Help with board choice please :)
With no surfing experience I would put what Spaz said to one side, I think he’s basing his options on someone who can already surf. I can’t stress enough how important a big and stable board is for the first stage of learning to surf. Yes it will be a massive PITA to duckdive but that will teach you to read the break better, utilise rips to get out the back and that sort of thing. Just yesterday I watched a guy and girl get smashed for 10mins straight and give up and go in because they didn’t watch the break and think about what they were doing.
Surfing is a long slow progression, a big stable board will help you get through that first stage of learning how to paddle, negotiate the break, stand up and trim in control. Depending upon the amount of time, frequency and natural ability this could take 2 weeks or 3 months or never. Even then a bigger stable board is still totally relevant to learn basics like bottom turns and “top turns” and general positioning on a wave. After this swapping to a slightly more advanced shape can be helpful but IMO jumping up to quickly can wreck technique and cruel progression massively.
Even after you’re done with the beginning stages your original board will still have value as small fat wave fun board and will probably teach you new aspects of surfing all over again if you jump back on it in a few months time.
For my money with boards I tend to pay quite a lot of attention to volume these days. For a competent surfer I like a volume roughly somewhere between a little more than 1/3 to a little more than 1/4 of my bodyweight in kgs. For smaller fatter waves you get a board in the higher range, for punchier quality waves slide down the lower end. Thats not to say you can’t ride them in everything, I weigh 110kgs and ride a 38.5 litre board in just about everything at the moment, from 8ft reef breaks to 1-2ft beachies. The more traditional “performance” board I have right now is 32litres.
With no surfing experience I would put what Spaz said to one side, I think he’s basing his options on someone who can already surf. I can’t stress enough how important a big and stable board is for the first stage of learning to surf. Yes it will be a massive PITA to duckdive but that will teach you to read the break better, utilise rips to get out the back and that sort of thing. Just yesterday I watched a guy and girl get smashed for 10mins straight and give up and go in because they didn’t watch the break and think about what they were doing.
Surfing is a long slow progression, a big stable board will help you get through that first stage of learning how to paddle, negotiate the break, stand up and trim in control. Depending upon the amount of time, frequency and natural ability this could take 2 weeks or 3 months or never. Even then a bigger stable board is still totally relevant to learn basics like bottom turns and “top turns” and general positioning on a wave. After this swapping to a slightly more advanced shape can be helpful but IMO jumping up to quickly can wreck technique and cruel progression massively.
Even after you’re done with the beginning stages your original board will still have value as small fat wave fun board and will probably teach you new aspects of surfing all over again if you jump back on it in a few months time.
For my money with boards I tend to pay quite a lot of attention to volume these days. For a competent surfer I like a volume roughly somewhere between a little more than 1/3 to a little more than 1/4 of my bodyweight in kgs. For smaller fatter waves you get a board in the higher range, for punchier quality waves slide down the lower end. Thats not to say you can’t ride them in everything, I weigh 110kgs and ride a 38.5 litre board in just about everything at the moment, from 8ft reef breaks to 1-2ft beachies. The more traditional “performance” board I have right now is 32litres.
Great advice 
thank you for the help and the honesty. I will be looking for board which is fat for sure and hopefully with my one hour attempts at getting smash I can surf good enough to really enjoy all different types of waves. I really don’t want bad habits as they are so hard to undo in the long run.
Appreciate it.
Bought a floater this week. It’s a 6.3” x 22 x 2 3/4 just a super cheap one $250. Fiberglass board and it’s nice and wide. Heap of foam in it. Took it out for a run caught about 4 waves but can’t really stand up to well. Good learning and being out in the water
I did get the board in the jaw which wasn’t to much fun but woke me up.
Cool. Awesome you got aboard and are getting in the water.
Was the board new at $250?
NBG was right about what I said.
Cool. Awesome you got aboard and are getting in the water.
Was the board new at $250?NBG was right about what I said.
$250 new. From local guy from Ocean Grove who imports them from China, it’s fiberglass at least. Should be good for learning don’t have to worry about it too much and if I continue i’ll get some thing else down the track.
Bumping this thread. With the shitty snow conditions I’ve recommitted to this whole surfing thing. I’ve been in the water 5 out of the last 7 days and loving it. Conditions have been favourable varying between 2-4ft (I didn’t go in when it got to 6-8ft)
I’ve been riding a 6’6 shortboard NSP epoxy board 33lt volume. I’m 5’8 and 70kg.
