Surfing Waves

Hi Folks,

I've been surfing for 2 years, 1-2 times per week excluding the winter. I'm a 34 year old male, 5'7, 150 lbs in better than average physical condition. I own one surfboard, a 9'0 Modern Longboard which is the only board I've surfed. As I am not good enough to pivot the board from the tail to turn quickly, a normal turn moves at the speed of a tanker. Eventually, I'd like to learn to ride a shortboard but I'm definitely not ready. I'm between purchasing a Firewire Addvance or a fun board that more closely resembles the shape of my longboard, just 12-18 inches shorter. Opinions?

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/surfb ... d=addvance

http://www.surfindustries.com/surfboard ... ckbird.php

I would go for both, one first then the next one so that you are not taking a 2.5ft drop in size at one shot....I would also learn to turn my longboard from the tail rather than just saying the that I can't. Smaller board is only harder, you will still need to shift or shuffle back a bit from your pop up position to a turning position some degree on both those choices, so I would practice doing that on my easiest board which would be the one you have now. Reward yourself with a new board after you can be pull off a cutback with the longboard.

At this stage of your learning I would work towards being able to turn the board you have. If you cannot move back to do a turn and the board feels like a barge in the turns, you spoke the truth (the issue is you) It sounds like you are still at the stage of doing lean turns.
Not actually turning with power.
A couple of things will help.
Try adjusting the centre fin in the box so it is well forward. Sadly I see they have no centre fin box just plugs. Hmm
Then you need to turn by weighting the back foot as close to over the fins as you can get , try it in little turns on the face as you go across and as you get more confident amplify the turns.
The front foot guides the board around and then takes the weight again to increase speed.

Don't spend money (YET ) in chasing performance spend the time developing your skills.
The other boards will not change this need to get your back foot weighting over the fins.
Performance is skills based not board based ( although the ads always promise this)

SJKC wrote:I'm between purchasing a Firewire Addvance or a fun board that more closely resembles the shape of my longboard, just 12-18 inches shorter. Opinions?

I use a Firewire Addvance 606 LFT and it's a perfect board for me. I'm 6ft, 74kg (163lbs), lower end intermediate.

But I came from a 606 Dominator what is a slightly more performance oriented board. First time I surfed the Add (on a testride) it was spectacular in ease of wave catching and riding, bought it and love it.

U coming from a 9' longboard will need some (a lot of?) time to adjust especially the timing for takeoff. You'll need a steeper wave and the takeoff area will be smaller so u must use better positioning. Depending on what size Add u would choose, I think it's between 606 and 706.

For ur bodyweight of 150lbs the Add 606 would be best suited, but quite a big step coming from 9'. The bigger u go the easier the transition, but chances are when ur able to catch waves consistently soon u want to go smaller again for a more dynamic ride.

The thing is, like the other guys told u, u can progress on ur current board or go shorter. For me it was a big motivation to surf a new and smaller board when I originally came of a 7'9" mal. It's all about ur wishes and how much frustration u can endure time and energy u are willing to put in.

Best option would be a testride if possible, often the first impression tells u all u need to know.

Enjoy the search, it's a great luxury

Big H wrote:I would go for both, one first then the next one so that you are not taking a 2.5ft drop in size at one shot....I would also learn to turn my longboard from the tail rather than just saying the that I can't. Smaller board is only harder, you will still need to shift or shuffle back a bit from your pop up position to a turning position some degree on both those choices, so I would practice doing that on my easiest board which would be the one you have now. Reward yourself with a new board after you can be pull off a cutback with the longboard.

So should I shuffle back immediately after dropping in or after I've picked up some more speed?

Jaffa, thank you for the tip on moving the center fin in the box. My board is an older version and does have a center fin box.

Watch longboard surf movies...YouTube is loaded with them....see how they move on the board, when they move, what the waves look like for different movements....here is one for big waves, classic (Sprout/Joel Tudor) and one hour long instructional video that is quite good and a vid I haven't seen yet but just peeked at it and looks good too. Watch, absorb, go try.

SJKC wrote:So should I shuffle back immediately after dropping in or after I've picked up some more speed?
.

What happens usually after the take-off and drop in ? The Bottom Turn. Turns are initiated from the tail, over the fins. So yes you need to get back, but don't shuffle.

20:42 in the wing nut video....bottom turns and a visual illustration

Firewire: performance and light

F'unboard: mor volume and easier

So if you can catch waves easily go for the firewire, if you are not get a high volume funboard.

Firewire: bragging points - performance and style
Fuboard: bragging points - only if it;spreety