Most wakesurf contests are organized and judged based upon the criteria set out in the American Wakesurf Association (AWSA) rules and judging document. The reality is that each judge has tricks and style they favor and that simply isn’t covered in the rules and a judge won’t tell an entrant that they prefer surface rotations to aerials or vice versa. For the most part, the judges at a wakesurf contest won’t be able to perform the trick your doing! So they’ll interpret it based upon their own personal bias. If your board is a dog and requires you to pump like crazy, judges may view that as you exerting tons of effort, rather than it being an equipment limitation. Such is the beast of the contest! At most events the contestants will have learned the biases of the judges and will discuss and ride to that bias, rather than the actual judging criteria. At an event, network and talk to riders that have learned the judges prejudice and consider that.
Principally your tricks should be judged on three components: Execution, Intensity and Composition. Although, I’m not sure how closely it is followed. At least you can give some consideration to what SHOULD be included in the judging criteria. I’ve copied the AWSA criteria as listed in the rules used by most contest organizers.
The final component is where on the wake you do your trick. The judging criteria and judges manual indicate that the tricks performed in the most critical section of the wake are given a higher score. What that will translate to is tricks performed further back on the wake, where there is less chance to recover if you land it sketchy, should be scored higher. There is also a visual component and many times judges forget the “critical section” of the wake and will score a trick that is CLOSER to the boat HIGHER, because it looks bigger to them.
Really the bottom line is ride hard, have fun and realize the judging component is an imperfect system. I’m sure that most folks that volunteer to judge are aware that run is important to someone, even if it’s not important to everyone.
If you get the chance, ask the judges for your class, the criteria they are looking for. Ask your organzier, prior to the event if they can provide you a summary of the criteria they are looking for.
Lastly, thank a judge! It’s a miserable, thankless job. Only the winner is happy with their skills, which means everyone else thinks they suck! It may not help you in your score, but it may enough to keep a judge or two motivated to do the job again.
After the rules, just below, I’ve included a short video clip of a simple surface 360. Note how far back I do the first surface 3, I am basically turning it on the wake where it curls over. No room for error! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else do this, because it requires that you pivot in place and the wake face is pretty sloppy back there. In theory that trick should score high. It’s performed on the most critical section of the wake, it is literally flawless and the precision it requires is intense. In actuality it probably scores medium, mostly because it looks so smooth and the “critical” section of the wake isn’t applied by most judges.
Take all of that for what it’s worth and ride hard!
11 Execution, Intensity and Composition
The complete rules for scoring and judging are found in the AWSA Judge’s Training Course documents. An extensive list of wakesurf tricks can be found in the AWSA Wakesurf Tricks List. Surfing criteria is the measure by which a surfer’s performance is judged. An understanding of the criteria is important to both judge and competitor. This judging course defines elements of surfing criteria. Wakesurf judging is subjective, a “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” assessment. For a competitive event this evaluation must be converted into a score or ranking. The elements of surfing criteria are an aid to convert a subjective evaluation into a score or ranking. The elements of surfing criteria include execution, intensity, and composition. Each of these elements should weigh equally toward the composition of a score.
11.1 Execution
Execution criterion is an assessment of how well the wakesurfing maneuver was performed. Execution should be applied to the body of maneuvers a surfer completes or attempts. Successful tricks poorly executed should be judged lower than successful tricks masterfully executed.
11.2 Intensity
The intensity criterion is an assessment of aggressiveness of the performance. Higher Aerial tricks are more “intense” than tricks completed with less air. Carving maneuvers that are performed more rapidly, in tighter arcs, throwing more water are more difficult and intense. Other attributes may also be attached to intensity.
11.3 Composition
The composition criterion is an assessment of how well rounded the performance was. Good composition should include a range of tricks, total number of tricks completed, style appropriate tricks, division appropriate tricks, compound tricks, unique tricks with grabs, personal flair, or other embellishments.
109 comments
1 ping
beats by dr dre
October 6, 2011 at 1:07 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
laylist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
Charlie Pollack
October 16, 2011 at 8:59 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’ve just started off a blog, the knowledge you give on this site has aided me extremely. Thank you for all your time & work.
Malcolm Geigel
October 20, 2011 at 8:34 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I REALLY liked your post and blog! It took me a minute bit to find your site…but I bookmarked it. Would you mind if I posted a link back to your post?
Conrad Mclaws
October 22, 2011 at 3:22 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Great read. Thanks for the info!
Shannon Janosek
October 22, 2011 at 7:31 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Intriguing post. I have been searching for some good resources for solar panels and discovered your blog. Planning to bookmark this one!
Brice Bartl
October 23, 2011 at 1:59 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hello, this is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting in your blog especially on how to determine the topic. keep up the good work.
Andrew Pelt
February 23, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Motorola To Sell#Cozen#Deceive#Delude#Trade#Transact# “Developer Edition” RAZR in , Then US, Comes With Unlockable Bootloader.a href =”http://bigomix.info”>download android apps to pc
armagard
March 24, 2012 at 8:18 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I found the information on this site useful.
Luigi Fulk
April 1, 2012 at 6:26 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Lots of thanks you really a great deal for this fantastic and definitely insightful report. Any particular person will get quite very good info from this text.great accomplish retain it up. I’m heading to bookmark this online web site for arrived again once again in long run.
« Previous 1 2 3
Chicken Recipes For Dinner
March 6, 2012 at 7:19 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Related………
[... ]just beneath, are numerous totally possibly not related sites to our bait, however, they are absolutely worth going over[... ]………