Surfing Waves

Hello,

I'm trying to find a good 1st board and the internet is confusing. I think I'm probably better situated than most to enter the surfing world. I swear I'm not trying to brag, but I want to give as much info as I can to get the best info back. I'm a prior swimmer, and in better shape both upper and lower body now than I was when I was competing (finally got pull-up #11, hey-oh!!). And my balance is better than average - indo boards, tricky yoga poses, slacklines, I'm good with those. I can wakeboard, I can snowboard. I'm a girl. I'm 5'9" and 135lbs (175cm and 61kg). I've stood up a few times over the years on a foam board, but I want to actually get into the sport, now.

So there's my background and here's my question: I obviously need something learnable, but I don't want something I'll outgrow in a few months. I know prevailing opinion is that new guys should get a big board, but do you think I could manage on a fish? Do you think a mini mal would be fun after the 1st few months? Both those boards are pretty ideal for the surf in my area, according to what I've read (i.e. according to the people trying to sell them on Craigslist).

Thanks in advance, guys. And sorry for what I'm sure is the millionth "please help this new guy buy a board" post.

I live in Bali....I have a longboard and a mini mal, both are still "fun" in small slop to hollow overhead. Just loaded the car for the dawn patrol and put in two boards, a 6'2" and a 9'1" since I'm not sure how the break is going to look like with 11-13 ft faces predicted. You will not outgrow a bigger board too fast.

A bigger board will help you learn much faster regardless of your prerequisites....there is alot that goes into begin able to catch wave after wave, paddle fitness is only a part of it. Do yourself a favour and get a mini mal sized board at the least and ride that for a year minimum.

Here are the steps I would recommend.

1 Take your height and add 36 inches to it. This is a good length for your board. The width of your board should be about 21-23 inches.
2. Borrow, rent, or buy the most affordable board with those dimensions that you can find.
3. Start learning to surf. You will learn to stand up and maneuver the fastest on a board with the dimensions above, and that will be the most efficient way to complete step 4.
4. Once you complete 10 rides on your cheap board, ask yourself if you're having fun. If you're not having fun surfing your longboard, then quit the sport. It will never get any better.
5. If you enjoy surfing, then become the Kelly Slater of your cheap longboard, but find other boards to try. Experiment with different sizes and shapes.
6. Have fun. Good luck.

Sweet. Thanks for the quick responses. I promise I'm not trying to skirt a proper learning process.

There's a used 7'6" Bic Performer for sale near me. It doesn't fit the +36" guideline but it looks like the best combo of big and not over $500 I've seen so far. https://corpuschristi.craigslist.org/sp ... 57808.html

mchel wrote:Sweet. Thanks for the quick responses. I promise I'm not trying to skirt a proper learning process.

There's a used 7'6" Bic Performer for sale near me. It doesn't fit the +36" guideline but it looks like the best combo of big and not over $500 I've seen so far. https://corpuschristi.craigslist.org/sp ... 57808.html

That looks like a good board. If it's in the condition the seller says it is in, then it will probably serve you well. Just remember, I ride a $40 used Wavestorm and I am by no means an expert on equipment or surfing. So take my advice with a grain of salt. I would only recommend that you leave enough money in your budget to get a decent wetsuit. Good luck.

That board seems a little low in volume for a beginner. How old are you? One of the problems that lots of beginners face is picking the right board to start with. The better the board floats you the easier time you will have learning up to a point. Then the length of the board makes it more awkward. But if you need to make a mistake then make it with a board that is too big because the problem is that you will have trouble maneuvering it. Too small and you won't be able to maneuver it either since you won't even be able to catch a wave with it. At least with a big board you will be able to catch waves. The 7'6 might be ok or not.......

Hi Mchel, that 7'6" is a nice board for that price, that might be an acceptable board to start on if you lived somewhere that has decent sized waves on a regular basis. If you surf in Texas then you will want to get a bigger board since it looks like the surf conditions in your area can be quite poor for long stretches. I'm sure you get decent waves there occasionally but you need to find a board that matches the surf conditions in your area and your skill level.

