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We’ve all sat in our fair share of lineups. Lineups down at your local spot, lineups at the spot just down the coast, and completely foreign lineups where you don’t know any of the surfers out there. And we all think we have it sussed. We know how a lineup works. But do we really?
Knowing the ins and outs of lineup etiquette is one of surfing’s basic lessons, and for those of us whom may have forgotten, here is a quick refresher course in Lineup 101.
* Please note that we are not going to discuss all the nuances relating to heavily localised lineups like Supers and Pipeline, or the chaotic movements of surfers in a shifting beach break peak. The focus of this refresher course will be on the lineups of our many coastal pointbreaks and beachbreaks with a constant peak.
Now we all know the basic rule: The wave belongs to the surfer on the inside. But many of you seem to think that there are no exceptions to this rule, when in fact there are at least three:
Exception number 1: NOT WAITING YOUR TURN
You head out through the lineup, paddle past everyone like the tosser you are, and swing into the very next wave in the set without blinking an eyelid. Unless you are the meanest local and can fight like a mad dog you will be very lucky if you don’t get dropped in on, or get a poes klap, or both. Rather sit wide off the pack, and wait for a set or two to move through before you push for position. The only time when not waiting your turn is acceptable, is when the line-up is full of okes who are letting good waves go through, in which case there is no reason to be polite and wait your turn.
Exception number 2: WASTING WAVES
You are on the inside of the lineup. The next wave is yours. A wave comes to you and you paddle for it, then at the last minute, because you are a pussy, you pull back. As a result nobody else in the lineup gets the wave and it peels off unridden (or someone else further down the line takes off.) Please understand that you have now blown your chance, and you have lost your priority, and you may as well paddle to the outside of the lineup and slowly work your way back to the inside - just as if you’d actually caught the wave. If you think you can simply paddle for the next wave that comes through, then you are going to get chooned. Capiche? The same rule applies if you paddled for, but did not catch the wave, or you caught it and went over the falls or blew the takeoff.
Exception number three: INSIDE BY DEFAULT
You come paddling back, not around the outside of the lineup, but up the inside - like up along the piers in Durban, or the inside rip along the rocks. This also happens with the paddle out spot of many waves - like the Supers keyhole, Vic Bay’s jump rock, Seal Point’s top gully and the Eland’s top entry, to name just a few. As a result you now end up on the inside of the pack. But you did not ‘earn’ your top spot in the pack, and if you try and take the next wave in the set you are going to get vloeked. The right thing to do is to sit wide, let at least two sets go through and ease into the lineup from the bottom up.
Okay, so the surfer on the inside is not always entitled to the wave. Lets discuss a few other issues and ethics which not all of us seem to understand about a lineup.
PADDLING FOR ANOTHER OKE’S WAVE:
Unless you absolutely know that the oke on the inside can’t surf and will pull back, it’s best not to even paddle for his wave - especially not if it’s a barrelling wave and you are quite far down the line. Some surfers like to sit deep so they can backdoor the peak. The last thing they want is you flailing around out on the shoulder, pulling back at the last moment and causing a dik chandelier to come down on their heads just as they are nicely set-up in the barrel. Sure, you did not go, but you probably blew the okes wave anyway. Rather just paddle over the wave, leave it completely alone. And if you go over the falls on top of that mad dog local in the barrel then you may as well pack your bags and leave town.
HOLDING THE INSIDE POSITION:
You are waiting for that one bomb and you are holding the inside position. That’s fine, as long as you make it very clear, very early on, for the rest of the lineup that you are not going as the set comes through. There is nothing worse than an oke who sits on the inside and everyone expects him to catch the next wave, watching if his going to make a move, and then he doesn’t, and it’s too late for the rest of the pack to react. This is especially important at tight, heavy take offs like Cave Rock and Kalk Bay Reef. If you are not going to go, indicate your intentions early by lifting your hands out the water, or say loudly “not going!”, otherwise, by the time you do go, someone might drop in and choon you.
