Can someone help me choose a board

[paulS]

Pulling my hair out choosing a board....

I am new (hence the name!) so i know a few of you will say otherwise but i dont want to start on a minimal or funboard...i dont want to fork out for a board and then have to again within a year so i'd rather spend my hard earned cash on something better...

Maybe 6'10 - 7'2 I know i'll prob have to work harder and get beaten about a bit more but im prepared for that...

Any ideas would be good....willing to pay up to £400

Cheers guys

ps Im 6'1 around 12 1/2 stone

[northswell]

It will be te whole bang the head against the wall time. Don't run before you can walk. Take the advice coming and buy something that you can gain confidence on and enjoy whilst your learning.
You have to start big to learn the basics, kin hell follow the advice of others and you will be ripping before you know it.

[paulS]

I know i'll get stick for this post! Be gentle im new (for how long can i use that excuse!)

[isaluteyou]

dont see the prob i learnt on a 7'4 thruster. You just need to put iin the time and be really dedicated. Granted a longer board with more paddle will be a lot more beginer friendly.

Why not buy a second hander for about $150-200 and buy an 9ft beater and save up the rest when you get good. who's to say you will actually want to surf a shorer board. Being new you dont know

[bokey]

Well when I started I took a lesson on a 8-9ft board and at first had some trouble. Right after the lesson (like no more then 10 minutes later) I tried hopping on the 7ft funboard that the ron jon ( ) told me would of been good for a beginner and ... well ... i could barely get up. When I did get up it was only for a few seconds. Perhaps, the route you may wanna go down, as it was said before, buy a used beater 7'5" - 8" and see how you do on that. Besides if you buy used your not as obsessed about "what if i ding it," etc. Furthermore you'll be thanking yourself when you wanna go out on days where there is little to no surf. Good luck and understand what we're all saying...we've all been there

[RJD]

I went from a 9'1" to an 8ft about 4-5 months in.

Just made everything so much harder, paddling, catchin waves, staying on my feet, was looser but that wasnt what I needed.

I've since gone back to a 9ft longboard because its a ton easier to learn on.

[paulS]

Thanks guys....gonna take yr advice and get a second hand beater to start with...i'll be too worried about dinging a spanking new board....

[drowningbitbybit]

i dont want to fork out for a board and then have to again within a year so i'd rather spend my hard earned cash on something better...

Maybe 6'10 - 7'2 I know i'll prob have to work harder and get beaten about a bit more but im prepared for that...

ps Im 6'1 around 12 1/2 stone

Did somebody call?

Its not a case of 'getting beaten about a bit' (and, incidentally, how can you be prepared for that?) but a case of you simply wont be able to do it. Little kids and lightweights can start on relatively small boards - you wont be able to.

For now get a second hand pop-out mini-mal of the BIC/NSP variety. You'll be able to sell it in a year or two's time for the same price you paid for it.
And they're almost indestructible.

[paulS]

Thanks guys....gonna take yr advice and get a second hand beater to start with...i'll be too worried about dinging a spanking new board....

[thaya]

Did somebody call?

[rich r]

drowningbitbybit is such a glass-is-half-empty kind of guy, y'know?

(unless you consider that it's a pint of beer, meaning that you're that much closer to the next pint, in which case, he's a "I'm never going to finish this pint in a million years" kind of guy)

Anyway..

Someone older can indeed start on a smaller board. Fun boards and eggs are perfectly acceptable to start on as a beginner, whatever your size/age.

Though, I would avoid fish and thrusters. But a fat fun board in the 6-8 to 7-2 range I think would be fine for a 6-1 person. Heck, I'm 6-1 and my shortest shortboard is 6-4.

I'm not so sure about the resale value of a BIC/NSP, unless you find another newbie who hasn't walked through a surf shop or doesn't care about price comparison.

[drowningbitbybit]

drowningbitbybit is such a glass-is-half-empty kind of guy, y'know?

(unless you consider that it's a pint of beer, meaning that you're that much closer to the next pint, in which case, he's a "I'm never going to finish this pint in a million years" kind of guy)