How hard is it to get up on a shortboard?

[kyleisanoob12]

kyle,
I'm kind of surprised nobody yet talked to you about this:
California has about 850 miles of coastline.
Where are you going in California?
Some California coast line is good for long board (only), other California coast line is good for short board (only), and still other California coast line does not produce surfing waves.
You will have the most fun if you do not go to short board or no board coast line.
billie

I'm going to Encinitas

[jaffa1949]

I'm going to Encinitas

Wherever and whatever you ride I hope you have a blast, watch out for that first Stoke it is highly addictive! I'm still hooked since 1958!

[benjl]

I'm currently 26 boards later addicted from that first Stoke..

[billie_morini]

Kyle,
You may know this, one of the more popular breaks in Encinitas is Swami's. Depending on conditions, you can use long or short board here. The better surfers will be on short boards. There are many of them. While they are not aggro, per say, the combination of them plus many beginners results in less surfing etiquette than at many breaks. This may not be a real issue for you because you will spend 2 days to a week in the white water. I probably already told you and, if not, search for many posts by me about San Onofre. It's just a little ways north of Encinitas. That's a longboard paradise.

P.S. you may not have as many days with surfing conditions as you'd like because the surf season in CA is in Winter. Still, there is small to medium surf in SoCAL in Summer when we do not have any in Santa Barbara.

[pmcaero]

Occasionally we see posts from beginners who have apparently 'mastered' a shortboard, telling us that they were up and riding immediately, before then saying that they were riding whitewater straight towards the beach. .

I found it harder to stand up on my shortboard in white water than on the face. Even when I had a lot of speed, it was so easy to dig the nose in or a rail unless I was positioned perfectly. In fact I spent the last two sessions with my shortboard mostly in white water and I feel I acquired a better understanding and control of the board that way.

[Big H]

If I can't escape the foam on take off I screwed up somehow....either too deep/wrong position on takeoff, hung in the lip or slow on my get up or stalled the board out with clumsy weighting after getting up or a too sharp of a turn a couple of yards into the ride....whitewater is for beginners on foamies....

[BaNZ]

>How hard is it to get up on a shortboard?

That's what I asked myself too when I first got it. Two years later, I used my shortboard less than 5 times. I posted the same question few years ago and when everyone told me not to get it, I went out and bought it.