Beginer boards, look here if you wonder what to get

[Hoop]

Hi
I have only ever surfed with clubs and didn't get much time for practice so I want to get some on my own and maybe buy a board this time. With the clubs I used 8ft foam boards and found them very difficult to control. Would a 6'10 or 7'3 pop out be easier to learn on? I am 5ft 4 and 160 lbs, and waves are usually 3-5ft Thanks! And hope to get to beach once or twice a week.

[RonG]

Hi
I have only ever surfed with clubs and didn't get much time for practice so I want to get some on my own and maybe buy a board this time. With the clubs I used 8ft foam boards and found them very difficult to control. Would a 6ft pop out be easier to learn on? I am 5ft 4 and 10 st, and waves are usually 3-5ft clean. Thanks! And hope to get to beach once or twice a week.

I'm sure the more experienced guys will chime in, but I think I have an idea what you're going to hear: "easy to learn on" and "6ft" are pretty much contradictory. You're short and fairly light, but I think you'll still find something that small a frustration to paddle and catch waves with in the learning stage.

[garbarrage]

I'm sure the more experienced guys will chime in, but I think I have an idea what you're going to hear: "easy to learn on" and "6ft" are pretty much contradictory. You're short and fairly light, but I think you'll still find something that small a frustration to paddle and catch waves with in the learning stage.

Spot on.... 9ft if you want to get the most enjoyment out of learning to surf.

[Hoop]

That's great thanks guys. Think ill go ahead and get a mini mal and get the hang of popping up, eventually!

[Moggsy81]

What about Foamies? I had a mal given to me so just need something big and cheap to learn on first. Are foamies good to learn on?

I don't really care what it looks like or if the "dudes" make fun of me for riding polystyrene!

Thanks

[jaffa1949]

Welcome Moggsy, if you've been given a Mal to learn on that will be great, ( it' not a foamy I hope)
Foamies are good for about 2 or 3 lessons in crowded surf school wher learners' boards are going every which way.
A Mal will be both big and stable enough to do every beginning thing!

It is also great to see you just wanting to learn rather than being a cool fashionista!
Enjoy the learning

[Volitz]

Hey guys!
Searched this thread and couldn't find anything about very lean people.
I'm currently looking for a board but as all new surfers have no idea what to look for.
I'm 6'0 (183 cm) weigh 116.845 lbs (53 kg).
I have been on a 5 day Surf Camp near Sydney and have had 2 other lessons (Byron and Crescent Head). I can catch waves just fine with a 7' foam board. Still need to work a bit on turning on the wave. Have only surfed 1-2 feet waves. As you can see I'm very lean and don't have a lot of muscle but I would like to push myself a bit so I don't make it to easy.

Appreciate your attention!
Cheers mates
Nick

[dtc]

Hey guys!
Searched this thread and couldn't find anything about very lean people.
I'm currently looking for a board but as all new surfers have no idea what to look for.
I'm 6'0 (183 cm) weigh 116.845 lbs (53 kg).
I have been on a 5 day Surf Camp near Sydney and have had 2 other lessons (Byron and Crescent Head). I can catch waves just fine with a 7' foam board. Still need to work a bit on turning on the wave. Have only surfed 1-2 feet waves. As you can see I'm very lean and don't have a lot of muscle but I would like to push myself a bit so I don't make it to easy.

Appreciate your attention!
Cheers mates
Nick

In general weight is more important than height, because the board needs to 'float' you but doesnt care how that weight is distributed. However, height is indirectly relevant in that tall people generally have higher centres of gravity and thus are a bit less balanced and need a bit more stability (thats my excuse...at 190cm); plus on quite short boards where foot placement is vital, a tall person may naturally want to put their feet in the wrong spot all the time because their stance is too wide.

However, as a beginner you probably arent very stable anyway and wont be surfing short boards.

So just follow the general principles - longer and wider. Generally at least 8ft mal style (rounded nose) and around 22 inches wide. However, given that you have caught waves on a 7ft (albeit foam board) and you are pretty light weight and have had some lessons, if you want to push it and are prepared for a bit of frustration, then probably you could go slightly under 8ft. I wouldnt go below 7ft6 and you need to appreciate that the shorter the board the harder to paddle (thus catch waves) and the less stable (thus harder to pop up). If you are able to surf regularly then you can overcome these (eventually) but if you are an irregular surfer then I would stick to 8ft.

Which all boils down to - have a look for a mini mal/mal in the 7ft6 - 8ft6 range.

[cwall]

Thanks in advance to everyone who is responding on here. Lots of good information.

I'm absolutely going nuts out here in LA. I bought one of those 8' "wavestorm" boards that everyone else in the world seems to have and I can't do a damn thing with it.

I'm 6'7" tall and weigh 185lbs. No matter how I take off I pearl dive on this thing. When I shift my weight back its hard to pop up because my toes are hanging off the end (not to mention I have a hard time catching waves because the front of the board is sticking up in the air) and when I'm far enough forward that my toes are resting on the back of board I pearl every freaking time.

I don't have a lot of money to spend and really hope I don't have to buy another board. What you guys think? Should I just keep hammering away on this thing or bite the bullet and buy a bigger board? I'd hate to go blow 300$ on a 9' foam (I like foam because I'm scared I'm gonna hit my head) just to find that it was a form problem and not a board problem......

