Over the falls off we go

Over the falls, with a variation of sucked over, is a wipeout—or a stage in a wipeout—where the surfer is pitched out with the lip as it hooks over and drops into the trough, flipping head over heels with the wave as it crashes.

It does hurt, because you don’t just fall off your board—you get launched and thrown by the power of the wave itself.

⚠️ One of surfing’s most dangerous wipeouts

According to the EOS, it’s one of surfing’s most dangerous types of wipeout. The surfer has little or no control of their body position or where they’ll land; they’re generally dropped smack into the wave’s exploding core, and momentum gained in descent might drive them straight to the bottom.

As a result, it’s disorienting. You get spun and flipped so fast you often don’t know which way is up. And violent too, because bigger waves can slam you down hard—into the water or the reef below.

Why it happens

It’s possible to go over the falls after paddling up the wave face and not making it through the curl. If you’ve watched Riding Giants, you may already know that Hawaiian big-wave surfer Mark Foo died at Maverick’s in 1994 after going over the falls on a 15-foot wave.

There are many reasons why one could go over the falls, including hesitation at the takeoff, being too far forward or back on your board (like in any type of wipeout), or not paddling fast enough and getting sucked up the face—or bailing as the wave pitches and taking the full ride down.

How to avoid it

To avoid it, just do the opposite of all that—and most importantly, commit to the takeoff. Because it’s the half-assing that gets you pitched.

Author: The Wipeout Weekly team