Surfing Waves

Hey guys

This is my first time posting on here but am after some advice as am looking at getting my first longboard nose rider and can't seem to find any consistant information on suitable lengths. I weigh 73kg am 5'10", fitness is pretty good and am a intermediate short board surfer. As mentioned I want it to be a nose rider and ankle to waist high wave board so I can keep surfing on days that would otherwise be a write off.

I have seen advice on line ranging from everything from 7' to 10' but was after some more specific details on what would suit my weight.

Am thinking like a 8'10" long And 22" to 23" wide.

Am I on the right track here or is this too short to be nose riding and catching the small knee high waves?

I appreciate any advice supplied.

Cheers

In thinking 8'10" you might as well consider 9ft, there will be more to choose from. Your weight and height are great for that, look at less rocketed boards particularly inthe tail as you will need the tail engaged in the wave to support you going forward. Get a fin set up with a centre fin box that allows you to adjust the fin forward and back.
About a nine inch fin with a bit of base. I suggest side bites ( small) as you transition to longboard surfing, and practice cross stepping so your movement to the nose is not the glide breaking slide, jump or shuffle.

With the bigger board the first few surfs will challenge you, good news though , re-entries roller coasters and lots of short board moves are still available !
Have fun

Jaffa, does it have to be cross stepping? I'm useless and have a fear of slipping off the board and getting hit by the board from behind when I go toward the nose of the board. For me I'm more comfortable shuffling my feet across but I guess it just doesn't look good.

BaNz nothing in surfing is a required way of doing things, cross stepping is not necessary, just a more effective way of getting to the nose.
In fact it is still fairly new to me and I have to mindfully engage into it so sometimes it looks and feels a little forced and awkward.
Feels great when works smoothly.

Ya I can hang five pretty regularly now and yet I still can't cross step. I even have a longboard skateboard that I practice cross stepping on and I still can't transition that to the surf. I shuffle towards the nose. Gonna keep practicing but ya it's tough

Cross step does look better, but I think it will offset my balance and I can't do it fast enough.

A little concave in the nose will help with nose riding. If you can, try different size and shape centre box fins. A single fin will help you surf smoothly, a thruster setup will help in slightly bigger waves and give you more drive in the bottom turn. Do it!

I'm the same size as you and ride a 9 footer.

Hey guys thanks for the feedback, looks like ill aim for a 9'er then.pico-train its great to know ur similar size and ride that size...does it still catch ankle high waves fairly well, and glide through dead sections? Or is it a little too short for that? And can they still ride ok off the tail or are they too long for that? Sory if they are stupid questions but wanna make sure I understand what to expect to avoid false expectations.

Keep in mind that nose riding boards are designed for that purpose, so can 'lose out' in other ways eg speed or turning ability. So noseriders are often quite heavy (sit in the water), soft rails (suction - but therefore reduced release for turning), wide tail, 'belly' bottom (rounded) rather than concaves (reduces speed but adds to suction) etc.

But you can do most things on them - at least, people like Alex Knost can, so its theoretically possible. You are really looking at slow pivot turns off the tail (often the hard rails are only near the tail) then cross stepping up to the nose and so forth, rather than carving up and down the wave. It should glide ok, but remember its going to be slower than a high performance board, so there is a trade off.

This site has a lot of info on technique etc

http://noseriding.com/pages/noseriding-home.htm

Hi,

Depends how much juice is in your ankle highs! Yes it generally does, paddle, paddle! It glides nicely through flattish sections and turns well too with a pintail. I got it shaped by a great shaper so if you know of one, go talk to them and explain to them what you'd like. I basically said I want a board that performs well but can also nose ride. You can adjust your position on the board to turn smooth or sharp, depends on the occassion, wave power and fin setup.

When there's some juice or you are nicely in the pocket, no problem on the tail. You can still do floaters too, it's just on a longboard and a slightly different technique.

If you'd like more paddle power and easier noseriding, go longer. You'll lose a bit of manoeuvrability but not THAT much. I rode a 9'6 recently and caught absolutely everything.

You cannot however, nose ride in those sloppy ankle high waves. You need a good steep waste high wave or higher to really stick that board in there sideways and keep that upward force on the nose to support your weight.

I agree about sloppy being hard to nose ride, however nose riding does not work by upward force on the nose!
To really nose ride the tail and the rails near the tail need to be locked into the wave. Often the first thing done before moving forward is to engage the tail. Light weight people don't need to do this as much ( )

Upward force on the nose drops the tail out and wipeout ensues?

Have a good look at the link dtc put up, masters of the art there, remember nose riding needs to suck!

BTW do any of you ever watch your wake when you are doing stuff on the board?