Stuck between a few boards

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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby one0one » Thu Aug 10, 2017 1:57 am

awesome to hear Millsy, you be popping the lip in no time haha. And 190kg, mate that will be sup board for life haha
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby Millsy82 » Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:17 pm

jaffa1949 wrote:Millsy isn't it great when the board finally chooses you. You must have been ready for it :lol:
The advice we give is so people can get their skills ready to be chosen, then it becomes a great relationship!
But rush into something before you are ready ..... usual a sad match. :cry:


I do get that the vast majority of the advice is brilliant and the help I have had off this forum is amazing and I don't think I would be flying the way I am now without the help I've had off here.

But

I do find sometimes a very negative side to posts like this and people just assume they can't do it.

I just wanted to say that it is possible to make such a drop and I did a bigger drop than 2 ft and it was not too much in fact as you said it's as though the board has chosen me and I am now currently on the lookout for my next board which will be another 3-5" shorter and around 8 litres less volume which on another thread is said again to be to bigger drop but I feel that by the time a 2nd hand board of the right size comes up I will be ready for it (I'm still looking 6'4-6"6 and around 40 litres and they never usually come up to often so I'm in no rush at the moment).
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby SquishedBean » Sat Aug 12, 2017 4:18 pm

Lol did ya'll just revive my post from April? thanks for all the suggestions, but I ended up going down to a 6'2 channel island pod mod. I love it! its an absolute blast to ride.
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby SquishedBean » Sat Aug 12, 2017 4:31 pm

Millsy82 wrote:
jaffa1949 wrote:Millsy isn't it great when the board finally chooses you. You must have been ready for it :lol:
The advice we give is so people can get their skills ready to be chosen, then it becomes a great relationship!
But rush into something before you are ready ..... usual a sad match. :cry:


I do get that the vast majority of the advice is brilliant and the help I have had off this forum is amazing and I don't think I would be flying the way I am now without the help I've had off here.

But

I do find sometimes a very negative side to posts like this and people just assume they can't do it.

I just wanted to say that it is possible to make such a drop and I did a bigger drop than 2 ft and it was not too much in fact as you said it's as though the board has chosen me and I am now currently on the lookout for my next board which will be another 3-5" shorter and around 8 litres less volume which on another thread is said again to be to bigger drop but I feel that by the time a 2nd hand board of the right size comes up I will be ready for it (I'm still looking 6'4-6"6 and around 40 litres and they never usually come up to often so I'm in no rush at the moment).


You and I are living testaments to this, Millsy. When I posted this back in April trying to move down from my 8'6 longboard, most of the answers on here were you can't do it, don't move down more than a foot. Well, I literally moved down 2 feet and 4 inches in response to that, and I'm doing fine! I'm having a blast on my new board and couldn't be happier. To anyone reading this and thinking about making the jump to lower, don't be confined to what people tell you to do and the stigmatization that you need to go slow. If you find a board that you fell in love with, and you know in your heart and mind that you know it will be hard for a little while but you think you are completely ready, but dangit I want that board, do it. Yeah,you'll look like a kook for a bit, but who cares, we all are in the end, and all that matters is getting out in the ocean on the board you fell in love with.
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby oldmansurfer » Sat Aug 12, 2017 5:38 pm

I learned to surf on a shortboard but apparently it's not common for people to successfully do that. It's not common for people to successfully drop 2 feet in size and be able to deal with the change. Congratulations for you and obviously it is possible. I can attest to the fact that you don't need to start on a longboard you can just use a shortboard but I am not going to advise people to do that since for many it will just be endless frustration. But there are those determined enough and willing to put up with the problems starting on a shortboard but still most people are not.
So what is worse.... dying or regretting it for the rest of my life? Obviously I chose not regretting it.
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby SquishedBean » Sat Aug 12, 2017 11:14 pm

oldmansurfer wrote:I learned to surf on a shortboard but apparently it's not common for people to successfully do that. It's not common for people to successfully drop 2 feet in size and be able to deal with the change. Congratulations for you and obviously it is possible. I can attest to the fact that you don't need to start on a longboard you can just use a shortboard but I am not going to advise people to do that since for many it will just be endless frustration. But there are those determined enough and willing to put up with the problems starting on a shortboard but still most people are not.


Oh yeah, I totally agree with you to always begin on a longboard nowadays. It'll save a lot of frustration. I was just speaking in terms of after being on a longboard for a few months, learning the in's and outs, and then consider whatever board you want. As long as your reasonable and knowledgeable in your skills as a beginner/entering intermediate, anyone could ride whatever they want for their second board. In the end, it's all about discipline with learning, and how excited you are to get out there on the next board of your choice.
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby jaffa1949 » Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:35 am

I apologise if what I offer in advice sometimes seems negative... people can start on any board they like, I and and I believe others offer the path of least resistance, steps in diminishing length can be skipped.
Much advice is tailored to the amount of water time someone can get. When you read many posts there is often a mistaken belief of how far along the food chain a surfer is, and our advice can sadly be a little ego bruising,
My purpose is to get people safely and happily skilled and knowledgeable enough to choose their own path, even the190kg phantom people.
There is lots to laugh about in our surfing journey, every prat fall and wipeout success and disaster.
I also run a narrative in my posts against people being swayed by surf fashion advertising, I go find the board , fins and everything else that suits your surfing, all the rest is just frivolity and money sucking.
Rant over thank you.
I've taken up troll hunting just for fun, instead of a rifle I'll just use a pun! 冲浪爷爷
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby waikikikichan » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:19 am

SquishedBean wrote: As long as your reasonable and knowledgeable in your skills as a beginner/entering intermediate, anyone could ride whatever they want for their second board. In the end, it's all about discipline with learning, and how excited you are to get out there on the next board of your choice.

