Help with board choice please :)
Eskimo roll…. god I really can’t do these lol. I can turn upside down but then can’t flip back, so I flip the board back and then scamper back onto it like a downed rat 
uncool lol
Holy Crap! I just bought my first Surfboard!!!
Isn’t she pretty
Thanks loads for all your help guys and girls. I would have bought any old plank without your advice.
Nice, andy!
and yeah - your description of an eskimo roll is pretty much what I do, too….you get good at it after a while, though!
That’s reassuring… i think. Well I’m hoping I’ll be able to duck dive this thing, but I guess that’s probably another thing that might take a while to learn.
what size and thickness did you end up getting?
It’s 6’8” but it’s 20 5/8 wide and 2 7/8 thick so it should float pretty well.
That was the group consensus about what board would suit me, since I learned on a fish, I should get a smaller fish instead of jumping to far to a normal short board or going bigger to a mal. They better be right 
Nice Andy. I’ll have to borrow a mates stand up and re learn that on the smaller days. How long is postage?
The size was the other sticking point as I know people downsize on fish boards but I’m never quite sure if the charts are allowing for lowly skilled riders. Going off 7S chart they recommend me a 5’9-6’3 but I don’t want a board that I can’t balance on.
Your exactly right about the ability for a skilled surfer to drop size, when transitioning from their normal shortboard to a fish!!!!!
I think that you’d get used to a 6’3” eventually, but a touch bigger in the 7S would be better if you were to go that way!!!!!
If you were to go with similar to Andy’s new stick, something around a 6’4” would suit!!!!!
I am just a casual surfer, DRC - I bodyboard most of the time and standup a bit, but don’t take it to any level of seriousness. I have a 7’6” mini-mal that I got second hand in good condition. Its been brilliant. Big enough size to easily catch waves, do the odd turn and get me stoked. No chance of duckdiving it but it eskimo rolls very well and it isn’t too difficult to hang on to.
Thanks cords, a mini mal has often been a consideration of mine as I reckon it would help increase my wave count. My main concern would be the weight vs my already heavy NSP. I will look into it though!
Holy Crap! I just bought my first Surfboard!!!
Nice one mate, I want feedback ASAP 
The size was the other sticking point as I know people downsize on fish boards but I’m never quite sure if the charts are allowing for lowly skilled riders. Going off 7S chart they recommend me a 5’9-6’3 but I don’t want a board that I can’t balance on.
Your exactly right about the ability for a skilled surfer to drop size, when transitioning from their normal shortboard to a fish!!!!!
I think that you’d get used to a 6’3” eventually, but a touch bigger in the 7S would be better if you were to go that way!!!!!
If you were to go with similar to Andy’s new stick, something around a 6’4” would suit!!!!!
Cheers Mizu
Looking at the type of board that Andy just got and they seem to Jump from
6’0” x 20 ” x 2 1/2 “
to
6’6” x 20 1/4 ” x 2 5/8 “
No 6’4 in the range.
I can check my NSP when I head to the garage but going by their website the 6’6 shortboard is
Mid: 20 1/8” Thick: 2 7/16
http://www.nspsurfboards.com/shortboard-66.html
Am I going to find the two boards too similar or should I expect the fibreglass board to be significantly lighter? Due to the noseshape it may even be harder to duck?
Thanks again.
Hey Surf techy people. Can someone tell me what the purpose of those spikey bits on the rails near the end of the board is?
My guess was they give the water a surface to push the board forward with, but I’m just having a shot in the dark.
And why is it a fish floats easier than a normal short board? It can’t just be the tail can it?
The “spikey bits” are called Flyers!!!!! While they give some bite into the face of the wave when you are riding the steeper sections (they were commonly used on single fin boards for this reason), what they really do is reduce the width in the tail drastically without disturbing the constant curve of the rail (edge) of the shape!!!!!
A smaller tail will have more bite and control when turning, as opposed to a wider tail in a more traditional old school fish that keeps it’s wide tail, that gives the board it’s floaty/skatey type of feel!!!!!
The fish floats better than it’s comparative shortboard mainly due to increased volume of foam both in thickness and width!!!!!
That’s why (as in DRC’s comment above) someone can go shorter than their current shortboard when they ride a fish!!!!! It’s just that the volume has been placed in other ares of the board!!!!!
And while a fish will be great in smaller, fatter surf, as it gets bigger, faster and the wave face gets steeper, the more modern shortboard style has a much better ability to grip the face of the wave than a fish!!!!!
Hopefully that gibberish makes sense?????
I am just a casual surfer, DRC - I bodyboard most of the time and standup a bit, but don’t take it to any level of seriousness. I have a 7’6” mini-mal that I got second hand in good condition. Its been brilliant. Big enough size to easily catch waves, do the odd turn and get me stoked. No chance of duckdiving it but it eskimo rolls very well and it isn’t too difficult to hang on to.
Thanks cords, a mini mal has often been a consideration of mine as I reckon it would help increase my wave count. My main concern would be the weight vs my already heavy NSP. I will look into it though!
Holy Crap! I just bought my first Surfboard!!!
Nice one mate, I want feedback ASAP
The size was the other sticking point as I know people downsize on fish boards but I’m never quite sure if the charts are allowing for lowly skilled riders. Going off 7S chart they recommend me a 5’9-6’3 but I don’t want a board that I can’t balance on.
