1. to humble or abase oneself, as in making apologies or showing respect
2. to lie or crawl face downwards, as in fear or humility
3.(often foll by in) to indulge or take pleasure (in sensuality or vice)
[back formation from obsolete groveling (adv), from Middle English on grufe on the face, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse ā grūfu, from grūfa prone position; see -ling2
Hey Wouter, the dictionary covers it I reckon. You can apply those meanings to grovelling in any sort of surf. Definitely doesn't restrict itself to small waves, I've grovelled in overhead waves.
Grovelling to me is any time you have to use your own efforts (sometimes a lot of effort) to keep the board going because the wave itself doesn't have enough energy on its own.
When you are on a good wave it becomes a matter of harnessing and controlling the wave's power. Then you are no longer grovelling.
i have a question though: with this definition, the guys on the WCT tour could be described as grovelling 50% of the time, because they all use their own efforts to keep those boards going, right? either in the right direction, or pumping for even more speed to boost some air for example
It's a fair question , as it seems to be different things to different people . what may be a grovel[ly surf'] to hawaiian big wave surfers , for instance , might be offshore , head-high , perfect , 'best day of the year' conditions to me at my local beach , and I would be scratching my head as to why it was empty , and why they were calling it a 'flat' day , and 'don't bother, mate it's not breaking' [???!!!]
"grovel "
[my take on it =
aka " to flounder "
"to splash and kick , and carry on like a pork chop , in order to catch waves most people probably wouldn't even bother with " [?!]
if I have to do more than about ?5-10 strokes? to get on a wave , and then , when on it , I flap my board up and down like a yoyo ...then , yes , [to me , at least !] , I'm probably GROVELLING !
..... and , if the wave is ankle-to-knee-high and i'm doing that , if i'm out there at all,
then , I probably shoulda been riding something with more volume , or length , or width or both [eg: in my case , my mal [longboard]
1. to humble or abase oneself, as in making apologies or showing respect
2. to lie or crawl face downwards, as in fear or humility
3.(often foll by in) to indulge or take pleasure (in sensuality or vice)
[back formation from obsolete groveling (adv), from Middle English on grufe on the face, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse ā grūfu, from grūfa prone position; see -ling2
[/quote]
LOL, this is what happens when we have guys posting (and reading posts, and stuff about surfing in general) in a second language. Grovel is a very strange word to use in association with surfing, indeed...
If you try to apply the definitions; I guess #1 is where you are begging the wave to propel you, #2 is riding a booger or mat, and #3.... well I'm not touching that..........
Grovelling is what you do when you realise youve spent waaaay tooo loong in the shaping shed and you try to sneak in the back door knowing dinner was ready 1/2 hr ago.
And also what you do when you try to get back out there after dinner.