There’s a handful of unwritten rules in surfing.
Like, don’t drop-in on a surfer deeper than you. Don’t back paddle another surfer to cut the queue. Don’t paddle in the path of another surfer’s ride; instead, paddle behind their trajectory and take the beating instead. Et cetera, et cetera.
But here’s another one, perhaps less obvious than the others.
The video above, from Global Zoo, is captioned as such:
“Paddling for a wave that’s already being ridden is regarded as poor etiquette in surfing, as it can push down a section in front of the surfer that’s already up and riding. This issue is made worse at a perfect barreling spot such as Lance’s Right (HT’s), as any disturbance will turn the tube into a chandeliering mess which is impossible to make. Apparently the victim had a few choice words for the perpetrator after the incident in the opening clip.”
Also known as a “chandelier” – or when a tube is crumpled either by another surfer paddling or by the force of nature alone – this can be a huge bummer for a surfer.
And like the video caption said, there was a tense conversation after the incident.
The surfer riding the wave had a good chance of coming out of the barrel. But no, the paddling surfer made it impossible. So, it’s understandable why the first surfer was frustrated.
But then again, this is surfing. This pretty standard stuff – at any spot in the world.
As one surfer commented on the video:
“Yeah man, that happens to me all the time.”
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