The World Of Competitive surfing....Aussie explained

You generally go surfing to avoid numbers. You generally go surfing to avoid almost everything. But pro surfing, bless its socks, is essentially all about turning surfing into numbers. This is how they plan to do it at Snapper Rocks. The basic premise is that 36 surfers enter, but only one bloke leaves with the giant novelty cheque, the trophy and the number one rating on the ASP ladder. When examining how this game works there are two things to consider; the contest format and the judging criteria.

The format. The contest starts with 12 three-man heats where nobody is eliminated. From there it's two man-on-man rounds, the losers being consigned to Coolangatta airport or the Coolangatta Sands Hotel. But it's once it gets down to the last 12 surfers that it gets really interesting. Last year the ASP introduced an experimental round – four three-man heats – designed to free things up a little. The brains behind the new format – ASP judge Pritamo Ahrendt – describes what it's all about. "It's created a round where you're going to have three major players in a heat, all in a position where they get a big advantage if they win – they go directly to the quarters – but they don't get eliminated if they lose. There's a big incentive to win the heat, but no punishment if you lose because you're not eliminated. It will allow the 12 best guys in the contest to go for broke." From that point it's back to man-on-man until one bloke walks away with $50,000.

Okay, now the criteria. They'll give you the official line, there'll be words used like "flow" and "combinations" and it's all a bit cryptic. Basically, they just want to see guys light it up, take chances, and produce exciting shiz. The judging criteria was tweaked last year to encourage innovative surfing, while still recognising the kind of classic turns that have always been regarded as good surfing. Halfway through last year's tour, ASP Head Judge Richie Porta summed up the impact the new criteria was having. "If you look close at the big scores and how they're getting them, that combination of major manoeuvres is the big driver. When guys can link three big turns together, three different turns without missing a beat, they're the guys getting the big scores. We've tightened up at the top end of the scale, and we've tightened up on nice surfing. Nice surfing just doesn't cut it anymore. The wow factor is what's scoring, whether it's Kelly's alley-oop, Jordy's Superman, Dane's big carving hack at Snapper or Taj's combinations. We'd rather see guys putting their whole body and soul into their surfing, rather than cruising along, doing a few turns and trying to bluff us by waving their arms around a bit. Those days are well and truly gone."

But of course the criteria is all relative to where you're surfing, and the judges look for different things at different breaks. In all likelihood the Quiksilver Pro will be held at Snapper, and Snapper gives you a bit of everything. The judges will be looking for throaty barrels behind the rock, followed by a combination of rail turns and airs on the wallier inside section. If you really wanna see what floats the judges' boat, track down a clip of Dane and Parko's quarterfinal from Snapper last year. That kind of says it all, really.