Your board's rocker, rails, length and you...

[john_jlee]

Well I'm in need of a new longboard and I have just about everything pegged as far thickness and width, tail style, etc... I went to Zuma Jays and talked to "The Jay" himself and we inspected the board I have now. He took a good gander at my ample gerth and told me I needed a thicker board, I wanted a more rounded nose, we discussed the concave nose my current board doesn't have and lots of other great stuff about the dimensions... However we didn't really talk much about how the rocker and rails effected the performance.

I don't really know much about either of these subjects, but I would assume that the greater the rocker the more maneuverable the board. However you're sacrificing the glide in the water at a certain point, on both ends. I'd imagine too much and you're pushing water, too little and it's impossible to position yourself on the board. So... what's the deal with rocker, how do you refer to it? In what terms, degrees? What's average? What's a really big rocker? What's the smallest? Are my assumptions even correct?

The rails... I want my board to be extrememely responsive, I want it to turn quickly... Again I ASSUME that the more sharp the angle of the rail, the more responsive it will be. The rounder the more soft the turns will be... Why would you want soft turns? I know that I drop in and the first thin I usually do on a wave is try to get far back and crank that baby away from the break...

Length... Yes I know this is dimension related, but I have a 10 foot now and I'm wondering if I should go shorter or longer. Again, I'm a hefty fellow, 5'11", 235 lbs., however I have no problem catching waves on my current 10' that's about 2.5" thick and the new board will be plenty thick.

Tell me, me want know more!!!

[boco rio]

You should go to this forum specifically for longboarders.

http://jamboards.com/

These guys are experts on the details of dimensions, rails, thickness, rocker, etc. Don't be afraid to use search.

Good Luck,