New Board help

[brandon63]

Hey guys, im new to this website, so i've been surfing for a couple months and i feel pretty confident in my ability to ride a longboard( an 8'0), and ive been wanting to switch to a board that can get me more speed so i was thinking about a fish, plus i live in south florida so the waves are pretty small and mushy, and recently my friend let me borrow his 6'0 fish and it was so much more different than a longboard and i feel like i have to start all over. i'm able to catch the wave and stand on it but im used to having my feet on the board so the pop-up is pretty hard compared to before , and when i do get up on the board, it feels super wobbly. So what board should i get next? i feel like the 6'0 is too small for me but i really wanna be more maneuverble and have more speed. also i'm 16 5'8 and 151 pounds. Thanks!

[oldmansurfer]

Longer boards have more speed without turning, shorter boards require that you can turn them to generate speed. Basically if you choose a short board and can't turn it it will be slower than a longer board. So if you get a short board don't expect it to solve your problems. you have to learn to work the board.

[lloyd]

Hi brandon ,i know your problem ,ive been surfing for about 40 years as i got a bit older and slower i changed to riding longboards full time first my 8 footer then biger from there,where i was living at the time waves were pretty much the same as where you are living,i could still ride a shorty ,i think i got back down to my old 5,10 twinny,but still want the ease of paddling like a long board but to move it around like a short board,so i built myself a 7.6 mini mal, by the way im a surfboard builder so it was easy to just whip one up, had my own large factory until just recently,made boards for some of the best surfers in the world with other factories too,some of these guys are still on the pro tour, anyway my board was 7.6 x 22 x 2 1/2 tail area was about 14 to 15 and nose was around 16 to 18 wide, there were no straight lines from nose to tail just a continuis curve, nose had a little bit of lift ,not flat but not like a short board,, the tail but had a very good lift in it from about the end of the tail to about 1.1/2 foot foward,single into double concaves ,set up as a thruster ,back fin was about 90 mm from the tail and foward fins were set about 110 mm from front of back fin,actual board rocker was pretty flat,if you laid it in still water the back fin only had about 1 1/2" in the water due to the lift in the tail, which made the board surf shorter than it was, more like a big 6 footer, if you look at mctavish web site you will see boards similar to what ive just outlined, flat rocker big tail lift, anyway thats what i rode for years in anything from 1 foot to 8 foot waves and loved it, sold very many of the same board to guys with the same problem as we have,and only got back rave reports about them,and when a lot of these guys jumped back onto a shortboard they found that they were surfing a lot better, so thats my 2 cents worth hope it was of some help,but i would recomend you give it a go,your surfing will sky rocket, cheers

[dtc]

Lloyd, where were you based surfboard making wise?

The board you are describing sounds a bit like my board, maybe with a wider tail - http://www.grantmillersurfboards.com.au ... powerglide

[lloyd]

Hi mate i was north of noosa ,had factories in gladstone and bundaberg plus small one on gold coast, but sold up and moved back to south coast where i worked for a few big name factories,then out on my own again, but now having time away from boards due to injuries.all those years doing boards full time not good for you,

[lloyd]

Had a look at grant miller board you have, similar back end but mine have more pulled in nose,it keeps that curve from nose to tail in the board,