2nd board, for a 40yo

[Sevitzky]

Question about which type of board to buy, as I advance past the longboard.

Hey guys, I’m 40 years old. Started surfing 10 months ago, manage to get out 2-3 weekends a month for a couple hours per session. Bought a 9’ NSP epoxy and I can catch waves pretty regularly and ride down the line – depending on the wave, of course.

I live in Sri Lanka, now, and a lot of the waves get a bit hollow and pitch up quickly, I get thrown when I paddle for the bigger steeper waves. If I paddle further on the outside, a lot of the catchable waves turn into big closeouts. Punching through by turtling gets tiring after a while. Some of this depends on conditions and the break, of course, but hopefully you get the point. Some of this is due to the off season, with bigger, unruly swells and constant onshore wind; might get better back in the on-season. But anyway, my goal is to eventually learn a board that I can duck dive and survive the crushers and sweeper sets that occasionally come through.

I’ve read a lot about what my next steps should be, most of the online consensus says that I should step down 6” at a time. I really like this article, for principals: https://www.stillstoked.com/inspire-me/how-to-choose-the-right-surfboard/. But honestly, I’m not going to buy a 8’6, and then an 8’0, and so on, right? That’s a bit silly… Rentals would be fine, but I’m always up at dawn and they open at a lazy 8am.

So I want to buy a board and need some help in identifying my criteria!

Last weekend I rented a 7’6, the first day was a mess and I didn’t catch a single wave. Next day, I caught some, and by the 3rd day, I was able to catch and rides waves down the line.

I’m learning with some buddies that keep pushing me to get on a high-volume 6’0, but I think that’s just going to lead to frustration.

So what do you recommend? Should I just go for any old, used 7’6 shape? Buy a 7’2 minimal and then rent 7’6s to bridge the gap?

I’m 40ys old. 160 lbs. 5’8”. Average fitness. Surfing about 2 weekends a month, 2-3 hours per day. 6 hours when I’m away from the kids.

Surfing has been a life-long dream for me, since I caught my first wave as an 18-yo. But I never lived in a place where I could surf regularly, so – just want to say how blessed I feel to pick it up now. Thanks for reading!

[Prancing monkey]

I was in a similar position about 7 months ago. Traded in an 8ft 60l egg for a 6,9 50l swallow tailed hybrid. Went from trimming to front and backside turns, and small cutbacks within a month or so. I found it faster to paddle and easier to pop up as the volume was concentrated under my chest rather than the length of the board. Btw I’m 41, 6ft and 88kg. See the pic; I can duck dive it (badly) and takes late drops due to the nose. All that aside though, the thing that has most brought my surfing on is paddle endurance. Means I can get out back quicker, maintain position in windy conditions and get straight back in on a wave.

[dtc]

I would just go to a 7’2-7’4 minimal or funboard - given the wave description maybe something with a smallish rather than wide nose. The Torq mod fun, for example (or the many many other boards that are similar to that). You won’t be able to duck dive it, but you probably need a sub 35L board to do that, which is unlikely to be a good use of your time

Ride that for a year or so then look at a 6-8 inch drop.

You should keep in mind that while you will get to the stage of being able to catch waves and go down the line fairly quickly, this is an opportunity to really refine your technique- make sure your pop up is solid, your top and bottom turns are good etc. if you go shorter things are exponentially harder, so take the chance to get it right - dont go even shorter too soon

[waikikikichan]

But honestly, I’m not going to buy a 8’6, and then an 8’0, and so on, right? That’s a bit silly…

Honestly what is wrong with that ? The time proven Slow and Sure way of learning new things being it in sports or skills for work. But if you think going in 6 inch jumps is "silly", will at least consider a 12 inch ( 1 foot ) jump. So if you're current board is 9'2" , how about a 8'0" ?

Think about this. is it silly for me to go from my usual daily bench press of 100 lbs. right to 300lbs. or should I gradually increase the weight. "But everyone else in the gym is doing 300 lbs." If you increase too fast and too early, you'll hurt yourself. Same for surfing.

You haven't built up the basics and muscle memory yet that will aid later when you do go down to a shorter board that needs more powerful paddling and quicker reaction times.

I wouldn't move down to a 6'6" in before 2 years under your belt. And you shouldn't base your decision on being able to duck dive.

