Best beginner longboard

[tanshul22]

I'm a 200 lb 6' beginner surfer. The only board I've had good luck paddling and catching waves with is the NSP 11' board with a 123.8 L volume. Yes, it's a very large board and tough to haul.

I'm in the market for a board that lets me have fun but also progress. Would anyone know if I'd get a similar performance out of the Surftech Mega Magic Softop 10' (123L volume) and if one of these boards might serve me better than the other?

[Naeco78]

My teenage son is around the same size and learned to surf last summer on a board about that size. Has more of a linebacker build than a surfer so its made it kinda tough to find the dims.
He tried several smaller boards (softops/hybrids) but things didnt click until he tried an old fiberglass board that's around 10.3 x 24 x 3"
The board is a tank and it's really tough to lug around, but it's made a huge difference in his surfing so far.
He's tried going back to the 8' softop/hybrid a few times later in the summer, but he said it feels like it sits too high in the water and doesnt have the same momentum while dropping into waves at his size. Maybe something to consider about the softop