the right shortboard for a beginner?!

[chorou]

hey i never surfed b4 but im reallllly trying to buy a used surfboard to learn on but have no clue on which bord will work for me i weigh about 138lbs and im 5'8" could you please help me pick the right board for me or at least give me some tips or some point to start at in searching a board?!

keep in mind i dont want a malibu(longboard).

and i used to bodyboard and now i want to surf so its not like im completely foreign to da ocean.

thanks peace

[FidesMaris]

What I did was I started out on a 7'8 mal/thruster hybrid, so other then having a lot of board for floating the rides themselves are a lot like shortboards, it took me only about two weeks after getting a 6'4 to start making turns and slides... so maybe that's a direction you want to go. I know people who never surfed before trying on thrusters, but most of them ended up quitting and for those who toughed it out those were some very frustrating four months for them.
Also, in the college town I live in it's just very easy to just borrow fun shapes from friends and neighbors, so that might be a way to start up.

[Dec]

i love my 6'10"..its what I learnt on, and what i always use.

Its got a big volume, so it can float my belly, and also easy to paddle.

[dondiemand]

get a fish!

[slick surfa]

yeah either get a fish or a thruster aound 6'4 i'm ur hieght and i use a 6'2