[Lebowski]

If you want to go down in board size then that's up to you, but 2 weekends a month surfing is not a lot, and you'll struggle to increase your paddling strength and endurance the required amount to paddle shorter boards.

On top of that, if the hollow waves are pitching you now on your 9'0 board, then it'll be even worse on a shorter board. You're getting pitched because of poor paddling/timing/positioning or a combination of those. A shorter board with make all of these factors more difficult.

On the duckdiving thing, I'd say it's equally tiring to duckdive wave after wave as it is to turtle roll them, with the added downside that when you're paddling between the waves you're moving slower on a shortboard.

If you do want to move down, then I'd go for a 7'6 mini mal type shape. In my opinion, the boards between about 6'8 and 7'6 tend to have the worst features of being short with none of the advantages of being long, but maybe that's just me.

[Sevitzky]

Hm. Ok dudes. You've convinced me. I'll try to step down to an 8'0. Incremental progression makes sense. Just... impatient, you know?

And what I said about stepping down by 6" increments being silly: I guess what I mean is that I can't imagine owning all those types of boards, a 9'0, 8'6, 8'0,7'6, etc.

Do you guys recommend buying a new board and selling my current one? Is that what you see people doing? Does it makes sense to get a generic 8' NSP banger, and not thing too much about shapes and materials at this point?

[ConcreteVitamin]

In my opinion, the boards between about 6'8 and 7'6 tend to have the worst features of being short with none of the advantages of being long, but maybe that's just me.

More comments on this? Strikes me as an overgeneralization since boards have many other distinguishing features other than length.

[waikikikichan]

In my opinion, the boards between about 6'8 and 7'6 tend to have the worst features of being short with none of the advantages of being long, but maybe that's just me.

More comments on this? Strikes me as an overgeneralization since boards have many other distinguishing features other than length.

So ConcreteVitamin, could you explain some of the distinguishing features on current common boards in the 6'8" to 7'6" range ?

[ConcreteVitamin]

In my opinion, the boards between about 6'8 and 7'6 tend to have the worst features of being short with none of the advantages of being long, but maybe that's just me.

More comments on this? Strikes me as an overgeneralization since boards have many other distinguishing features other than length.

So ConcreteVitamin, could you explain some of the distinguishing features on current common boards in the 6'8" to 7'6" range ?

(nose/tail) rocker, nose/tail width, rail shape/type...

[OlegLupusov]

What’s wrong with your 9 footer?
I surfed 8 footers for a couple of years. And, then returned to 9 footers and secret weapon 8,6 that floats better than nine footers.
Just do your thing and don’t follow your guys’ dares. You are 40, not 14!
As a side note, I am a bit younger probably fitter (350 bench press and 35 pull ups military style) and used to surf from 2 to 7 times per for almost 5 years.

[Sevitzky]

Nothing wrong with it, but I'd like to have more maneuverability.

Here's another way to pose the question. The common reasonable advice online is to go slow and advance by 6" increments. But I wonder why don't you see more recommendations to ride a shorter board for a smaller percentage of the time in the water.

For instance, Waikikichan, I shouldn't jump from 100lbs to 300lbs on a bench press at the same reps. BUT, if you are doing a 1-2 rep max, then you would make a serious jump in weight and a decrease in reps. So why don't people recommend taking out a much shorter board for 30 minutes in the water, and then going back to a longer board? I mean, just in terms of pedagogy.

The times that I've jumped onto my friends' 6'0s and 7'6s have definitely developed my skills on the LB. Struggling with the balance on a 6'0 is great cross training, even if I considered the LB my main axe in the water.

[dtc]

The main reason is that most people learning will spend that 30 minutes on a short board not catching any waves. So that is just a waste of time. Maybe you get a bit of a different experience, which I guess is good; but it’s probably not developing your skills all that much

It’s one thing to go from 9ft to 7’2; it’s completely different to go to 6’2.

That said It really depends on your ability. If you are a really solid surfer on a 9ft, then maybe it’s fine to try a short board. If you are surfing a 9ft and catching 6/10 waves and just a go down the line surfer, then jumping to a shortboard offers no benefit. Most people asking questions about their next board are not in the first category, so the advice is biased toward the second category

It’s like having a 2RM bench at 150lb and then saying ‘oh, I’ll try for half a rep at 300lb’ (the second category) vs your version, which is someone who can already do 5RM at 250lb deciding to do a single at 300 (the first category). One is wasting their time; the other probably will gain something from it

[Sevitzky]

Yeah, I agree. I don't enjoy being out there on a 6'. I just get tossed around and catch nothing except occasional big drops and then fall down. But on a 7'6, it's possible (for me, at this stage) to catch and ride waves down the line.

