Surfing Waves

I'm a beginner and used to use a 9' ft softtop. But today I tried 8'2", which is so hard to paddle out AND catching the wave. I don't think the board is too small for my size (5'9" and 164 p), since I saw some big guys use 7'ish shortboard. Or the difference lie in shortboard and longboard??

Btw, local wave is 2-4 ft.

I surf my an 8'2" funboard just fine and I'm 6'3". I think its a reasonable size for a begginer but I wouldn't try anything shorter. It just takes alot of patience before you become more consistant with it. Just go out there and paddle around then when you get comforable with that go after catching waves.

nice to hear that. I will try another few sessions, n see how it goes. Thanks, buddy, for joining to reply my question. thumbs up!

actually length isn't always a factor, the first board i ever rode was 8'6" EZ-foam and you dont need any balance for that. But the first board i ever owned was a 7'6" funboard and it wasn't much harder, other than the fact that it took a bit of time to get used to the transition from single-fin to three-fin(because of the looseness).But now I have a 5'10 fish and it's as easy to ride as the average funboard.

This is because width affects the balance more than length, also if you're catching small waves fish boards are great for waves 1-8ft and still gives you maneuverability and lots of speed.

thanks for sharing ur experience, rilez. what's ur height and weight?

Actually I'm thinking of buying my 1st board, too. It's expensive to rent if you go twice a week. So do you think I should get a 7'6" or 7'2" funboard or even a shorter fish like the 5'10 you r using? For me, the shorter the better, because I don't want to install a car rack to carry the board on top. But I also don't want to waste the whole summer struggling with a board too advanced for me.

rilez wrote: fish boards are great for waves 1-8ft

I'd really love to see a photo of you surfing an 8ft wave on a fish

If you've struggled with an 8'2, then you'll struggle more with a 7'6, and dont even think about going with a fish.

If you're renting twice a week. then yes its time to buy a board. But if you're struggling with an 8'2 then dont even consider going short yet.
Depends on your height and weight, but from what you've said so far, you should still be looking at something at least 7'6.
After that its practise, and lots of it.

ok, so it seems i should get a 8'2 mini-mal or 7'6 funboard... sounds right? (I'm 5'9 and 164)