You might want to watch the move "Chasing Mavericks" to get a realistic look at surfer culture, and particularly the training of a "natural" into a world-class champion. I think it would illuminate the question of instinct versus knowledge, innate versus learned skill. I saw it with a good buddy who's been a lifelong surfer in Santa Cruz, and afterwards he was pretty choked up when he told me "that's my world".

I'd say that there are basically two kinds of surfers: Outsiders who jump in and try it, usually with less-than-stellar results; and people who were brought up in the culture and who were trained by older surfers who passed on the lore. This gets into your thoughts about the use of language to communicate about surf and surfing. I don't think there's as clean a dividing line as you portray: Rather, the old-timers use of the language instills that instinctive sense of the waves in those in whom it's weak, and sharpens any innate abilities by providing a concrete focus in the form of a word. Language and skill aren't separate, they're intimately entangled and synergistic.

I'm not a surfer myself, but I thought "Chasing Mavericks" was a beautiful film, both for the portrayal of an obscure subculture and the poignant storyline of the young novice (a true story, by the way), and for the sheer beauty of the photography of surfers riding the waves. Plus, behind the closing credits is a beautiful aerial sequence of the California coast flying north from Santa Cruz.

(According to Can I Stream It?, the film currently isn't available anywhere for free or even "free". It might cost you a dozen bucks to see it, but I don't think you'll feel it was wasted.)