So I mean, I've never seen anybody say something like this: Warm up on your 9', then spend an hour on a 7'6, another hour on your 8'0, and so on. There are some logistical challenges there, obviously: like who has 4 board at the beach on the same day. But if skill development is the goal -- vs enjoyment -- then why not?

Are there coaches or teachers who advocate a regimen of riding different boards?

I should add -- in my 20's, I spent a season in winter surfing on a 7'6 in hurricane chop in a 5mil suit. I loved every minute in the water, but didn't catch a single wave. Lesson learned. So this time around, I was pretty adamant about spending a lot of time on a 9' and not rushing it. I feel confident on this board and now I'm ready to grow a bit.

I should have said this earlier, but one of the reasons I want a smaller board is a lot of the breaks around here have steeper drops. There are a couple good LB breaks, but most of the surfers are on shortboards. Curious to hear if you guys think this is just a matter of technique or if I need to stay out of those types of conditions.

[OlegLupusov]

I know guy who started on a short board and were totally ok after a year or so. Young and short sportsmen like gymnasts, wrestlers, etc with opportunity and desire to surf almost on daily basis.

Dude, you surf not that often to progress gradually for any time longer even on a long surfboard.
All these acquired skills as a result of a short board riding are an illusion.
The same xxxxx as lift 1 pound after trying to lift 1000 pounds in vain.
Anyway, if you want a short board. Buy it. They are not that expensive and you can always resell it. Just give it a try with all your rotating routine.
The more shortboarder are there the better! They are closer to the shoreline and lack priority even if they try catching any ways. But most of them are just sitting there and observing long boarders enjoying themselves.
Try your thing and let us know “how it went”.
I have 6-7 surfboards and surfed only two this year:)
It’s okay to buy things and not to use them afterwards:)

[dtc]

I think there is a lot of merit in focusing on a single board and learning that board

But I don’t think anyone would particularly disagree with the concept of warming up on a longer board and switching over to another board for a while. Indeed it’s fairly common advice for people who are struggling with a new (and always inevitably shorter) board to go back to a longer board for a session or two, get the feel and confidence back and work on some skills. If I have had a break from surfing for a few weeks, I usually do a few sessions on my longer board before moving over to my still long but shorter board (6’10).

The main downside of switching is never quite getting used to any board. You have to surf every board slightly differently; that can be as much of a learning curve as changing length

[Lebowski]

In my opinion, the boards between about 6'8 and 7'6 tend to have the worst features of being short with none of the advantages of being long, but maybe that's just me.

More comments on this? Strikes me as an overgeneralization since boards have many other distinguishing features other than length.

It is indeed a generalization, hence why I said 'in my opinion' and 'tend to'. I'm absolutely sure that there are some magic boards out there which fall into this size range. Most of the boards I have ridden though which I don't want to ride again have been within this range. My general reasoning has been:

No real paddle advantage over a shorter board
Still a bit bulky for decent duckdiving
They have generally felt sluggish and unresponsive for me

It's entirely possible that it's just a size range that doesn't suit me personally. I'd much rather be on a longboard, 7'6 mini mal type shape, or something shortboardy 6'6 ish and under.

The more shortboarder are there the better! They are closer to the shoreline and lack priority ......

This is not how priority is supposed to work! Otherwise Longboarders would always have priority over shortboarders and Paddleboarders would have the pick of everything. I'm sure we've all surfed breaks where people behave like this and it can quickly ruin everybody's enjoyment.

[steveylang]

So I mean, I've never seen anybody say something like this: Warm up on your 9', then spend an hour on a 7'6, another hour on your 8'0, and so on. There are some logistical challenges there, obviously: like who has 4 board at the beach on the same day. But if skill development is the goal -- vs enjoyment -- then why not?

I am gonna quote DTC because he wrote a really good post about board size for learners:

To catch a wave requires paddling, positioning and timing.

I like to think of it in terms of margin of error.