I would recommend at least a 8' but preferably a 9' long board for your first board in Texas. That will give you the opportunity to surf more days of the year and catch more waves per session. The more you can surf the better you will get. If you stick with surfing then you can add more boards to your quiver. When your skill level and the surf conditions improve you can take out your smaller boards, but still have your longboard when you want to surf on small days, which looks like the norm in Texas.

I'm sure there are many advanced surfers in your area that can rip on shortboards, but own longboards for when the waves are not ideal.

Waves not looking too good this week:

http://www.swellinfo.com/surf-forecast/ ... isti-texas

I'm not trying to crush your stoke, but I want to save you some time, money, and frustration.

mchel wrote: I obviously need something learnable, but I don't want something I'll outgrow in a few months.

95% of learning to surf has nothing to do with how well you can balance on a board, at least at first (by which I mean the first year or two).
It's about learning to paddle, getting out back, reading the waves, catching the waves, so being fit or good at other stuff doesn't translate nearly as well as you might think.

So don't go too short. No, you wouldn't get away with a fish. You won't outgrow your first board in a few months, no matter what it is.

Right, lecture over. 7'6 might be a bit small for the first few weeks, but would likely be okay once you got the hang of it. That particular board is a bit low in volume for a learner 7'6, and I'd recommend something more rounded front and back. And, as Namu said, you need the right board for the conditions, and the right board for Texas is BIG.

RinkyDink wrote: become the Kelly Slater of your cheap longboard

Great advice - I'm going to steal that line

I want to see how good you are at Wakeboarding with out the tow line and boat. How good are you at snowboarding without the lifts or if the mountain plateaus out ? Good swimmer ? There was this Olympic swimmer that "surfed" the break in Waikiki, we ran circles around him.
Until you can catch waves and turn BOTH frontside and backside, plus kick out at the end of the wave, don't get on a modern Fish yet.

So what I'm hearing is, I'm probably going to be sinking a little more $ into the board than I'd hoped to. I haven't seen anything in the 8-9' range for less than $500, but I'll keep looking. My chunk of TX doesn't exactly have a bumping surfboard market.

And, just to keep the thread from veering in the wrong direction, I don't have any delusions that I'll be great at this anytime soon just because I can transition from dancer's to eagle pose without wobbling and swim a 50m butterfly without experiencing cardiac arrest. But a bit of confusing research into the field made me wonder if a longboard would be worth the investment. I am now assured that it would be.

Thanks again, all.

oldmansurfer wrote:That board seems a little low in volume for a beginner. How old are you? One of the problems that lots of beginners face is picking the right board to start with. The better the board floats you the easier time you will have learning up to a point. Then the length of the board makes it more awkward. But if you need to make a mistake then make it with a board that is too big because the problem is that you will have trouble maneuvering it. Too small and you won't be able to maneuver it either since you won't even be able to catch a wave with it. At least with a big board you will be able to catch waves. The 7'6 might be ok or not.......

I'm 26. So wider than the bic board, but are you trying to steer me towards longer than 7'6 or shorter?

drowningbitbybit wrote:

RinkyDink wrote: become the Kelly Slater of your cheap longboard

Great advice - I'm going to steal that line

No problem. I kinda stole it from Chef John who says, "You are the Big Willy of your chili."
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2015/06/ ... t-way.html

mchel wrote:So what I'm hearing is, I'm probably going to be sinking a little more $ into the board than I'd hoped to. I haven't seen anything in the 8-9' range for less than $500, but I'll keep looking. My chunk of TX doesn't exactly have a bumping surfboard market.

And, just to keep the thread from veering in the wrong direction, I don't have any delusions that I'll be great at this anytime soon just because I can transition from dancer's to eagle pose without wobbling and swim a 50m butterfly without experiencing cardiac arrest. But a bit of confusing research into the field made me wonder if a longboard would be worth the investment. I am now assured that it would be.

Thanks again, all.

