How many of you did start on a shortboard?

[chinochang90]

Hey,
I'm new in this forum, but I used to check this website a lot! I'm starting to surf on a shortboard, and it took me 3 weeks to catch a wave and pop up! Surfing 3 or 4 times a week depending on the weather. Its just patience and practice!! When I was just about to get really sad and tired, the next day I went surfing and I took almost every wave that I wanted. I don't know how or why, that day I just discovered everything in my head and watching other surfers. Now I'm working on the turns and stuff! Everyday you get better even thoug you don't notice! Hehehe. Keep watching surf and your moral up! Give yourself a challenge and start with shortboard! I'm still challenging myself Hehehe!! I've been surfing for 1 month and a week I think. I'm 20 years old, about 5'7 and my board is 5'10 x 19 x 2 3/8 used!!

[jaffa1949]

You're right about learning on a short board , if you have a continuous stretch of time and can get in a lot of practice it's achievable.
A lot of people are trying to do that one every few weeks ore once a month a much harder proposition, so long can give a few rewards to bring them back.
Anyway cheers

[esonscar]

You're right about learning on a short board , if you have a continuous stretch of time and can get in a lot of practice it's achievable.
A lot of people are trying to do that one every few weeks ore once a month a much harder proposition, so long can give a few rewards to bring them back.
Anyway cheers

100% agree.
Loads of very regular continuous times are needed to learn to surf on a shortboard - awesome times at that. I reckon a whole summer in the water might do it, rest loads and surf loads.

NOTE: When folk say surfing is a way of life – it honestly is (and I miss it ).

[I will return : ]

[tobo]

started on a 6' took about one month till i could stand up properly

[nflsurfing1]

I started on a short board (5'11). Seasoned board, out of Virginia Beach. It was given to me as a gift. Learned pretty quick on it. Before that I was a body boarder and would stand up successfully and ride the wave with that, so the transition to a short board was easy.

[ZPC2THLgate]

If you surf that much then you will have no problem... keep us updated!

[jaffa1949]

If you surf that much then you will have no problem... keep us updated!

He has been surfing for 2 years now but nice post resurrection

[still-learning]

If you surf that much then you will have no problem... keep us updated!

He has been surfing for 2 years now but nice post resurrection

I hope he is still stoked on surfing and is ripping his local break. If not, do we then blame the shortboard approach?

[hit_the_lip]

I started on a 9'0 log. I started catching waves within days, and within about 3-4 weeks I was trimming on the face of smaller waves. When I transitioned to shortboards, I already knew how to ride the face efficiently and knew how to turn. Now, many years later, I can ride anything. I can hang 10 on a longboard, and I can hit the lip with a big carve on a shortboard. I don't limit myself to only riding shortboards, I still get so much pleaure and stoke from riding logs. Its so much fun to hang a nickel or a dime.

For those of you that have been short boarding for a long time, I recommend you add a log to your quiver, it will put a huge grin on your face.

[Atroxunus]

I started on a 6'6 About 4 months ago i am now riding a 5'9.

[HashSlingingSlasher]

I didn't start on a shortboard, but I did start on a short board. It was a 5'6" Shane Smith/2SI quad fish and the only used board I could find at any of the local shops that wasn't a long board or a Bic. My plan was to teach myself, but I wasn't very successful on that board. It just wasn't enough board, not even volume-wise, just too little board if that makes sense. This past winter I got a 6'0" DHD Scalpel and I've been fine ever since. Obviously still figuring stuff out but I've been catching a fair amount of waves and riding them down as much as I can before they die shortly after. It might not have the best to start on a board that was too small, but it might have made it easier for transitioning to a bigger board after how much effort I had to put in on the smaller one. Now that I've more or less gotten the hang of it I'm looking forward to revisiting the fish.

[weakbackhand]

Hi had a nice read of this thread and have a pretty basic question on how people gradually learnt to surf backhand...
I can catch a wave and bottom turn consistently on the forehand side, however the backhand bottom turn has been very
hard to progress for me... and in the rare times I get it ok to continue riding the wave it is no where near as good as my forehand turn anyway... what were your personal movements/habits to progress to consistently bottom turn then ride backhand?