As we’ve all agreed before time in the water helps and I’m feeling much better with my progression I’m even starting to duck dive well enough to get out of trouble. However I still feel like I’m being held up by slow paddling at times, the paddle fitness I’ve gained in the week has helped but I’m still not as quick as others out there which can leave me with a very steep take off.
I found I rode the more powerful waves better than the smaller (when I didn’t lose the nose on take off). On the smaller waves I’d trim for a while before the wave got away from me and I bogged down to a stop.
With my newly gained enthusiasm I jumped online to buy one of Andy’s superfish boards. Alas they aren’t making any more until Summer.
So my question is. Will something like a 7’6 minimal be a decent addition to the quiver (it would be nice to have something to use on small days if/when I get better) as well as speeding up my learning progression (higher wavecount would add to the fun)? There doesn’t seem to be many other superfish/hybrid style boards on the market (I’m trying to stay at the low end of the price bracket -$500ish ruling out custom jobs, 7s etc) and I’ve heard a retro fish isn’t the way to go so I figured the mini mal might be a decent fit.
Alternatively now that I seem to be pushing myself on the shortboard should I just keep going with that or will I definitely see faster progression with a board with more volume which I can then transfer back to a shorter board when I get to that stage?
This was the main contender for 7’6 minimals
http://ltsurfboards.com/au/product/genie-clear-decals/
Thanks in advance guys!
Id personally go a shorter wider thicker than a 7 6. Purely because its an easier transition to the good wave board coz they surf closer to them. A 76 will be a tank full of stability but will not improve skills except for balance. Or go both.
Also think light when on small waves. Think helium and dont get too low. More tippy toe stuff and concentrate on glide and flow then speed will improve. When that happens its easier to turn.
Hmm interesting thanks deebs.
I guess I’ve just always heard the the 7’6 mini mal is the go to beginner board. Now I’m not a rank beginner but I’m not going to oversell my abilities either.
Balance wouldn’t be high up on my list of things to work on. I handle it al-right once I’m up and going.
Essentially I just want to up my wave count/time spent on a wave which I presumed would occur via quicker paddling, better take offs and maintaining speed. I find I get incrementally better the more time I spend on a wave so I had hoped that a board that gives me a longer ride will speed up the progress. I’m having a blast out there but I can’t help but think I’d be having even more fun on a more appropriate board.
I had a 2nd surf for the day this afternoon but unfortunately the conditions had dropped off compared to the morning. It ended up being a case of me and a bunch of shortboarders fighting over whatever scraps we could get, and a couple of longboarders catching weakish rolling waves from further out. That only made me want a larger board more until I read your post and now I’m on the back foot again!
They also have fish shapes available which drops the length but I keep reading that fish aren’t a great board to improve on due to there skatey nature. http://ltsurfboards.com/au/product/viper-fish-surfboard/
Ok I think a revision may be in order.
The prob with a mini mal u wont progress fast in terms of aggressive modern surfing. The turns will be longer and drawn out. But youll get more waves for sure.
Perhaps a big boys short board. A 68 BY 20 BY 2.5.
A board with boxy rails not pinched will add floatation and stability. Yor right about the skatey nature of fish but some hybrids arent so fishy but they’re no more skatey than a snowboard. 
they are a lot of fun.
But a mini mal is fun but if you want to surf fast and powerful itll hold u back. If you use it as a quiver board for shit days then awesome. I have 4 boards. Twinnie, shortboard, tube riding gun the a mal. They all get a paddle. Quiver up son. Haha
Paddling is as much art as board. Dig deep twist the wrists and really pull yhe water with arms shoulders and back. Keep the legs together and push the belly into the board. Go hard! Your young arent ya? You have endurance on your side.
Whatever you go for is a win coz your surfing. If you stick with it remeber to mix it up as surfing one type all the time will develop habits hard to break when finally swapping.
And remember always pull in…dont barrel dodge coz you maybe waiting a long time for the next one.
Keep us in the loop.
Whatever you go for is a win coz your surfing. If you stick with it remeber to mix it up as surfing one type all the time will develop habits hard to break when finally swapping.
And remember always pull in…dont barrel dodge coz you maybe waiting a long time for the next one.
Keep us in the loop.
Thanks again deebs. I ended up going with it (couldn’t really find much in the way of alternative) I figured at worst it’s a board to add to the quiver (one I hope to build as my surfing progresses) and I can mix it up with the 6’6 shortboard I currently have. If it’s a complete dud it’s probably one of the easier style boards to resell.
Hopefully as I improve (which I hope getting more waves will do) I will be able to judge my next board requirements more accurately next time.
Thanks again