Intermediate getting hung up

[oldmansurfer]

I bet if you got an even smaller board you would be having even more problems. Maybe he didn't know you were 40 ..something years old. I found it surprising to me that all the recommendations for old man boards get larger with age. I guess because I didn't continue surfing during that time when you start getting overuse injuries I didn't know it was so common. Then as I reconnected with the surfing community I realized most of the old guys SUP now or longboard but some of them still use the really small shortboards some of the time. I don't think I will ever get to that point where I can ride a really short shortboard again but then again who knows?

[waikikikichan]

Figured so, 6'6" Mini-Simmons ? Shaper's mind / designs. Customers mind ( and lack of experience with new boards ). Board shop staff stuck in the middle between the customers and shapers. Damn volume calculators. It's is hard to get it right.

We had a 250 lb. customer want a Simmons board similar to yours. We eventually talked him down to a 5'11". Later, he ordered a 5'9" and he said it was perfect. You're half the weight of him.

[surferbee]

Figured so, 6'6" Mini-Simmons ? Shaper's mind / designs. Customers mind ( and lack of experience with new boards ). Board shop staff stuck in the middle between the customers and shapers. Damn volume calculators. It's is hard to get it right.

Yeah, I bought it used and thought I knew what I was getting into. I know sims are meant to be surfed small, but I thought an oversized simmons would work as a funboard. I figured if I could cut 2 feet off of my 8'6 mini mal and still have fun by making up the volume elsewhere, then why not?

BTW, I earlier posted it as a 6'4 but I looked at again and realized it's a 6'6. It's a small raft, really. It's gotta be at least 50cl. Like I said, it's surfable but I'm realizing that at that length/volume, I'd probably have more fun on a different shape. And if I really want that shape, I should probably be on a different length/volume. I've had a shaper tell me before that you can oversize a groveler and it basically becomes a funboard/hybrid. But maybe not so much with a simmons.

[dtc]

There is a running joke with some Australian surfers about the number of large (6ft4+) hypto krypto boards for sale second hand with the words 'too much volume for me' in the ad.

Not too much volume if you just look at the number by itself; but too much in a board of that length for the average sized surfer in the average Australian wave.

[oldmansurfer]

Does too much volume mean I can't duckdive it?

[dtc]

It's hard to say what 'too much volume' means or whether it's in their head when the fabled hypto doesn't make them a brilliant surfer overnight. But I think it's more that the amount of volume in such a short board makes the board sit high and hard to bury a rail etc. A 6'8 hypto has 51L volume - that's basically the same as a 7'6 GSI modern blackbird mini mal, which of course also has a much wider nose.

[Tudeo]

Is it also possible that too much volume in a board can prevent you from breaking the ledge? I know more volume should make paddling easier, but can it also work against you on the drop?

I was having that same question myself. I'm 182cm 163lbs/74kg, 53yo (later in life beginner) and was using Firewire Addvance 6'6" 48l and Dominator 6'6" 45l.

I surf a lot of different spots in Bali and was having this problem mostly at one particular place with a wave that has a jacking and pitching takeoff at halftide and turns (suddenly) fat at higher tides.

The other day I tried a smaller and more rockered board (6'2" about 35liters) and had no problems like before with the bigger boards.

I've read the interesting theory in the tekst Big H miraculously digged up from somewhere, but I'm thinking of another possibility:

On my bigger and less rockered boards I tend to takeoff just next the peak of that wave, for fear of pearling. But by that I sometimes go too far up the shoulder and get hung up in the lip. I guess, the timing and positioning must be very precise for that takeoff. If I get it right it suddenly feels surprisingly easy..

But using the smaller and more rockered board I felt confident (it was shoulder/ head high) to take off at the peak and that got me in without much problems.

[surferbee]

For what it's worth, I thought I'd just follow up with an update.

I've now taken the simmons out about a half dozen times w/ 3 different fin setups - Future Controllers, Future Seaworthy's, and a mix of smaller Kinetik Racing P3's w/ Future Quad rears. The small fins (P3's) noticeably loosened the board up a lot and made it much more fun. Still, the board is a bit of a tank and really wants to be right at the peak in order to take off. It's a bit more agile than my mal, but it also tends to bog a bit if I bury the rail too much. I had hoped the board would be a good, looser replacement for days when I would ordinarily reach for my 8'6". It works for that, I suppose, but ultimately it seems like a compromise.

On my last session, I decided before I went out that I would sell it if I didn't have fun on it. That ended up being my best session yet. BUT THEN, I tried out a 5'7" Firewire Baked Potato (~39L) and wow - just wow! It was everything I hoped the simmons would be: fast, maneuverable, and fairly easy to get into waves. I'm hooked. The simmons has at least 15 more liters of volume and is half as much fun in similar conditions. It's worked great in waist high rollers and peakier head+. It doesn't quite have the paddle power of a mal, but it does just fine and it's so much more lively. I think the simmons just got replaced.

[Surf Hound]

Get on the peak and paddle harder and 1 to 2 more strokes. If you are 130lbs and surfing a 6-4 Simmons at 47 liters you are getting hung up in your mind. Paddle harder and go for it. I have a 6-4 Mini Simmons, I am 6' and 230lbs and the Simmons is my wave catching hog. I take it out on crowded days on anything under 4'