Moving water poses drag forces on vegetation and its resistance to these forces determines survival. To assess resilience of coastal vegetation e.g. salt marsh to storm flood conditions forces under extreme wave loading need to be determined. As such measurements under natural conditions are inherently difficult, a model based on wave and vegetation parameters is desirable. Existing models have been validated with data based on low hydrodynamic loading, i.e. small waves, but extrapolation to extreme events yields inaccurate estimations. Here we present direct drag force measurements under high wave loading on artificial vegetation of varying stiffness, frontal area and above ground biomass. These parameters have been suggested to drive drag and associated wave attenuation, but their inter-linkages have not yet been sufficiently clarified. The use of artificial structures in this study allows us to manipulate these parameters individually and exposing them to controlled conditions in a laboratory. Initial results confirm that drag forces increase with increasing wave energy and can be best explained through correlation with orbital velocity. Comparison of the different surrogates showed that frontal area is the most important of the potential driving parameters, while correlation with biomass only applies within a limited stiffness range. A detailed analysis of these relationships will yield a quantified parameterisation of the dependence of drag forces on vegetation and wave parameters. The resulting equations will inform existing drag models and extend their applicability to high loading. Consequently, the assessment of acting forces and vegetation resilience will be improved for the future.