Big enough for my weight?

[Insane Ian]

Hey everybody, first off im new to the forums here, so sorry if this is in the wrong section or something... anyway, my quesion.

Is a SOFT BOARD's 'suggested rider weight' really the max a board can handle? I have been looking at soft boards and the brand that seems to be looking best to me is called a 'lquid shredder' (any suggestions are weclome) I have tried surfing a few times and it came pretty naturally. I would buy a real board but I just dont go surfing enough for a real board to be practical to me. I WISH I could, haha. The boards I tried on were all right around 6 feet, two were under, and on was over. I didnt really have a big problem with it.(skateboard and snowboard experience helping?) So I was wondering if I could get a shorter soft board if its of a good quality, and as 'stiff'as some soft board companies claim, if it could hold y weight...because I reall dont want an extra two feet if I dont need it, lol.

I am 5' 8" and weigh about 165, so what size board would you guys reccomend?

Any help is appreciated, thanks guys!
-Ian

[RJD]

Your better off with a popout bic or so , 8 ft than a foamie, there not real surfing.

[Insane Ian]

Is 8ft really needed if I did fine on a 6 ft? Obviously I wasnt great, but I could get up, and didnt have a problem doing small turns or directing myself while I was up. So is there really any major reason I couldnt start with a longer short board?

[miamisurfer]

Was the 6 ft a soft board?

[RJD]

Not eraly, but you cant take how you ride a foamie for what real surfing is.

There very bouyant & are easy to get goin & get to your feet first few lessons.

After that there pretty much useless. Flex too much you cant take off on proper waves, cant keep em trimmed properly etc.

If you just wanna mess round in whitewater then buy a foamie but you'll get bored quickly. When you want to paddle out & catch clean waves it'll be useless. There great for giving a sense of achievement when you start is all.

Unles your a fit teenager in which case you'll probably be able to start on a shorboard.

[Insane Ian]

The boards I tried werent foamies, all three were normal boards. The one was 6' 2" and the other two were a little under 6'. As for being a fit teenager, im 16. Sorry I didnt specify that earlier. My main concern is that I just dont want to buy a board thats going to get boring for me quick. I picked up snowboarding and skatboarding quick, and for the couple of weeks I spent surfing it went the same way.

Sorry for everything I didnt specify on, thanks for the help so far guys!

[FiLo]

well i have a liquid shredder 6'4 and im 5'9 still new to surfing. I rekon their really easy to pop-up on, easy to paddle and duck dive. So id give that a go. Lol suprisingly they are good on riding on a clean wave face and are just as fast as a normal fg shortboard

[RJD]

uh why buy a foamie when your doing ok on a normal board?

Just get a cheap 6ish shortboard?