Shortboard Poll

[iwannacarve]

I was just wondering how hard most of you would say learning on a 6'6 board would be.

[garbarrage]

buy a long board mal or minimal and you'll be carving a lot sooner.

[allyoz]

how old and how big are you? fitness etc, all a factor, i learnt the basics on a mal then went straight to a 6'6'', didn't find it hard but saying that i picked it up pretty quick but took a while to advance which i guess staying on a mal would've been a better idea.
def can be done but as 'garbarrage' says, learn on a mal and you'll be carving better, sooner!

[O_Danny_Boy]

if your on about that 6'6 rounded pin in your pic then you wont be carving for quite some time

[iwannacarve]

yeah i figured i'd ask the people with experience lol. i went out yesterday and managed to stand up and go straight a few times. turning is kind of getting me, but i think i have an idea of where i'm going wrong. but i appreciate the advice and stuff. and yeah, that's my 6'6 in my pic lol. i traded it for a coffee table ;oP

[pkbum]

Try to angle your board a little bit... That'll get you ready for a turn. Unless you want to learn it the hard way, which is just going straight then making that sick turn which i always fall over on

[garbarrage]

find that i fall over a lot tryin to turn left... i'm regular footed. turning right is way more natural to me had it sussed after a few times out. took a while before i got the timing right. still make a mess of it sometimes and end up in white water, but i think its just something you learn in increments. just mess around a bit when you are on a wave and try different things until it becomes second nature.

[iwannacarve]

yeah see part of my problem is i'm goofy footed. and alot of the waves seem to break left to right. and for me i wanna turn to the left and not put my back to the wave. i dont know. i'm gonna go out again tomorrow. we're suppose to have some decent swells that i can handle coming in tomorrow so i'll see how it works out for me. and yeah that idea about turning in to it a little as i catch should probably help to. i'll have to give it a go and see how it works. thanks for the advice guys. i'm so glad i joined this forum

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

are you surfing bellows again?

[garbarrage]

funny that - i reckon all the good waves over here break left.

[iwannacarve]

No bellows was just the wrong kind of waves. So I tried Waikiki, but actually catching anything without 30 people getting in the way is practically impossible. Lol.

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

yeah, it is crowded but it's a lot easier than trying to learn at Bellow beach break. did you rent a mini tank or longboard or were you on your 6'6" in Waikiki? if Canoes is too crowded, Queens is better for shortboarding but there will be a bunch of longboards out there as well. Pops (short for Populars) is a far paddle out so fewer tourists out at that break.

your 6'6" actually looks like a board for North Shore on a bigger days but it might work depending on your weigt/height. how thick/wide are the board's dimensions?

[iwannacarve]

Well when I went to Waikiki I used my 6'6 to minimal effect. Managed to get up a few times but it was so crowded there wasn't much room. But yesterday I went out to north shore. And it was like the beach a little ways before Waimea Bay. It's the place with like only 1 life guard shack. I'm sure if you know where I'm talking about. But it had some really good swells and I managed to catch a couple of them. Overall it wasn't a bad day lol. And this Monday we're suppose to get another swell coming from the northeast that's suppose to push it 5-7 feet again.

[niallhills]

depends wat age...adult, get a mini mal

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Can't think of too many lifeguard shacks before Waiamea except for Haleiwa at Ali'i Beach Park.

[iwannacarve]

It wasn't in Haleiwa, it was like a little ways down after sharks cove I think. I'm terrible at remember the beach names out here lol. Like when you're out in the water, and you look towards the shore, there's a life guard shack to the left, and there's like a brown house up on the rocks to the right. And the waves break between the shack and the house. But I did alot better on the bigger waves then I did on the small ones. Why I'm not really sure. It could just be because of the board I'm using. I don't really know lol.

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

depends wat age...adult, get a mini mal

Hmmm...early to mid 20s is still pretty young. My husband learned on a shortboard when he was 20. That was almost 20 years ago and other than a 5 year hiatus on longboards, he's still riding 5'11" - 6'4" x 18 1/8" - 18 1/4" x 2 1/8" - 2 1/4". Granted he's a small guy at 5'7" & 145- 150 lbs. Got to factor in fitness/stamina. A triathlete would probably have an easier time on a shortboard than a couch potato.

But, yeah I tend to agree that people should start off on bigger boards to increase the chance of timely progression. Then again, if all beginners start off on shortboards, they probably won't be as dangerous to other surfers (in terms of ditching their boards when sets come) and they'd catch fewer waves so more for the rest of us. Plus it would be nice for new surfers to "pay their dues" before heading out to the outside lineup on their longboards. But whatever...I'm probably biased here.

[iwannacarve]

Yeah well I'll turn 22 this april. So in the summer time there's nothing out on north shore, so where is there to surf during the spring and summer?

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Sometimes it can be flat islandwide during the summer, but usually there's some windswell to play in. Other than that, just got to pray for storms in the southern hemisphere to create swell.

[nz_grom]

i learnt on a 6'6 and it was pretty much perfect 4 me, but i was like 7 so ccould be a bit difrent 4 a 22 year old, but yea if u got a decent board and its surfable den stick wit dat man, even if it is a xxxxx board 2 ride once u get decent on it den switch 2 a better board u will be rippin.