Flowriding

Flowriding (or Flowboarding) is a late-20th century alternative boardsport incorporating elements of surfing, bodyboarding, skateboarding, skimboarding, snowboarding and wakeboarding.

Flowriders ride on artificial waves that are technically called "sheet waves". Powerful pumps project a three-inch layer of water at speeds ranging from 20 MPH to 30 MPH. The water flows up and over surfaces engineered to replicate the shape of ocean waves. Sheet waves are stationary waves, in that the wave does not move forward, and the movement is derived from water flowing over a stationary surface. Flowriders get their speed from the energy of the water flowing at them, and can perform basic to sophisticated turns and tricks within a relatively small area.

Even though there are a number of different types of structures used for flowriding, the two which are recognized at a competitive level are the WhiteWater West Single and Double FlowRiders and the WhiteWater West FlowBarrel.

The sports has two main divisions, based on the type of board: the flowboard and the bodyboard.

The flowboard is also known as the 'stand-up board' in flowriding. Currently there are four mainstream board brands: Ash Flowboards,Mak Flowboards,Wave Loch, and Jaan Flowboards. These boards differ in shape, materials, lengths and the angle at which the board curves. Generally they take a similar appearance to that of a wakeboard and can be further categorized into strapped and strapless boards. Boards with footstraps are generally used only on the FlowBarrel, but strapless boards are used on both the FlowRider and FlowBarrel. Flowboards range in length from: 910 millimeters (36 inches) to 1070 millimeters (42 inches); and in width from 280 millimeters (11 inches) to 356 millimeters (14 inches). They weigh between 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) and 2.8 kilograms (6 pounds).

Many of the tricks incorporated in flowriding are inspired by skateboarding and wakeboarding. Riders are able to perform various maneuvers varying in difficulty such as carving, rotations varying in degree (90°, 180°, 360°), pop-shuvits and variations, kick-flips, foot-plant and fast-plant variations, and many more.

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Wikipedia