Surfboard advice

[Noob1623]

Hey all,

Before ya'll rip me a new one for asking advice on something that has probably been asked more than even necessary-let me give you a bit of background on my situation... I currently have a two year old and am expecting another one on the way (which is great), however my wife is having extreme pain with morning sickness and is more or less bedridden. Not that that's relevant, but I don't have as much time as I normally would to research and figure out these answers for myself by reading old forums instead of re-posting an old tune. Honestly, I'd rather spend my little free time working on my technique.

Anyway, the question I am looking for is with regards to purchasing a board. I'm 5"9' and about 185 Ibs (athletic), and have been borrowing a 9 foot longboard for my sessions and have found this to work relatively well. Do you have any recommendations for board size (longboard) to try before making a purchase? I know short boards are out of the question for some time-but looking for more suggestions as to what would be best (of course, part of it is preference). I can get up and mosey around, but would hate to buy a 9 foot longboard if say, a 10 or 8 footer would be best.

As I'm sure many of you have, I got up on my third wave and have been hooked ever since. I keep going back, but with limited resources for borrowing boards I could use a little input. Also, I would like to add that I try to go every weekend if I can for several hours with the fam-not a once or twice a year thing.. Thanks for bearing with me.


Best,

Nate.

[oldmansurfer]

9 foot longboard sounds perfect

[waikikikichan]

1) where do you surf ? beach break, reef break, point break ? majority of boards are shortboards or long(er) boards ?

2) How good a swimmer. the better your paddle the less float you'll need.

3) Used boards available ? Save up for a 2nd board with more knowledge and skills you'll gain after owning your first board ( and dinging it ).

[RinkyDink]

As I'm sure many of you have, I got up on my third wave and have been hooked ever since. I keep going back, but with limited resources for borrowing boards I could use a little input. Also, I would like to add that I try to go every weekend if I can for several hours with the fam-not a once or twice a year thing..

For just getting your surfing legs under you, I don't think you can go wrong with a Wavestorm/foamie (8' version if you're an accomplished snowboarder, skateboarder, tight-rope walker, etc. or the 9' version if you're out of shape and want to ease yourself into giving your body time to adjust to demanding workouts/surf sessions). After you develop and refine your basic skills, you'll reach the first branch in the tree of your surfing experience. Do you want to continue longboarding or go in the direction of shortboarding? If you decide you're loving longboarding, then you'll come to the next fork in the road. Do you want a noserider or a high performance longboard? You'll need to decide which direction to go, but it could be both which would mean you would need two different types of longboards.

If you decide to go the shorter board route, then you'll need to meet two important requirements: you'll need regular access to steeper, more powerful waves and you'll need to be stronger and physically fit. If you have those two things, then you can start climbing down in the size and width of your surfboard. Understanding the dimensions of your board and whether those dimensions apply to the waves you're surfing will mean that you'll have to understand the particulars of the waves you surf as well as how surfboard shape and dimensions help or harm your ability to perform the maneuvers you're interested in. This is the expensive part of the sport because you can't really wrap your head around all the dimensions of surfboard dimensions unless you are able to test those dimensions out by surfing different surfboards. If you're young and all the kids from your high school go surfing after school, then you'll be able to ride each other's boards and learn about how surfboard shape affects your rides. If you're not young and surfing with friends, then you'll either need to have deep pockets or become a Craigslist surfboard junky. Ultimately, you'll need to decide whether the waves you ride allow you to ride a high performance shorter board or whether you need the volume of a fish surfboard if you stick with shortboarding.