The New Judging Criteria

A lot of people have been asking me about the changes to the ASP for 2010 and in particular the revised judging criteria. This following news piece came out before Perry Hatchett moved on as Head Judge. Perry was instrumental in seeing through these changes to the criteria. He’s done a great job as head judge and I wish him all the best for the future. Looking forward to seeing the new criteria come into play in 2010. For details read on…

With a number of enhancements being activated on the ASP World Tour this season, the ASP Judging Criteria has been refined to reflect the progression of the sport.

It’s paramount that the ASP Judging Criteria evolve to reflect the ever-progressing envelope of high-performance surfing, Perry Hatchett, ASP Head Judge, said. The revision of the criteria for 2010 is the result of discussions between our respected panel of judges as well as the world’s best surfers.

The ASP Judging Criteria for 2010 and beyond is as follows:

Surfers must perform to the ASP Judging Key Concepts to maximize their scoring potential.

Judges analyze the following major concepts when scoring waves:
- Commitment and Degree of Difficulty
- Innovative and Progressive Maneuvers
- Combination of Major Maneuvers
- Variety of Maneuvers
- Speed, Power and Flow

It is important to note that the emphasis on certain concepts is contingent upon the location and the conditions on the day, as well as changes of conditions during the day.

Scale Utilized:
0.0 – 1.9 = Poor
2.0 – 3.9 = Fair
4.0 – 5.9 = Average
6.0 – 7.9 = Good
8.0 – 10.0 = Excellent

The last part of the revised ASP Judging Criteria is crucial, Hatchett said. Surfers and fans need to understand that certain aspects of surfing score higher depending on the location and the conditions at that location. For example, the same approach to surfing in classic Trestles conditions will not score the same when applied to classic Pipeline conditions classic Trestles conditions call for more Innovative and Progressive Maneuvers whereas classic Pipeline conditions call for more Commitment and Degree of Difficulty.

The aforementioned criteria will be applied across the board at ASP World Tour, ASP Women’s World Tour, ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) and ASP Pro Junior event.

Dane's surfing helped bring about criteria changes. © ASP