Buying a new Surfboard
I’m just learning how to surf and I’m looking at getting a board.. Should I stick with something longer or maybe go a little shorter?
I am 5’5 weighing about 62kg
My ability is beginner, I can stand up on a long board and most of the time I can ride out on a small wave
yes
thanks for that amazingly detailed response, haha
In surfing longer is always better for the beginner isnt it?
Depends how good you are planning at getting- just like snowboards, surfboards are expensive. When I was learning to surf I had tree choices- minimal (big and round but not as big as a mal), fish (shorter and very buoyant) or a bit larger than your hight buoyant fun board- I went the funboard because they are the same shape as a shortboard (like the pros ride) but buoyant enough to learn on. If you plann on sticking with the sport get something that will float you but you can still duckdive, the learning will take longer, but once you can do it there is more fun to be had without buying a second board. Once you are good enough to ride a shortie then your beginner board can serve you for small swell days, and still be fun (wont turn like a door)
If you can balance its not so much the length of the board, but how much it floats you.
hope that helps
Thanks for that guys that does help a lot and you both made very valid comments. I think it’s going to take me a little while to be able to maneuver a board through a wave.. but I still want something that can duck dive as I find this the easiest way rather than doing the roll over like a turtle thing. The fish/funboard seems like a good choice.
What`s duck dive?..Is that when you are paddling on the way OUT and trying to get under the incoming waves?
I`ve never surfed but I`d love to…Not many waves in Alberta though
I’m pretty sure that’s what duck diving is.. the only place that I have surfed is on vancouver island in tofino but the water is so cold.
That is what duck-diving is. from my experience a fish will be harder to duckdive than a funboard as a fish is usually fatter all the way through. Look for a funboard with slim nose and tail. when you get better the slim tail makes it easier to do cutbacks and things like that. both are really fun boards tho. I have also seen a few people get ragged out for riding a fish in certain spots, but dont let that influence you, there are alot of tools who think they own “local” spots, as long as your having fun thats all that matters.
the shorter the board the easier to turn but harder to get onto the wave
put simply hah
there are alot of tools who think they own “local” spots,.
I`ve seen a lot of that on surf shows abOUT Hawaii….
Ooohh..are they ever cool..(sarcasm smiley goes here)
I’m just learning how to surf and I’m looking at getting a board.. Should I stick with something longer or maybe go a little shorter?
I am 5’5 weighing about 62kg
My ability is beginner, I can stand up on a long board and most of the time I can ride out on a small wave
Try for maybe a mini mal or fish. Both super fun boards to ride and a little more of a challenge than your regular long board..
Get tubed! Get stoked!!! Yeew
Peas..
I have never been a surfer per se, i was/am still really into bodyboarding but i could always stand up and turn though as i have always had a go plenty of times over the years from when i was a kid (started school in byron…. Haha claimer) but surfing never seemed as exciting as riding a lid. But on a few trips back up north last year, the surf was sucky for bodyboarding so i got out on my dads old thruster. After a few super fun sessions i went to some of the local shapers at yamba and I got a 2nd hand board from lsd. Its a sick little unit…. Around 5’ 10, super light weight glass job and not much float. But as what i class as a beginner, it has served me well. Its a quad fin board that belonged to one of the lsd team riders, some hot shot junior kid called julian wilson… Anyways, its great, picks up speed super well and is pretty nimble, i’m learning a bit more than just basic turns and dont have as much fear of being smashed by a massive board like a minimal and i can actually duck dive it with ease. I guess what im trying to say is bigger is easier to learn the basics and to paddle, but smaller has helped me advance past that now to where its getting really fun. For me it seems like snowboarding has helped a fair bit with wave reading a body movement.