Surfing is an incredibly popular sport, with a long and rich history. Early explorers from Europe and England recorded seeing Polynesians do it, and plenty of data suggests that the chief of a tribe was whichever man could surf best.
That fact alone should give you some idea of how important the activity was to these ancient peoples, and many individuals still consider the sport sacred and spiritual today. With time, the activity was brought to the United States and spread around the world.
Of course, as popular as surfing is, you won’t find too many ardent fans in the Baltic states or any other very cold regions! Sun-kissed California, Hawaii, Australia and South Africa are the first places that spring to mind when most people think about the sport. Here, the laid-back surfing culture is a mainstream way of life.
With surfing’s great fun and fitness potential, learning how to do it is highly recommended for almost anyone. From a punter’s perspective, it’s a very good bet. Not yet all that common among bookmakers, the odds are often miscalculated and those who know the discipline well can pick up some major windfalls. If you’d like to count yourself as part of that group, get to grips with the basics of competitive surfing below.
Surfing Competition Structure
The World Surf League is the governing body of professional surfers and competitions. In their championship structure, events consist of rounds which are made up of heats. Very basically, those who do better in the heats progress to the next round.
There are 2 to 4 surfers in each heat, and there is no limit to how many waves they can ride although there are rules about which athlete gets priority and is allowed to tackle a wave first. Every ride is scored by 5 judges, with the highest and lowest points totals disregarded and the average of the middle 3 becoming the actual score.
Judges consider 5 factors in surf contests; degree of difficulty and commitment, innovation in manoeuvres, major manoeuvre combinations, variety of moves, and speed, power and flow. Since wave size and strength can vary so much, every contest is different and successful punting is not just a case of backing the top-ranked athletes. These rankings should be considered, but try to also go on different sports betting sites in NZ like https://onlinebetting.nz/ so you can adjust your wagers as conditions change.
Surfing Bet Types
When you’re punting on surfing, you have a few options. You can predict the overall winner of a round or competition, or simply say who out of 2 or 3 surfers you think will finish higher. Totals on final scores are also possible, and there are more props bets to be had here than in many other sports. For example, you could put money on seeing Mick Fanning make a pro-surfing tour competition.
The major events to look out for include the Men and Women’s Championship Tours, the Qualifying Series and the Longboard Championships. Look out for odds on these at your favourite bookmakers, and start riding the waves to wagering wins.