THE INSIDE EDDIE:
Some of us can take off deeper than others. Sad but true. Therefore some of us are going to sit deeper than others. This does however not give you the right to the next wave (unless you are waaaaaay up the point). If you have just paddled up the inside to your ‘deeper spot’ (due to your superior skills or whatever) and a set comes through, then turn to your outside and ask the surfers whom you have just paddled past if they are going to go. This can often be done with simple eye contact, raised eyebrows and a nod. And if your brah on the outside is going, then leave the wave alone. You are probably a skilled surfer and you are getting lank waves anyway.
Please add to this discussion of ‘how line-ups work’ in the comments section below. Feel free to come up with some new categories, exceptions and so forth. In our next article we will poke fun at and analyse the different types of surfers in the line-up, such as “The Pull Back and Vloeker”, “Mr Blame the Board”, “The Grumpy Old Timer” and “The Almost Sponsored Old Guy”, to name just a few.
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MikeB:
nice article, definitely something everyone should read, even if just so they know to tune those guys hassling in a lineup... it's not exactly ever going to get less crowded in most breaks, so may as well learn to play by the rules - and hopefully that means everyone then gets to have fun (think of what any other sport would be like if nobody played by the rules?)
And what locals should be doing is policing these rules (for themselves & visitors), not trying to take it all for themselves. Yes, there are elements of respect needed here too (a different debate as to what that means in terms of wave rights), but in the end, they're the closest we could get to 'referees'.
Punch-ups don't help - you'll end up with an assault charge & a lot less surf time when hanging with your homey in jail. Maybe in 20 years time it will all degenerate into police boats regulating; or pay-per-surf-session (with limited tickets for each hour), if we don't sort it out ourselves...
and definitely needed with different types of boards in the line up - i was in the ridiculous situation last month on a visit to the east cape where we had paddleskiers, longboards, and even a bloody surf ski all back-paddling. All we needed was the passing yacht to join in to complete the joke. Lack of etiquette just ruins the vibe, and if surfing isnt fun, well, it's not worth doing...
2012-02-14 14:39:43
Nickname:
Hahahaha, you guys are funny with your nice little "rules" to the line up. One thing you seem to forget is that the better you are or the "local", whatever that means, then you get to ignore all of the above and act like you own the wave. Another point on the 'mad dog local' if you're going to get aggressive in the water and want to fight why not just piss off. Even worse the mates of this dude who pat him on the back with the "yeah that guys a kook he deserved it" the sea is there for everyone not just you rippers.
2012-02-14 06:20:26
Andy:
Awesome....now if the tossers who regularly defy the above rules will just read this article...better still, Im going to print me a waterproof flyer & dish it out at the back :-)
2012-02-13 19:44:03
lawman:
A v good article. If I knew his address (or even his name) i would send it to the guy who landed on my back from the top of an 8 footer at J-Bay. (What an experience -So Ugly, not to mention scary!!)
2012-02-13 10:13:14
Bushy:
Do not think the line-ups in SA are particularly competitive or aggresive. The best spots tend to regulate themselves to a degree due to the technical difficulty of the wave itself. It is in the softer beachbreaks where the real scourges of the line-ups like the SUP's, longboarders and paddleskiers tend to surface and it seems a lot of the surfers in these line-ups have grown to accept the lack of etiquette and general ignorance as par for the course. Not to say this is right, but is it worth the aggro fighting over 2 foot slop?
2012-02-11 16:48:03
Friends don't let friends SUP:
The SUP thing really is like the paddleskiers in the 80's, golla is right. like the eggbeaters, they will be gone in a few years time. the sport is too impractical, too much of a shlep and too expensive. carrying a railway sleeper every time you want to go for a surf stops being fun after a while. I'll bet my house that in five years time SUP numbers will be half, in ten years time they will be gone. For now you just have tell them that they can't do laps, they need to respect the rules.
2012-02-11 16:02:27
WTF:
I guess by definition I would probably be classified as a "sneaky drifter" ... but wots wrong with the guys ... can't they see the waves are better just a little further up the line-up ... no bad intentions guys!!!
