what level are you?

Kelly Slater level fo sho!

 

Depends what criteria is being used for each category. Can you define each one so we have a set standard by which we measure our d*cks... i mean skill level lmao

 

I voted intermediate but sometimes I do things I would consider advanced. Still got lots to improve on, but having fun doing it.

 

can catch a lot in a lot of different situations with only two boards to select from...just started to get in to carving frontside (going left...i'm goofy) and making some quick snaps...

my complaint is that the place i frequent the most, which is also the place the works the most often, it's easy to pick up on the lefts and most people don't sit there so i've gotten way to comfortable going frontside....i usually don't go down to the right peak because there are some pretty sick bros that frequent there and i don't wanna fup their spot for my weak-a$$ backside

so long story short, gotta get quicker with the snaps (and this one spot up here with some steep, late, drops gotta get better there too) and get better backside before i go strong intermediate

i guess this all just goes by what the perception of the terms is...we been there before on this site a bit i think

 

I'd consider myself an advanced surfer. Biggest I've surfed is solid 7ft Hawaiian aka 14 ft faces. I rode my dad's 8'0 "mini-tanker" as he calls it. I thrive when the surf is 6ft plus, because thats when I can do some truly powerful and smoothly executed carves both frontside and backside. My backside snap has gotten really good.

I can paddle for 5 hours straight if the surf warrants it. I can surf just about most boards given enough time on it.

 

i voted intermediate and i'm not going to try to come up with an excuse of why

 

No one's clicked in yet as a self-admitted kook. Maybe I'll break the ice with that lol

WB - I like this tread. Let's get people's thoughts on the various criteria for each strata of progression.

 

Let's hear the criteria bud. I'd imagine it'd include some of the following:

- Break management skills (BB, PB, RB)
- Ability to ride different board lengths and types
- Ability to perform in wide range of conditions (wind, period, swell)
- Difficulty of maneuvers and depth/well-roundedness of maneuvers
- Wave catching ability on board with volume relative to body size

Wild card:
- Wetsuite of choice

 

When I was 18 I was pretty sick. At 22 3 months after a combat deployment my gun section got into a training accident and I sustained a traumatic brain injury. Im extremely blessed and lucky to be able to live somewhat normally. That being said ill be an intermediate for life because my equilibrium is crooked. Some waves I rip like I used to and throw buckets and step on turns. Some waves I look like im surfing drunk. My buds say im too hard on myself, but that's because when my brain works properly I rip like I used to. Unfortunately, that's only half the time. Again im blessed, some guys with similar injury cant tie their own shoes, so if I cant launch an air and will be an intermediate for life...im still lucky and stoked to surf.

 

i don't think ill ever consider myself as expert, or even advanced for that matter. there's always so much you can improve on and some many boards to master, plus all the different conditions... it blows my mind

i do think I'm an advanced LBer and potentially advanced when it comes to charging biggish surf but I could still perform so many more maneuvers and I could always get barreled better

also my SBing in smallish surf is weak, i'm really lazy when it comes to that, you can only pump so much

all in all im intermediate

 

i was an expert but i got fat so then i was just advanced but then i got old and became an int and then
i bought high-volume boards thus becoming a beginner.

 

I think it depends on the time you came up. If I could go back in time and surf the 70's or early 80's at my current level I would be considered advanced. By today's standards with the emphasis on airs and acrobatics I would be consider intermediate at best. The problem is surfing progresses but the human body doesn't so it's inevitable that the longer you surf the further you will fall behind.

 

Saw this on surfline a while back...

Recently I had a coworker, surfer, ask me weather she was a beginner or intermediate surfer. I (carefully) told her she was a beginner. She asked (and here is the question): What is the definition of a beginner, intermediate and advance surfer?????? I answered, "I can tell (as most competent surfers can) just by looking." But in 34 years of surfing I don't think I've ever heard a definition of what level a surfer surfs, beginner, intermediate or advanced.
asked by TC

A

Surfing sage Nick Carroll responds:

Wow! What a question. Kinda strikes to the heart of how we see surfing: is it something to be done, or judged, or both?

I suspect the reason you haven't read a definition of surfers as beginner/intermediate/advanced is partly because such a triage definition is a bit too simple for such a complex activity. It may also partly be because many of us tend to view surfing skill as something that's kind of magical: obtained by birthright, perhaps, or by some other stroke of fortune which makes it difficult to fully grasp or analyze.

Perhaps surfing might better be compared with a martial art such as karate or tae kwon do, where there are numerous levels of skill and no absolute peak. But be that as it may, we're prepared to have a shot at the triage:

a BEGINNER is a surfer who is yet to successfully paddle out alone and catch and ride a wave cleanly to its logical finish.

an INTERMEDIATE rider is a surfer who can successfully paddle out alone at a familiar location and catch and ride waves to a logical finish frontside or backside, confidently using the three basic surfing turns - bottom turn, top turn and cutback.

an ADVANCED rider is a surfer who can paddle out alone to a surf spot he/she has never ridden, assess the lineup, and catch and ride waves to his/her choice of finish, confidently using a full range of turns in a distinctive, effective style.

There, that's a start. At least until the ASP starts handing out colored belts.

 

hi-ho
hi-ho
its back-a-wards i go.

boom boom boom
lets go back to the womb.

 

11.

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