Transition Board from foamy
Hi,
I am sure you have all seen that question many many times now.
Just wanted to hear advices from people that have switched from a foamy to a mal or a fish.
I have currently tried a 7’3 mal and it was great, actually heaps better than a foamy .. and was able to catch my first small green waves.
I am thinking on buying my own board but I am torned between getting a 7’2 or 7’0 mal OR a 6’10 fish with a lot of volume 45L for example.
What would you guys recommend ?
I am a 5’6ft male, and I weigh 68kgs. So small build.
Thanks in advance for you replies.
Hi,
I am sure you have all seen that question many many times now.
Just wanted to hear advices from people that have switched from a foamy to a mal or a fish.
I have currently tried a 7’3 mal and it was great, actually heaps better than a foamy .. and was able to catch my first small green waves.
I am thinking on buying my own board but I am torned between getting a 7’2 or 7’0 mal OR a 6’10 fish with a lot of volume 45L for example.
What would you guys recommend ?
I am a 5’6ft male, and I weigh 68kgs. So small build.
Thanks in advance for you replies.
Yo Frenchfish!
Welcome to BW! And more importantly welcome to the wonderful world of surfing! Stoked to hear you’ve been getting into some unbroken waves! Good job man!
In regards to your questions, board choice is a very personal thing, well for me it is anyway. I guess you need to look at what direction you want to go? Do you eventually want to progress to a short board? Or are you happy cruising around on a log (longboard)?
Lets look at both scenarios shall we?
IF you were looking at going down the shortboard route, then I’d suggest looking at getting a board thats a little shorter in length but still has high volume for easy paddling. When i progressed to my first glass board i got a 6’0, 20 1/2, 2 5/8 and roughly 36 litres in volume. I’m 6’0 and weight 80kg. So for you, id recommended something around the 5’8 mark and around 20” wide. That way you’d still have a lot of board to play with for easy paddling and stability without over doing it.
Now, if you wanted to stick to the long board path, its pretty easy to ride any longboard as I’m sure you’ve worked out. My longboard is 8’7 and as i mentioned before I’m 6’0 so you would be looking at sticking with something around the 7’0 - 7’6 length as your shorter and lighter.
Overtime you’ll get to work out what is good for you, size, thickness, volume, epoxy, round pin tail, squash tails, how much rocker you want etc.
See if you can borrow a friends board, that’s always a good way to try new boards, your local surf shop has demo days as well ,where you can try a tonne of boards, or even ask your local surf shop guru for advice.
Hope this helps my man!
Keep shredding mate and try out as many boards as you can and see what works best!!
Cheers! SSD
to work out what volume to ride times your weight by 0.35 maybe got abit more though if you aren’t paddling strong yet.
your a small guy so clac is 23.8L but go up around 30-32 if still a beginner on a short board.like salty said go wide also!
Thanks for your replies guys ! @brenno @saltyseadog
I finally went with the 7’ Mini Mal from a Sydney shaper. It has got 45L of Volume
I have only been able to get into 3-4 ft and 3 ft swell on low tide on beach breaks so far ... So it’s been really hard. But I have learnt a lot, lot of turtle rolling which I have mastered now (haha) and understand the waves a bit more. I have tried to take two of the smaller waves, which first one I have pearled big time, and second I fell behind the wave. Appart from that everytime I would stand up I’d end up right on the top of the wave and the wave would go under me , otherwise I’d nose dive.
I have the feeling this board feels heaps more different than the 7’2 funboard I used during lessons ... It just feels more wobbly left and right , not as heavy, not too sure how to explain it.
But I am sure if I get out in 2ft swell on high tide to avoid big breaking waves on the sand, I will have more control ... Obviously as a beginner it’ll help !
Regardless I have learnt a lot in those big fatty waves It’s great !
What do you guys think maybe I should have gotten a heaps bigger board ... I am not too sure now ... Hopefully I am just doubting because I haven’t been able to get some proper beginner waves on my new board yet and just got slammed !
when you say 3-4ft are you calling that as in actual 3-4ft or a surfers 3-4 which is head high to about 1ft overhead? if so that’s a bit big for a beginner. try finding some soft waist to chest high waves. something that is peeling slowly with a crumbly lip. when you say you stand up and the wave rolls on without you, you need to really paddle harder and take an extra stroke or 2 and pop up faster.also angle your board down the line not to the shore, otherwise when you do get up you are going straight while the wave peels off. it sounds like you haven’t really got into the wave before standing up. this will mean you are slowing down as you stand and being a beginner, taking a extra couple of seconds to get up you lose momentum and the waves passes under you. try to build up your paddle strength. don’t just paddle out and wait for waves. maybe paddle out from further down the beach, and while surfing paddle across to the next bank. with a better and stronger paddle technique you will get into waves better. by having stronger arms you will also get up easier. also when paddling make sure you aren’t doing the major rookie error which is laying to far back on your board. the board needs to be fairly flat being a mini mal. take note of how the good surfers around you are paddling. technique is everything!
@brenno Sounds good thank you for your reply.
I guess there are already a lot of variables to take care off and I haven’t made myself a favour going in the big swell. I was talking about 3-4ft surfer swell. So can’t touch the bottom of the sand standing down and wave way overhead , they were good sessions to get over the fear and get used to the peak of the wave changing and getting used to following the more advanced surfers around etc .
How do you know when you are on the right spot on the board when you paddle ? I have been doubting after nose diving a few times, but again the wave was pearling me too. I thought your feet should be touching the very end of the board and riding a mal the nose of the board should just be lifted right ?
I hope I haven’t made a mistake getting the 7’ Mal . But yet again, I need to get out in smaller surf, and practice my side take offs etc before getting too adventurous otherwise I’ll never progress. No point taking on the beast if I can’t get the little ones perfectly for now !
@Frenchf!sh just stick to the small stuff. ive never ridden a mal, but the nose should be out of the water but not lifted to far up, which would mean you are laying to far down the board. if you have the nose starting to dive while paddling for a wave you are abit far forward. to far back and waves will pass under you. u need to find that sweet spot!