This distance is called wavelength. The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency. How waves move The simplest waves rise and fall with a fixed frequency and wavelength. Such waves are called simple harmonic waves. But most wave motions are combinations of several waves with different frequencies and wavelengths.
Combined waves are either nondispersive or dispersive.
In a nondispersive wave, all the individual waves travel at the same speed, regardless of their frequency. Water waves in shallow water are nondispersive. Their speed depends only on the square root of the depth of the water. The higher this number is, the more rapid are the waves. In a dispersive wave, the individual waves travel at speeds that depend on their frequencies.