[dtc]

I'm 6'7" tall and weigh 185lbs. No matter how I take off I pearl dive on this thing. When I shift my weight back its hard to pop up because my toes are hanging off the end (not to mention I have a hard time catching waves because the front of the board is sticking up in the air) and when I'm far enough forward that my toes are resting on the back of board I pearl every freaking time.

I don't have a lot of money to spend and really hope I don't have to buy another board. What you guys think? Should I just keep hammering away on this thing or bite the bullet and buy a bigger board? I'd hate to go blow 300$ on a 9' foam (I like foam because I'm scared I'm gonna hit my head) just to find that it was a form problem and not a board problem......

So the good news is that perling has very little to do with the board and very much to do with technique.

Bascially you perl because the speed of your board does not match the speed of the wave and, more or less, the tail of your board is picked up and pushes the nose into the water (thats a bit simplistic but good enough). Laying further back on the board actually further slows the board down and exacerbates the problem

The solution is to paddle harder. Commit, paddle hard and then paddle a bit harder.

I keep sending people to this video but promise I have no link to the surf school! Anyway, very worthhile watching and will answer your questions

go here and then click on the video called 'catching waves' (on the RHS menu - its the first one)

http://www.surfsimply.com/podcast/

I have no idea whether your board is any good or not (I dont know the board), but its not the board's fault that you are perling - its your fault. And its actually pretty easy to fix.

Oddly, once you know how not to perl its something that you rarely ever do again (except when you arent paying attention or are being lazy).

A 'fun' thing to do, which helps your learning, is to watch a beginner's surf school for about 15 minutes. You will very quickly see which people are not paddling and perl and which people are doing the right thing and make the wave. So basically dont do what the first lot of people are doing.

[cwall]

I'm 6'7" tall and weigh 185lbs. No matter how I take off I pearl dive on this thing. When I shift my weight back its hard to pop up because my toes are hanging off the end (not to mention I have a hard time catching waves because the front of the board is sticking up in the air) and when I'm far enough forward that my toes are resting on the back of board I pearl every freaking time.

I don't have a lot of money to spend and really hope I don't have to buy another board. What you guys think? Should I just keep hammering away on this thing or bite the bullet and buy a bigger board? I'd hate to go blow 300$ on a 9' foam (I like foam because I'm scared I'm gonna hit my head) just to find that it was a form problem and not a board problem......

So the good news is that perling has very little to do with the board and very much to do with technique.

Bascially you perl because the speed of your board does not match the speed of the wave and, more or less, the tail of your board is picked up and pushes the nose into the water (thats a bit simplistic but good enough). Laying further back on the board actually further slows the board down and exacerbates the problem

The solution is to paddle harder. Commit, paddle hard and then paddle a bit harder.

I keep sending people to this video but promise I have no link to the surf school! Anyway, very worthhile watching and will answer your questions

go here and then click on the video called 'catching waves' (on the RHS menu - its the first one)

http://www.surfsimply.com/podcast/

I have no idea whether your board is any good or not (I dont know the board), but its not the board's fault that you are perling - its your fault. And its actually pretty easy to fix.

Oddly, once you know how not to perl its something that you rarely ever do again (except when you arent paying attention or are being lazy).

A 'fun' thing to do, which helps your learning, is to watch a beginner's surf school for about 15 minutes. You will very quickly see which people are not paddling and perl and which people are doing the right thing and make the wave. So basically dont do what the first lot of people are doing.

Thanks, Bro!

That's what I was thinking. Apparently there are many ways to perl. All pop-up videos I've watched on you-tube say the same thing "put your weight farther back on take off and you won't perl." Well if I get any farther back on this board my ass will be hanging off into the water! I'm gonna stick with it another week and just try to paddle harder before I buy another board.

Cheers.

[cwall]

So.......its been a few sessions and I'm still out there on my 8' foamie. I like the buoyancy and stability of it and have been having a blast zooming around in the whitewater.

Problem is, I'm still having a hard time not perling when I try to catch an unbroken wave.

I think this has been partly because I keep on only having time to go during low tide, but I think it partly may be a board issue as well.

I'm not having any balance issues when I pop up, the board is really stable for me, but I'm having a hard time getting picked up and going down the face of the wave without getting pitched heel-over-head face first into the water. (Which I've been told means I'm not matching the speed of the wave.)

Would a bigger board help here?

I found a really good deal (work/trade) for brand new 9' foam. Should I put in the work and "upgrade" or just work on paddling harder and picking less steep waves?

[jaffa1949]

Go 9 or over and get off the foam at your height and weight you need a better board

[cwall]

Well, it only cost me 180US $$ so I went with a 9' foam from a local guy here in LA. I know everyone is down on the foam, but it was a revelation for me. It was the size and not the foam that was holding me back. (I had an 8' foam "wavestorm" before that which I could do nothing with). First day out I caught and got up on almost every wave I paddled into. I don't know if the board I got is just a better board than the "Wavestorm", or just works better because its a lot bigger, but its the PERFECT beginner board for me. Sooo easy to catch waves.

I'm probably not going to use it for very long as I'm already starting to get frustrated with the lack of maneuverability, but even if I just get a few months use out of it I feel like I got my moneys worth especially considering how frustrated I was getting with the whole learning process before I found "The Hulk".