Surfing Waves

I was wondering what is your guy's opinion on me buying a 6'8" hybrid. I have been surfing for a while off and on. My local beach is in NJ but I just got back from a trip in the Outer Banks, and I did some surfing there. I am currently on a 8 foot foamie. Which is now getting easy for me and I would like to move up. I feel comfortable paddling and manuvering, and I stand up. I went for 2 lessons my first time and on the second lesson i was standing up every time and my surfing instructor told me I was good to surf on my own. And that the only reason to come back would be to learn how to read waves. That was a year ago and now after me researching I know I can read waves pretty well now. I am now thinking about buying a 6'8" hybrid with a quad fin set up to help me move down to a shortboard. What is your opinion on this. My measurements are 5'5" 125lbs and I am an amazing athlete I play 3 sports and longboard and bodyboard and ex skateboarder. btw i am a 14 year old male.

How do you learn to read waves via research?

I would rent before buying.....I am also an amazing athlete and still skateboard and it means diddly when it comes to paddle fitness, ocean knowledge, figuring out where to catch a wave, etc. If I were you I'd look at a 7' board minimum (foot and a half more than your height).....if you think you are a fast learner, don't get in the way if that by getting a board too small.....which if you do go small you will.

There are a lot of beginners around lately on the breaks here. Maybe they are better back to here they are from.....today for instance there were about 40 people out at the break I was at....almost all were on short boards and about 8 out of the 40 were actually catching waves......the rest were just struggling with paddling, positioning, timing, the current, paddle battles with some of those who were catching waves and decided that they would ignore the "rights" of others in the lineup except for those who could actually catch a wave when they paddled for it....fading right across newbies and snaking their waves in their face......and it is always like that.

Hey you are 14, you can take on the world! I think learning surfing at that age is really great. Maybe a little late to be a pro surfer but you are still young and the muscle memory will come fast and if you want more of a challenge a 6'8" board will certainly give you that. The question is will you keep at it till you learn enough to be having fun again on it or will you give up because it is too much of a challenge? I would say your attitude sounds great and you are young and fit and the only obvious limitation I can see is you are in New Jersey. I don't really know how good the surf is there or how often it is good but I had a friend who went to college there and took his surfboard. He hardly went surfing but one time there was a hurricane coming and the surf was up and he said that was the only time there was decent surf there. He was out there surfing and a policeman was on the beach yelling at him to get out because a hurricane was coming and he was yelling back that he knew a hurricane was coming. One other question I have is that if you both bodyboard and longboard why do you suppose the instructor thinks you might need wave reading skills? I learned to surf on a 6'10" board and I was 18 and weighed 160 pounds but I had wave reading skills from bodyboarding and body surfing for years prior. Where you want to be on a wave is slightly different for all those wave riding skills but it is easily adjusted if you know waves. If you were in Hawaii I would think you have a good chance of learning to use the 6'8" before you get frustrated but not sure about in NJ due to lack of surf.

The surf is actually great in some places in NJ. In Long Beach Island where i surf the surf is great.

Also I have already learned how to surf I am at the point were i am just getting out of the beginner level. I was wondering if a 6'8" would be too difficult to ride. I have built a love for surfing so I highly doubt I would become so frustrated I would give up.

davidv128 wrote: I am now thinking about buying a 6'8" hybrid with a quad fin set up to help me move down to a shortboard. ... 5'5" 125lbs ... btw i am a 14 year old male.

If you've only been on a foamie, then hire a hardboard a time or two before spending the cash. A real board is a world away from a foamie.
At 5'5, a 6'8 with some volume might be a good choice, but presumably you've still got some growth left to come. If you're going to be surfing regularly (several times a week, all year round) then that 6'8 will be fine. If you're only going to be surfing every now and then, then I'd go bigger - you'll progress quicker and it'll compensate for any growth.

Don't go quad. Get a thruster.

davidv128 wrote:Also I have already learned how to surf I am at the point were i am just getting out of the beginner level.

No you're not. If you're still on a foamie, you've only just entered the beginning level. It takes many years of practise and a lot of effort. You're only 14, you've got time - but when you're doing your internet research about boards, waves, etc., don't go thinking that you're anything other than beginner.

Yeah according to the official surfer rulebook you're only allowed out of the beginner level when you have mastered all the basic moves both frontside and backside , a bottom turn a top turn and a cutback. Once you can do those then you are not a beginner. I am just kidding there is no official rulebook....but I wish there were. Well anyway we all have ideas about what makes a beginner. Being able to stand on a board and ride waves doesn't mean much to those who can do more. Where I am (Hawaii) some of the surf instructors guarantee you will be up riding waves your first time out.

oldmansurfer wrote:Where I am (Hawaii) some of the surf instructors guarantee you will be up riding waves your first time out.

Hah.....and they will take you to the exact catch point,build the tail of the board and then push you into the wave when it comes.......

That is true but you are riding a wave standing up which doesn't mean a whole lot

Thanks for the feedback guys, means a lot.

oldmansurfer wrote:That is true but you are riding a wave standing up which doesn't mean a whole lot

That's my point too.

Let us know how it goes.

OBX is great....used to go there as a kid....keep the stoke!

oldmansurfer wrote:That is true but you are riding a wave standing up which doesn't mean a whole lot

Actually, that can be the decisive experience to really commit on the surfing quest.

Tudeo wrote:

oldmansurfer wrote:That is true but you are riding a wave standing up which doesn't mean a whole lot

Actually, that can be the decisive experience to really commit on the surfing quest.

That may be but it didn't work for me. When I was a kid I got a surfer to take me out and push me into a couple waves on his longboard. This longboard was huge copared to me and I didn't need to have it moving to stand on it but I did go from laying down to standing and rode those two waves right into the beach. My thoughts at the time is "Is that it?" I thought it was going to be some spectacular thing but it was just like body surfing without feeling the water rushing off your body. That removed any interest I had in surfing for a while