Surfing Waves

Hi i'm new to the forum and seeking help which board to buy.I'm 6'1" and 224 lb, well built and fit.

I learn on a foamy but would like any advice you guys could offer.

I'm a novice surfer but been windsurfing for years

Thanks all

Kev

Thanks for all the help and advice all ........

See that little button that says 'search'...?

typical response !!!!!!

Kevd if your still a Novice the best board is a long board. You'll catch more waves and it will be much more stable while you learn. Anything 9ft and over. Fun boards would be ok too 7'6" to 8 foot. But not as easy. Many boards to choose from, Mctavish, Robert August, or buy a used one. At your stage just stay away from advanced boards.

Hi Kaptman and thanks, im obviously not in the 'club' to get any other help,so thanks very much

kev

wish i could help you mate but i am not experienced

welcome

cheers chaos

kevd1 wrote:Hi i'm new to the forum and seeking help which board to buy.I'm 6'1" and 224 lb, well built and fit.

I learn on a foamy but would like any advice you guys could offer.

I'm a novice surfer but been windsurfing for years

Thanks all

Kev

Jeez Kev you were a little impatient, posting sarcy the next day about not getting any advice immediately.
This is an international forum it takes quite a while to sink in around the world.

There are quite a lot of articles Threads etc on this forum that cover your needs, that's why the search button was suggested as you get all the answers in one hit.
The condensed answer is a long board with plenty of float, some nose rocker but not a lot of tail rocker, the tail I'd suggest a rounded pin, covers a lot of situations and get yourself a selection of fins so you can ride thruster style or single fin.
Look to step up several gears of skill from the foamy. Talk to local shaper if you have one. BTW if they are just spouting sales speak walk out. A lot of surf shops employ non surfers who are clueless about surf but endowed with cleavage.

Cheers Jaffa, thats a great help thanks

Hi,
I was wondering what board size would suit me too. I stumbled across this chart http://www.islesurfboards.com/surfboard-size-and-weight-chart.aspx

Hope this helps, I'm not sure how accurate it is as I'm a complete noooob

It's weird how everyone says go long for your first board or while you're learning.

I;m gonna be controversial here!

I think it depends what your end goal is. For example, when I started surfing I wanted to get on a short board. However, everyone I spoke to said to get a mal or mini-mal. So i did. I picked up loads of bad habits as a longboard is too forgiving. I didn't learn to pop up properly (i went to a knee first or used my rear foot over the fins rather than 1 movement)

When I went short, I had to unlearn what I had learned, then relearn.....I'm still struggling with the shorter boards as a result of going long in the early days.

So consider where you want to be at a progressed stage of your surfing.


....and by the way - that's just an opinion, I'm no expert!

This chart is better
https://surfing-waves.com/board/board_size.htm

bernard wrote:It's weird how everyone says go long for your first board or while you're learning.

I;m gonna be controversial here!

I think it depends what your end goal is. For example, when I started surfing I wanted to get on a short board. However, everyone I spoke to said to get a mal or mini-mal. So i did. I picked up loads of bad habits as a longboard is too forgiving. I didn't learn to pop up properly (i went to a knee first or used my rear foot over the fins rather than 1 movement)

When I went short, I had to unlearn what I had learned, then relearn.....I'm still struggling with the shorter boards as a result of going long in the early days.

So consider where you want to be at a progressed stage of your surfing.


....and by the way - that's just an opinion, I'm no expert!

That is a reasonable call Bernard, the knee up pop up problem is not unique to long boards it's more a learner thing, but you are right the forgiveness of longer boards is a reason why longer boards are an answer, trouble is people want to get results quickly and that is why they so often go long.
Volume is an answer instead of length in some cases, but when the surfers themselves are "voluminous" then small wafer boards are not going to cut it.
One of the hardest aspects of surfing is that there are no bunny slopes with instructors guiding you all the way down and correcting habits as they occur. There is also so much difference between each level of ability required.
White water wash in surfing
First times across the face in poo stance
First turns and more elegant stance
taking it to steeper waves
etc you can segment it as much as you like it is your journey and your opinion is valid.
If you are struggling with bits and pieces of what you do get a mate to video you surfing. Study what you do and figure out how to do it differently.
BTW it is rather a rude shock to see yourself surfing for the first time, often the wave as you remember it is nothing like what you see in the video. I came away with a bruised ego from some of my personal footage but made some good changes.