As for the general thread topic, I started on a shortboard as well (6'3" x 19" x 2 1/4") Im small n light at 169cm and 65kg though the board was bit waterlogged so had to paddle quite a bit still! Had quite bodyboarding and bodysurfing experience which helped a lot. I estimate it took me about 6months @ 2 twice a week to be able to catch and standup consistently

[hit_the_lip]

Standing up and surfing are two different things. I see people saying they stood up on their first, second or third session, or whatever. No matter what kind/style of board you ride, it takes awhile to learn how to SURF. Not standup, to surf. Surfing means, getting up on the face of a wave, doing turns on the face, cutbacks, carving turns, trimming, pumping for speed, etc. There is so much that goes into surfing, thats not actually surfing. How to read the ocean properly, surfing at the right interval, tide, swell direction and what all this means. How to understand winds, offshore, side shore, onshore. How to read waves properly, where to take off on waves, how to to angle/fade your take offs, how to do late take offs, etc. There's so much more I'm not even mentioning.

I don't care who you are, it takes awhile to learn how to surf, many years. Its a life long journey, no matter what kind of board you ride. And surfing is one of those things, you can always get better at.

[oldmansurfer]

I started on a short board which would be long by todays standards it was 6'10". Prior to that I had been bodysurfing which transitioned to body boarding which transitioned to knee boarding. It really didn't take me long to be riding "green waves" as in I did that on the first day I tried it. It wasn't very different from knee boarding and I already stood up on my knee board. Having spent most of my life in the ocean up to that point I was very familiar with waves and the ocean but before I felt like I could surf it was 6 months of surfing almost every day. So I say just make sure you enjoy it. Set yourself little goals to achieve and find new ones after that.

[peazz]

I agree with OMS, enjoying surfing is what its all about, if you get in the water after a long day and release all that stress by just sitting on your board and being in the sea then why not?

[SurfingNinja]

I started surfing when i was 4. i went to a surf camp and they had 6'-9'ft soft tops. yes 6-9 get over it. when i was 9 i got a 6'4 hardtop. i couldn't to xxxxx on it. i used my instructors 5'6 hard tops and i did x10 better. then i saved up for a $100 5'6 soft top when i was 10. i did pretty freakin good on it. then for christmas when i was 10, after saving up like $1,000, my parents got me a customly shaped board. my first session with it, i did my first snap and longest tube riding. moral of the story, get a shorter board, its easy to get used to it.

[dtc]

I started surfing when i was 4. i went to a surf camp and they had 6'-9'ft soft tops. yes 6-9 get over it. when i was 9 i got a 6'4 hardtop. i couldn't to xxxxx on it. i used my instructors 5'6 hard tops and i did x10 better. then i saved up for a $100 5'6 soft top when i was 10. i did pretty freakin good on it. then for christmas when i was 10, after saving up like $1,000, my parents got me a customly shaped board. my first session with it, i did my first snap and longest tube riding. moral of the story, get a shorter board, its easy to get used to it.

When you are 10, a 5'6 board is pretty much like a longboard for an adult...Indeed, when you are 10 no one would recommend a long board.

How does a 10yr old save up $1000? My 10yr old scrabbles to get the $7 he needs for a card expansion pack. Perhaps I dont give him enough pocket money.

[jaffa1949]

Exactly and there are all sorts of people asking how to learn, one size does not fit all.
BTW from about 7 to mid teen is when you learn physical skills faster and more broadly than any other time in your life.
Lay a good foundation amongst all the froth and stoke you are enjoying and you will be a good surfer for all your life.
Keep the stoke and surf as often as possible

[Elms]

I started on a shortboard just 2 months ago, so I'm still learning. It is difficult I would say, harder than I thought it would be. The first month I bought a 6' quad fish from a local shop called degree33. The board felt huge to me, it was wide with lots of volume. It felt cumbersome both in and out of the water. I'm 5'7 135 lbs. My biggest problem with it was it was too difficult to duck dive. Especially at some of the spots here in San Diego where sets are constant. I found it difficult to get out to the line up so I sold it and it got another board. This time something much smaller a 5'6 CI Fred Rubble. This board felt so much more manageable. I does feel less stable when standing up but over all it just feels more "right" to me. I surf about 3-4 times a week and I'm starting to "click" with this board. I would say that learning on a shortboard is difficult, but if you have nothing to compare it to, it's normal.