Hey dude, did you see my last wave?! My paddle out take off pitched me into a screaming bottom turn that I roller coastered into a floating roundhouse cutback, then the wave started gorking and I pulled into the green room, there I saw the finish move, I charged the lip and pulled off a vertical tail slash ending with a double pirouetting cartwheel. Say what?
As in any sport, terminology is the key to expression and understanding. Knowledge is the key to execution, and demonstration is the principal expression of skill. Expertise comes with practice and practice starts with terminology.
Take off: The successful obtainment of a wave face.
Shoulder Ride: A fairly straight ride in the pocket (the critical section between the pitching lip and the wave face).
Cutback: Radical change of surf direction or 'cut' on the face of a wave of at least 45 degrees, achieved by either turning towards or away from the wave peak.
Bottom Turn: After a drop straight down the wave face, the surfer banks and turns hard into the wave trough, and then rises back up onto the face to continue surfing.
Roller Coaster: A series of linked turns up and down the wave face, while maintaining the same cut direction (heading to the right or left on a wave).
Endo: The craft pearls and stands on end than continues to fall forward. A 180 degree pirouette will allow the craft to remain surfing. A fluid continuation into a back endo with a half twist will combine into a Double Pirouetting Cartwheel.
180-degree Turn: The surfer spins the craft from surfing bow-first to surfing stern-first or vice versa.
360-degree Turn: The surfer completely rotates the craft in a horizontal plane while continuing to surf. A rotation of the bow towards the collapsing peak is an Inside 360, A rotation of the bow away from the collapsing peak is an Outside 360.
Floater: The surfer positions the craft high on the wave face , but gets just behind or on top of the wave crest as the wave crest pitches downwards and then collapses. The surfer rides the backside of the lip down into the "soup" (the collapsed wave) and then emerges to continue surfing on the wave face.
Roundhouse Cutback: After gaining speed while performing a extended arcing cutback, the surfer runs the craft on a cut straight towards the tumbling foam of the wave peak, and then uses the force of the pitching foam to knock the bow around, making a strong turning cut back in the opposite direction away from the peak.
Floating Roundhouse Cutback: Same start as roundhouse cutback, but the surfer mounts the pitching lip and performs a 180 degree cutback while free falling down with the tumbling wave crest.
Lip Turn: The surfer drives the craft into the pitching wave crest. Using the crest as a pivot point, the surfer radically changes direction of the craft and takes the drop again down the steep wave face.
Vertical Tail Slash: Same start as a lip turn, but the stern arcs 180 degrees vertically above the pitching wave crest before dropping back down the wave face.
Tube Ride: The surfer positions the cut perfectly so that the folding peak of the wave drops over the stern behind the rider, or even shrouds the craft completely as the surf ride continues. The surfer in this position is said to be in the Green Room.
Aerial with Re-entry: Usually after cranking a hard bottom turn, the surfer cuts up the face of the pitching wave with enough speed to launch the craft free into the air as the wave closes out. The craft is pivoted in mid-air so that it drops back onto the same wave and continues surfing.
Aerial Barrel Roll: Same start as an aerial, but a horizontal 360 degree twist is performed while in the air above the pitching lip. A solid landing will allow the craft to continue surfing.
As the number of paddle powered surfers continue to grow, the number of new maneuvers will surely increase. As these maneuvers obtain names, the new terminology will invoke the necessity of continued practice to expand your surfing skills.