Just a heads up. I was in my Costco yesterday and they were stocked with Wavestorms for $99. It's a cheap option for starting out. Yeah, you'll look like a kook, but there's no way around that when you start learning. Might as well go all in.

mchel wrote:

oldmansurfer wrote:That board seems a little low in volume for a beginner. How old are you? One of the problems that lots of beginners face is picking the right board to start with. The better the board floats you the easier time you will have learning up to a point. Then the length of the board makes it more awkward. But if you need to make a mistake then make it with a board that is too big because the problem is that you will have trouble maneuvering it. Too small and you won't be able to maneuver it either since you won't even be able to catch a wave with it. At least with a big board you will be able to catch waves. The 7'6 might be ok or not.......

I'm 26. So wider than the bic board, but are you trying to steer me towards longer than 7'6 or shorter?

Longer. That board might be ok for you but a longer one or one a little thicker or wider at the same length might be better. At 26 I think you will want more help to learn how to catch waves so more volume would help and typically more length. Surfing is about the waves, knowing where to be and when to be where. Where to lineup and when to paddle and how to paddle and how to get out through the waves and how to popup are what is needed to catch a wave. Once you get all that down then the board skills may help. The wave riding skills only get learned after you catch a wave which is a lot bigger of a step than many beginners think. What many beginners do is get a board that is so short that the learning curve to catch a wave is too steep and they give up trying before they actually catch a wave. However that board might be ok for you, it's a difficult to say precisely.

RinkyDink wrote:
"You are the Big Willy of your chili."

I ain't puttin my Willy near the chilli

Aside from that and back to the actual question,
8ft minimum IMO 22" wide and 3" thick good float, go epoxy less weight more float Texas is notoriously weak in wave strength so length and float is great for catching waves , if you don't catch waves then no progress.
You won't out grow the board in a few months.
You are never stuck with a board you don't like, just on sell!

jaffa1949 wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:
"You are the Big Willy of your chili."

I ain't puttin my Willy near the chilli

No. Never. Absolutely not.

I have never surfed an epoxy board, but the impression I've gotten from reading about them is that they are super floatable. Given that, I figured one of the advantages to an epoxy board is that you could nix some of the thickness of a board and still get the float of a high volume regular board. That's one of the reasons I'm interested in epoxy boards. I'm thinking thinner rails without the loss of floatability.

RinkyDink wrote:I have never surfed an epoxy board, but the impression I've gotten from reading about them is that they are super floatable. Given that, I figured one of the advantages to an epoxy board is that you could nix some of the thickness of a board and still get the float of a high volume regular board. That's one of the reasons I'm interested in epoxy boards. I'm thinking thinner rails without the loss of floatability.

This is an oft stated position and its true that an epoxy board is lighter and therefore will sit higher in the water when no one is on it - eg if a PU board is 5lb and an epoxy of the same volume is 4lb, then the epoxy will sit higher because it only has to support 4lb and not 5lb

However, in my view - which is not always shared! - that 1lb difference is the only difference between the boards. So when you stick a 180lb person on the board, the difference in 'float' is not noticeable - the PU board has to float 185lb rather than the epoxy at 184lb.. Bouyancy/floatbility is a function of volume; if the volume is the same then buoyancy shouldnt be different other than by the difference in the weight of the board

A few years ago there was a trend to have domed decks or stepped decks, where the centre of the deck was fat and then there was a noticeable drop to have thin rails. That seems to have been a design fad that has gone away, but I'm not sure why - it should be a solution to the fat rails issue. Possibly its because the rail of a board isnt just the 1inch at the edge, you can dig the board 3 or 5 inches into the wave and having a stepped deck creates its own issues

(dont know why i was using lb and inches in this post! But cant be bothered changing back to a sensible measuring system)

Anyway, there is a far more detailed discussion on it here http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/epoxy-v ... comparison

That said, epoxy and PU boards 'feel' different and they certainly 'sound' different when you are paddling around (epoxy boards seem to have a much stronger 'slapping' or 'tink tink tink' sound). At least to my ears. Being light has advantages and disadvantages.

I never let anyone's hypothesis of board design interfere with my surfing.