Your exactly right about the ability for a skilled surfer to drop size, when transitioning from their normal shortboard to a fish!!!!!
I think that you’d get used to a 6’3” eventually, but a touch bigger in the 7S would be better if you were to go that way!!!!!
If you were to go with similar to Andy’s new stick, something around a 6’4” would suit!!!!!
Cheers Mizu
Looking at the type of board that Andy just got and they seem to Jump from
6’0” x 20 ” x 2 1/2 “
to
6’6” x 20 1/4 ” x 2 5/8 “
No 6’4 in the range.
I can check my NSP when I head to the garage but going by their website the 6’6 shortboard is
Mid: 20 1/8” Thick: 2 7/16
http://www.nspsurfboards.com/shortboard-66.htmlAm I going to find the two boards too similar or should I expect the fibreglass board to be significantly lighter? Due to the noseshape it may even be harder to duck?
Thanks again.
I reckon that the 6’6” will be fine for you mate!!!!!
It may have more float than your NSP, and also feel a touch more unstable due to it (should be) being lighter, but you will quickly get used to that feeling, and therefore it will be easier to position when attempting to duck dive it!!!!!
I reckon you already know this, but there’s so much truth in the saying that persistence is the key when learning to surf!!!!!
My first board that learnt on was a second hand 5’11” Twin Fin!!!!! I was around the 80kg mark back then though, but even now, I have a 5’11” Twin Fin Fish that comes out to play on the rare occasion!!!!! (very very rare, as to me hardly even surfing at all lately)
Andy as Mizu mentioned earlier the flyers are a way to taper the width of the board more quickly in towards the tail and give the board a little bit more capability in steeper hollower waves otherwise a really wide tail will pop out of the face of the wave due to having so much foam in the tail if it’s hollow. On a mellower rolling mushy wave more tail is great as it allows you more foam under foot and therefor more buoyancy, speed and drive. Typically indo and hawaii type gun boards have a pintail and the greater foam density is further forward in the board as the waves are hollow and powerful foam under the back foot isn’t such a big consideration.
This is a fairly typical Gun shape
While this is a fish shape
The differences are immediately obvious. Years ago there was this board floating around named the lazer zap by Geoff Mcoy ridden by surfing’s perennial world title bridesmaid and experimental surfboard shape rider Cheyne Horan (pictured)
This is taking the fish principle of more foam in the tail area to the extreme and probably not a board that many would be able to comfortably or enjoyably ride on anything but the mushiest shit surf.
At the other end of that spectrum was the boards Kelly, Shane Powell and Shane Herring were riding through the 90’s they called em banana boards due to them not really having any elongated flat sections through the rocker curve. Many guys jumped on that bandwagon and their surfing suffered as a result.
This is a pic of the banana’s
For the average punter there just wasn’t enough foam or flat length to develop any drive or speed and looking out the surf at the time it was easy to see whow was riding them due to the amount of pumping and flapping going on.
Kinda gone off on a tangent here but perhaps the take home message here is ride a proven shape for your ability level as well as the waves you are able to ride. With that in mind that board that Andy has picked up is a pretty decent starting point, DRC would probably do well on something similar.
I reckon that the 6’6” will be fine for you mate!!!!!
It may have more float than your NSP, and also feel a touch more unstable due to it (should be) being lighter, but you will quickly get used to that feeling, and therefore it will be easier to position when attempting to duck dive it!!!!!
I reckon you already know this, but there’s so much truth in the saying that persistence is the key when learning to surf!!!!!
My first board that learnt on was a second hand 5’11” Twin Fin!!!!! I was around the 80kg mark back then though, but even now, I have a 5’11” Twin Fin Fish that comes out to play on the rare occasion!!!!! (very very rare, as to me hardly even surfing at all lately)
Thanks mate, really appreciate your advice.
Yep I definitely need more persistence. I’ve told anyone that will listen to me that surfing is pretty much the hardest sport/hobby I’ve ever tried to learn. Unfortunately in recent times it had become more of a chore than fun so I’d often choose to go for a leisurable swim instead. I’m also very hard on myself and had expected it to click earlier.
I keep coming back to paddling speed as I think it’s one of the most important things in surfing. It takes me longer to get through the breaking waves and when I get there I try to stay out of the way of the better surfers which restricts me to the areas where it’s already tougher to paddle on and with my slower speed I’ll often have the wave roll under me before I’m on leading to a poor wave count.
I know I will love it when I finally crack it I’m just at the spot where I need to commit to it but don’t know whether a lighter board will be the magical cure or whether I’d be better putting that money into lessons while sticking with my current board.
The board Andy has linked isn’t going to break the budget but I will kick myself if it doesn’t feel much better than my current board.
DRC you kinda know yourself where this is going, nothing will beat progress more than time in the water. You want to catch more waves go buy a 10ft mal, you’ll get way more waves on small days which might make it more fun and in turn make you surf more. The best way I can put it about learning to surf is what would I put my girlfriend on? Honestly I would get her a lightweight 8-9ft mal thats very stable allowing her to stand up and have as much fun as possible as quickly as possible so she gets the bug and wants to keep doing it. She’s a rank beginner though so it’s a little different, unfortunately without actually watching someone surf it’s a little hard to really get a feel for what would benefit them most. Most people find it hard to be honest about their standard at anything which can lead to the wrong advice being given.