2012-02-10 21:44:01
golla:
"The Sneaky Drifter" he deserves a paragraph. Keeps his hands on his hips, 'paddles' to the inside with his toes whilst seemingly just sitting on his board... A busy line-up is such an intense study of human nature and politics on so many levels...does my brain in...
2012-02-10 21:34:49
John Smith:
The first pic is an epic pass.... There's a history behind that wave. The dude with the scrum cap on had just had a set wave at llandudno and got barreled of his pip, the dude bailing was sitting out back waiting his turn when the dude with scrum sneakily sneaked onto the inside again.....a set came and he tried to call the oke who had been waiting off the wave...that was not his... Result he got burned deservedly but cocked the wave up anyway fr everyone.....epic photo tho So FUNNY! U didn't talk about those sneaky inside drifters... That drift onto the inside at every chance.....,
2012-02-10 21:07:50
Hawkes Senor:
I wish u hadn't prefaced this by saying it doesn't apply to beach breaks (like Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA), b/c now a kookykoo like myself will continue to paddle around lineups cluelessly snagging other dudes waves from an illpositioned takeoff spot, ruining the good fun. I dont mean to, but I stank and have to attempt a bunch of takeoffs if I want to stick any drops, and actually surf waves during my sesh.
2012-02-10 21:05:27
golla:
The SUP thing reminds me of the paddleskiers during the seventies and eighties. Same abuse of equipment by clueless newbies and selfish ex surfers. Maybe we can get the surf shops who sell these SUP's to give each buyer a line-up code? Maybe the mags need to print a guide line? Someone is going to get hurt soon. Also creating a no-SUP zone (or SUP only zone) somewhere along the Table View area? I hope they die out the same way paddle skies and winds surfers did.
2012-02-10 20:47:19
DUTCHIE:
I flippen take my hat off to you Mr. Malherbe, thank you for a perfectly written article!
It's deffininetly time to explain the rules and it is the responsibility of the older more experienced surfers to do so in the correct way! if they don't listen explain harder!! (if you know what I mean)
@Azza, the SUP thing is a an issue, clearly these ignorant newbies to the ocean don't get it. You can avoid them by not surfing Tableview, it's a kak wave anyway, but feel free to tune them if they paddle out at proper surf spots! ALOHA
2012-02-10 20:03:57
b:
not enough people respect these guidelines
2012-02-10 15:29:56
Chrisnk:
I wish the SUP okes in the Table View area would familiarise themselves with these rules. They feel that because they can catch a wave before it has actually properly formed every wave is theirs. The best part is often when paddle back out they give you that stupid smile as though they doing nothing wrong.
2012-02-10 12:18:22
shanks:
agreed, reef breaks different story.
2012-02-10 12:04:10
hugh:
Referring more to well defined reef breaks. Two peaks a different story.
2012-02-10 10:40:21
Shanks:
Nope, sorry, there are days with two distinct peaks, and some waves linking up into one. You all line up outside peak A, and peak B goes thru unridden. You all end up with one wave every 30 minutes. I don't vraat and I don't drop in, that's not my gig. If I've made it clear to you why I'm sitting deep, there really is no problem.
2012-02-10 10:28:02
hugh:
Re the inside eddie - if you want to sit deeper than the rest, and are surfing with competent surfers who sit a little wider, rather just sit with them until your turn comes - you can then paddle to your heroic deep position (and probably not make the wave). The inside eddie just causes unecessary stress by paddling inside everyone and then harrasing everyone with "are you going, are you going" - I don't need this shit - yes I am going, shut up and wait your turn.
2012-02-10 10:05:17
shanks:
If I inside paddle someone because I think they are sitting in the wrong place, I'll make it obvious to them that I do know the order. I'll say something like "I'm going to sit a bit further up, let me know if you are going" - simple sentence solves lots of problems. Or I'll make it obvious that I'm not paddling for a wave when it's their turn.
2012-02-10 09:26:32
knuckles:
That ou from The "John Surf" smaaks to pull exception number 3, but we got his number !!!!
2012-02-09 15:11:58
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