Fiberglass was the biggest innovation in surfing. It created light-weight and ultra-fast boards that could skim through the water at lightning speeds. Before fiberglass, all boards were made from wood.
Wave-runners are also a new innovation in the world of big wave surfing. Surfers can't always paddle into a massively large wave, so sometimes they must be towed in via a wave-runner.
New waxes make the boards slicker and obviously as the human race has become bigger and faster, so too have the surfers.
Back in the day, surfing was an almost oppressively male-dominated sport. Now, surfer chicks have their own circuits and prize money.
The internet has played a large roll in surfing, believe it or not, as people are sharing ideas on best locations to surf, photos, and instant surf reports for thousands of locations worldwide.