Replace the word "Board" with another sporting tool, say "Motorcycle", "Car" , "Firearm", or even "Mountain".

There's a reason there's a 80cc. 125cc. 250cc. 450cc. class in MX.
There's a reason there's green, blue, black diamond, double black diamond in ski/snowboarding.
There's a reason F1 is at the top and for the lower classes F2, F3, F4, Go Cart.
There's a reason for Pop Warner, JV, Varsity, College and Pro Football ( American, not the round ball type )

Yes, there may be a "gifted" few that can get drafted to the Major League right out of high school. You might be a Lebron, or Messi, or Federer, but most of us "normal" people are not. Some people may feel their goal is to ride a shortboard. That's fine. If you goal is to ride a 1300cc. sportbike right cause they're bad ass compared to a lowly Honda 250 rebel you just learned on, then go for it. The excitement to feel the power of a liter bike is enticing. But can you control that power ?

But you're right, don't let anyone tell you "you can't do it" or "that's not the right way". You do what you wan't. You might be that beginner surfer gifted with special skills that most of us aren't blessed with. In the words of Chandler, "Go Ahead, Go SHRED !!" ( if you want me to, I can hold your beer for you. )
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby Big H » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:40 am

Good for both of you....if you're surfing and you're stoked then far be it from anyone to tell you different.

When I give advice it is coming from where I surf....big and fast waves, strong currents, crowded lineups that are super competitive.....if you aren't competitive then you don't get waves. I went out this morning, first time in a month and a half since I've been nursing this broken jaw back to health....I was out with about 25 others in the lineup.....sets were soft today and there were 2-3 on a set worth paddling for and another 1 wave that would be decent halfway between sets. Me and three others took every wave that was anything.....two indo guys and another western guy who was pretty good. There wasn't enough to go around and we weeent going to let the other 21 beginner intermediates blow perfectly good waves they way that they would so while it wasn't a conspiracy, all those beginner intermediates, the majority on boards I imagine they fell in love with which by my estimation were too small for them since they were not competing at all when they would paddle, those guys watched us surf and among them took less than 10 waves on aggregate the hour and a half I was out there. It's not that they didn't get chances.....a lot of waves were left to go thru....not just by me but by the other 3....or we would let someone try for a wave and if they missed then take it last second.....thing is those newbies were waiting on the very best waves like all of us and sorry, no one is going to just serve those up on a platter; you have to be able to take them. The 21 couldn't. So if I say to stick to a longer board it is not necessarily because I don't think you can ride it well enough to make the best out of the wave (though that is part of it because if you take waves then fail to make the first section because you stall out somewhat or otherwise lose the wave you are marked as burnable and will be dropped in on)....fact is where I surf it is never a vacuum....you have to be able to out paddle and out position at least one if. It more people for each wave you take....successful in getting that wave you need to be able to competently ride it out or face being burned for the rest of the day. If you aren't there then around here you are relagated to lesser peaks on lesser days until you are good enough to compete on average peaks on average days. That is where my advice comes from as well as being a guy who did try shorter boards within 6 months of beginning, and while I could paddle and catch waves with enough frequency to warrant continuing, Ibrealized that going back to bigger boards would help me learn how to actually ride the wave, to feel it and respond, to stay with the power and SURF....after that for awhile then I went back to smaller boards sometimes but with a better understanding of how to surf and improved ability that Is come to understand was developed more quickly after I went back to bigger boards.

Millsy is a little different; that 6.9 he surfs @ 48L is as much volume as a mini Mal. I see guys who constantly try to ride the shortest board they can and proudly declare the dims like a badge of honor. It doesn't matter that if no one else were around that they would get most of the waves that they paddled for and break one wave a sesh for multiple sections....they aren't alone and flat out don't get the chance.....I see them bobbing around not getting waves for the most part. Usual session for me is 20+ waves in 1.5-2h. Standard for tourists on any length board for the same period with a few notable exceptions is probably 2-3 per hour.

Maybe for them that is a successful sesh and they are satisfied. For me I see the waves the miss or didn't even try for and for. The most part think that if they'd been on a bigger board they might have stood a better chance.
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Re: Stuck between a few boards

Postby Big H » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:45 am

BTW, the notable exceptions are good surfers with obvious experience....muscles, body shape and paddling form don't lie....you can spot them before they even take a wave....the converse is true as well.
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