Surfing, it is often said, is a solitary sport. Or maybe it’s an activity, not a sport—surfers never seem to agree. (It’s a sport.) Anyway, surfing is a pursuit that pits one man or woman against the sea, and the singular, ephemeral nature of a board ride on moving energy means that a surfer rarely wants a well-ridden wave to go unnoticed by any friends, partners, parents, bystanders, cameras, dogs, or, in the case of a surf contest, scrutinizing judges, who might be watching. When overcome by sheer exhilaration after a great wave, such a surfer will occasionally punctuate the end of the ride with some kind of physical expression that demands, “HEY! Did you see that?” In trad sports terms, they spike the football.
That gesture, the celebratory flourish after a good wave, is called a “claim.” While the claim is not unique to surfing, surfers have elevated it and its study to an art form, and in a sport as
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