Surfers competing in a heat have 20 to 40 minutes, depending on sea conditions, to show their stuff. Each must ride 10 to 12 waves at the most and only their best two performances count. There"s no scale as such but the judges have specific criteria based on rules: The surfer must perform moves en radical contrôlé in the most critical part of the wave with speed, power and fluidity to optimize his maximum point potential. Innovative and evolutionary surfing as well as the technical repertory"s variety must be taken into account when the surfed waves are scored. Surfers who meet the guidelines by riding the most difficult waves receive the highest score.

The score ranges from zero to 10 per wave surfed, and tenths of a point are used. Sometimes a score reaches 10. That's something we allow. Each wave is scored. The scores of the best two waves are added up, which gives a total of 20. There are no freestyle or imposed figures. The surfer is the one who, depending on the quality of the wave, evaluates the moves he can do on them. Judges give points for technical performance as well as the choice of the figure performed in relation to the wave's potential. Most figures are listed and have a degree of difficulty, but a surfer can be innovative and make up something new during his performance. There's no distinction between the technical aspect and the artistic dimension.

On the other hand, the idea or risk-taking is very important. It is essential to show an ability to develop the most varied possible repertory, which means that there's no advantage to repeating a figure, no matter how complicated. The main thing is to avoid looking robotic.

In competitions there's a head judge, whose role during a heat consists of keeping an eye on the four judges scoring the surfers in the water. The head judge is there to see whether or not their judgments are in harmony. The highest and lowest scores do not count. Only the average of the middle two do. During the heat, each judge is also evaluated. If his scores are one point higher or lower than those of his colleagues, he will be penalized and perhaps eliminated.

As the competition advances, only the best judges are kept. At the end of the season there's a ranking and some of them might be demoted. Sometimes a judge is from the same country as the surfer. That does not matter because during a heat he must have no relationship with the surfers. At the end of the day, ethics is what makes the system work.