On a long board you might need to get these things 80% right to catch a wave. On a shortboard you might need to get it 95% right (figures are obviously made up for illustration, but you get the point)

So you are discovering you were probably getting things 85% right. Comfortable for a longer board, but on a short board that means you don’t catch any waves at all.

You should surf whatever size board still allows you for some margin of error, not just to help you catch more waves but so you can practice and improve your skills (trimming, carving, bottom turn, etc.)

The 6" board length increment is not hard and fast, but a good starting point. Keep in mind that a 6" drop makes much more of a difference at shorter lengths (going from 6'6" to 6') than longer lengths (9' to 8'6".) I think people that have started surfing green waves with consistency on a 9' board can generally go down to say an 8' fun board/Mini Mal and be okay.

Too short of a board will not help you learn to turn better, it will hurt your progress. I understand that a 9' board is heavy and big and is generally a different kind of surfing, but jumping to a 6' shortboard generally doesn't help a beginner in any way. Even most people who learned on a shortboard and became good surfers generally will say, yeah I managed it but I wish I had started with a longer board.

I don't think there's much point in 'cross-training' different board lengths, as long as you are not surfing boards that are too short for you. Otherwise its better to minimize the variables (considering how variable the ocean can be), which allows you to focus on your surfing. Sometimes you might switch boards depending on the conditions, but that's generally about it.

I should have said this earlier, but one of the reasons I want a smaller board is a lot of the breaks around here have steeper drops. There are a couple good LB breaks, but most of the surfers are on shortboards. Curious to hear if you guys think this is just a matter of technique or if I need to stay out of those types of conditions.

Surfing is always about adapting to your board and the conditions, and every board represents a compromise of different factors. A shorter board is almost always harder to surf. Seeing short boarders drop into steep waves may look easier than a big board, but it isn't. A longer board allows you to get into waves earlier before they start tipping over. You can even get into breaking waves on a bigger board, its a matter of positioning and balance on the board to prevent pearling.

I don't have a problem with mid length boards, especially if you are stepping down in size from a bigger board. They are more stable (which you may need), they do have more paddle power (depending on board volume) than shortboard, but obviously not as much as a longer board. You can still get into waves earlier than a short board which allows you to fit into a wave, again its always up to you to adapt to board and wave. Over time you may find your self gravitating towards certain board types/sizes/lengths of course.

It sounds like that 7'6" board was okay for you, but was it on an easier or harder day? I think there's literally no point for you to go any shorter than this, but that size may work for your next board (shape and overall dimensions are a factor too.) But surf a board that gives you some margin of error, not the shortest possible board you can manage to surf (I wasted time on this myself...)

All that being said, if you have the opportunity to try out friends' boards or rent shorter boards, give it a go as that's fun! Even if the session is a wash out, no harm done. What you don't want to do is buy the wrong board, and then feel forced to stick with it because you committed the money.

[OlegLupusov]

As the priority side note, there could be variations but after a couple of failed attempts nobody expects a short boarder to catch another small wave:)
And, with the constant rotation of surfers at a wide spread spot any priority rules would not benefit a shortboarder:)
At my spots, there is always at least one super skillful and aggressive surfboarder who snakes all the the time and catches most most of the waves. So, when such a surfer or surfers are in transition I have no good will to be lenient to any shortboarders.

[Sevitzky]

Just following up on this thread. In trying to move down in size from my 9'0, it's was just not feasible to sell this board, buy an 8'6, and then and 8'0, and then a 7'6. Has anybody actually done this progression and want to share about it? Spouses, kids, jobs, swell --- it's complicated enough to get into the water.

So I bought a 7'6, 55L Maluku flying frog. It's got a fat nose and pin tail. I can catch waves with the same consistency as my longboard. The biggest difference was not being able to use the tail to step on for the pop up, but that's something you can train up on land. Pearls less on steeper drops, paddles a touch slower.

So for anybody in my boat, who has put in a solid year of weekend surfing on a longboard, I think it's find to make a jump down. Just my experience.

[Lebowski]

Nice to hear an update from the original poster. I'm glad it's working for you. Personally I think a 7'6 is a reasonable size after a 9'er. One of my favourite boards actually was a Spider 7'6 mini mal which became my go to board for about a year, even when the surf was big. My friend who owned it let me use it whenever I liked, and every surf was so much fun, that I barely took out my own shortboard.

I was in Sri Lanka over Xmas and NY. It was a fun experience (although often crowded in the water). I look forward to going back.