By Inês Tralha
Waves, manoeuvres, scores, winners.
From the outside, competitive surfing can look simple. Until two apparently similar waves receive different scores. Or a surfer catches more waves and still loses the heat.
To follow the Championship Tour, the first thing to understand is this: the number of waves does not, on its own, determine the result.
The two best waves
A surfer’s heat total is made up of their two highest-scoring waves. Each wave can earn up to 10 points. The highest possible total is 20.
The surfer may catch other waves. But the heat total comes from their two best scores.
This changes how we watch a competition. Counting how many times someone stands up on a board is not enough. We need to understand the value of the rides they put together.
How a wave score is calculated
Five judges assess each wave. The highest and lowest scores are discarded. The wave score is the average of the remaining three.
A wave score and a heat total are therefore different things. And both differ from the ranking points earned by a result at an event.
Confusing these three levels makes the championship much harder to follow than it needs to be.
What the judges look for
In shortboard surfing, the criteria include commitment and degree of difficulty, innovative and progressive manoeuvres, combinations of manoeuvres, variety, speed, power and flow.
The ride is assessed as a complete technical sequence. Not as a simple sum of isolated manoeuvres.
Looking only at the most spectacular moment can therefore leave out an important part of the picture.
Priority is also part of the heat
A priority system governs the preferential right to choose a wave. Other surfers must not hinder the scoring potential of the surfer with priority.
Interference can affect the result. Understanding who had priority helps explain decisions that may seem strange when seen only from the beach or in a short video clip.
Three circuits, three contexts
The Qualifying Series, Challenger Series and Championship Tour are different levels of the WSL competition system. They have their own roles and rankings.
A wave score is not a place in the rankings. Winning a heat is not winning an event. And understanding an event means understanding the competitive pathway it belongs to.
That is precisely why planning matters.
In the next heat, start by following each surfer’s two best scores. Then watch the whole ride, from beginning to end. And ask what justified the score.
The championship becomes more interesting when we begin to understand what we are watching.
Which part of scoring still leaves you with questions?
Reference: the WSL’s official explanation of scoring and rules. This article focuses on understanding a heat; it does not provide an event calendar or calculations for qualification for the following season.
From the championship to your own surfing
Try the three questions for observing a surf competition. If you would like guidance in developing your own surfing, explore Surfing With Science and talk to us about what you are looking for.
Photograph from the Good Surf Good Love archive. It does not depict a heat at the current event.