cheap beginner boards

[super_keen]

Hi - new to this forum!

I recently took a surf lesson for the first time, and really enjoyed it and been thinking about starting up, and buying my own board.

i've been told a long board is the way to go for beginners, but as i don't live very near the beach (2 hrs away!), i'm looking for a cheaper option as i don't know how often i can go.

i was wondering what u think of these.
http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/cart.php? ... ail&p=1468

they are posted as learner boards, but they seem quite small. however, when i did take the lesson, the boards they gave us were about that length.

i'm pretty sure they are very dodgy quality being so cheap, but i don't really mind, if they will do the job. i just want to ride a few waves, and if i do enjoy it, and i get better, then i can buy a proper board.

what do you think? should i get one?

[glider]

I tell everyone/anyone who is in a smilar situation to yourself:

Get a minimal. They're fantastic. Nice & floaty & easy to catch waves - but also a 'good' surfboard with which you can start learning all the moves.

That foam board: it WILL restrict your learning curve.
Longboards: Don't be fooled. They may catch waves easily (enabling a slower reaction time for getting to feet etc), but a longboard is technically difficult to surf (in comparison to a lot of niave opinions).

A minimal will let you learn - & still give you the choice to go down a longboard route, or a shortboard route (should you want to).

I borrowed a friends minimal for a session last year. It ripped! So much fun: long drawn out cutbacks, off the tops.....
Yet, if you're learning & not getting to the beach all that often - it is still a great, forgiving platform to begin from.
They can be expensive, however, because they are always in demand.

Welcome to surfing - you're going to love it!

[super_keen]

I tell everyone/anyone who is in a smilar situation to yourself:

Get a minimal. They're fantastic. Nice & floaty & easy to catch waves - but also a 'good' surfboard with which you can start learning all the moves.

That foam board: it WILL restrict your learning curve.
Longboards: Don't be fooled. They may catch waves easily (enabling a slower reaction time for getting to feet etc), but a longboard is technically difficult to surf (in comparison to a lot of niave opinions).

A minimal will let you learn - & still give you the choice to go down a longboard route, or a shortboard route (should you want to).

I borrowed a friends minimal for a session last year. It ripped! So much fun: long drawn out cutbacks, off the tops.....
Yet, if you're learning & not getting to the beach all that often - it is still a great, forgiving platform to begin from.
They can be expensive, however, because they are always in demand.

Welcome to surfing - you're going to love it!

wow! thank you for the quick response!

A minimal soudns really good. The only problem was the last sentence - "they can be expensive". like i've only done surfing about 3 - 4 times, and each time it has been totally awesome - i can't tell you how good i felt the first time i coudl stand up on the board!

but yeah, at the same time, becuase i live so far away, it could just end up being one of those things that cater dust in the back of the garage. so i think i'm a bit reluntant to invest that much...

that's why i thought the foam thing was good, it's only $70 - but yeah, if it's going to be totally useless, and unusable, then i might as well not get one!

[Forfeit]

Cant you buy an used one?

Around here we do the following: Usually when someone is starting, they either borrow one from their friends or buy an used one. That is very usefull because usually surfers buy a better board once they´ve learned how to surf properly, and the older ones lose its purpose.

So, the old ones remain unused, and go to friends or people that want to buy them. Also, surfing is very popular here in Brazil, so a lot of people buy very good new boards just because its popular, try to use them some times and forget all about it. They try to sell it to anyone that wants to buy them, and these are very cheap and good.

That means you can find almost new boards with half the price. And they are actually very good boards, not the begginer stuff you see in some places. I bough a repaired 6,3 shortboard for about $100. It is very beaten, but once I manage to learn more Ill make a shapper build one for me. Using a cheap board allows me to do anything I want with it without fearing it migh brake.

[drowningbitbybit]

what do you think? should i get one?

Simple easy answer - NO!

Foam boards are just toys that look like surf boards. They happen to float, and they look a little bit like a surfboard, but thats it

They're only any good for the very first time you go into the water - just to get you used to the idea of laying on a board, paddling, and maybe standing up. After that, they're useless.

Yeah, as everyone says - get a mini-mal. About 2ft longer than you are tall and with shed loads of volume.