hop* | Tic-Tac* | Rail In* | High Hit / Rebound^ | |
| Floaters | Lip Line* | Power / On Top* | Rock & Roll* | Floater 360^ | |
| Carves | Down Carve* | Power Carve* | Bruce (End Section)^ | Andy (Pocket)^ | |
| Snaps / Re-Entries | Vertical Reo* | Vertical to Variations* | Fin Bust / Waft^ | Clayback! | |
| Cutbacks | Wrap* | Tailslide* | Roundhouse* | Roundhouse Reverse^ | |
| Stabs | Windshield Wiper* | Stab to Variation* | Power Stab^ | ||
| Climbs | Standard Climb* | Climb to Snap* | Climb to Variations^ | ||
| Lip Slides | Finisher* | Section* | Pocket^ | Bruce (Out w/lip)^ | |
| Reverses | Lateral* | Vertical* | Club Sandwich^ | Fin Bust / Waft! | |
| 360s | Flat Slide* | Inward / BS 360^ | Slater 360^ | ||
| Airs | Stock* | 180* | Reverse* / Full 3! | Alley Oop^ | 540! |
| Air Grabs | Indy* | Double* | Slob (FS) Mute (BS)* | Lein* | Stalefish! |
| Flips | Kerrupt! | Gorkin! | Rodeo! | Spindle! | Backflip! |
| Board Tricks | Superman! | Shuvit! | Varial! | Passion pop! | Big spin! |
Double The Fun
While it’s easy to list ‘Frontside(FS) & Backside(BS) Snap’ together as ‘Snaps’, they are two different moves.
Maximizing The Conditions
While checking the waves, a surfer can (should!?) take mental note of what maneuvers are possible for that session and mentally run through the key fundamental techniques to successfully perform those maneuvers.
Going Deeper Into The Playbook
Variety and unpredictability is an advantage in war, sports, and especially surfing. While it’s important to spend a significant amount of time to develop fundamental maneuvers, being able to make spontaneous decisions/reactions to transform a standard maneuver into a variation can keep your performances feeling fresh.
Show Stoppers
To take that to another level, you could have a move up your sleeve that is a ‘show stopper’ for that session/conditions. Take note of the variety of maneuvers being performed that day and consciously select a move deeper in your playbook that nobody else is performing to stand out.
So the next time you feel like you can do no wrong, push your levels up a notch. Some of the best moves a surfer learns happen from experimentation.
“With Speed, Anything’s Possible“
Martin Potter
-A.B.