Surfing Waves

Hi! I’m back in surf after 10 years away living far from the ocean...34 yrs old, 5’8, 130 pounds (173cm, 60kg).

Been back almost 1,5 yr now, transitioning to short board but not sure which...if you guys could lend an advice, i would appreciate very much.

Re-started with a 7’0 funboard and stayed with it for around 2 months. Got a EPS 5’8 Retro Twin and been using it alot since. Also a 5’5 PU retro Twin. The 5’5 suits me better. Surf here changes from knee to overhead, been out both cases. Steep drops are a problem on bigger waves, that’s why i’m looking for a smaller, slower and more agile board. I guess the fishes stay around 32-35lts which i can but sucks on duckdiving. I can even duckdive the 7’0 but above headhigh thats a scary thing to do, also lots of weight moving around.

I’m between a 5’8 EPS thruster, round tail and a 5’9 PU thruster squash tail. Waves here are not that powerful to a step up and since it’s sand bottom place, above 4-5ft the bottom cant hold the waves anymore, so chances are most surfs between 3-4,5 ftt maximum.

Do you guys im looking for the right boards or are they too small? I have a hard time riding bigger boards, the 5’5 fish works well and can even noseride it!

Thanks!

Forgot to mention :

the 5'8 is 26lts, the 5'9 27,5lts

Honestly if you can tell the difference between a 5’8 and a 5’9 or between 26 and 27.5L, then you probably don’t need our advice!

When you say 4ft waves, is that 4ft face ie about chest high? Or is it 4ft Hawaiian ie a bit over head high?

I would probably look more at the tail size and rocker rather than volume. Bigger waves - smaller tail; more rocker. A standard performance shortboard is designed for head high steep beach breaks - 19 inches or so wide, pointy nose, fair bit of rocker, squash ir maybe thumb tail. There are literally 1000s of shortboards that will do well in these conditions

Btw, you can’t really have a slower and a more agile board. Agility in surfing is based on speed. You can have a slower and less stable board (=easier turning) by going narrower or shorter, but you are already at mid 5ft so shorter isn’t really an option

I am not familiar with commercial boards having used custom made boards for most of the time I have spent surfing. Interesting problem you have. Bigger boards usually work better on bigger waves but you are saying they are difficult for you? Things that help taking a steep drop are tail rocker and narrower tail. The rocker allows you to fit the wave shape better and turn easier. The narrow tail cuts into the wave and allows you to turn higher up. Both of those designs decrease the amount of push from the wave so you will get in later but have an easier time to take the drop (you have to paddle and lineup better). The shortest board I use is a 7' egg shape it has a nose like a longboard and no rocker (very little) but a narrow tail so it takes steep drops well by being able to turn high on the face. On bigger waves I can only do late steep drops as the design doesn't allow me to get in sooner however it does the late steep drops very well. The longest board I use is 8 foot rounded pin. It takes a drop well because it paddles well and gets into the wave quicker then it has lots of tail rocker which makes it fit to the shape of the curving wave face better and turn easier at the bottom. On really steep big waves (double overhead or bigger) I slide my front foot to the inside on the drop to push the inside edge into the wave face which helps it to turn sooner.. No need to do that on waves the size you are talking about. So a narrow tail pushes less because there is less surface area for the wave to push on. A board with lots of tail rocker has less push from the wave because a flat bottom pushes more and the curve in the rocker lets water slip off with out as much push so it makes a board act in many ways like a shorter board. Prior to using those boards I used a 9'6' longboard and while I worried a lot about it taking steep drops it actually did fairly well but I guess I had developed skills and that board had lots of tail rocker too. Anyway I imagine you could learn to use either of those boards but I am not familiar enough with them to say anything specific. I forgot to add that rail design also helps on steep drops but not too clear in which ways

I forgot to add so by extension if you get a board with a narrower tail or lots of tail rocker you should get a slightly longer board because they will work like a shorter board

You are small dude, size down.

I'm 6ft, and am usually on 5'10"s up until overhead. Get yourself a dd hpsb, with a fuller nose and tail, a little shorter than yourself, around 5'6". Something like this looks like a good time:

https://www.tpattersonsurfboards.com/poolparty

I don’t think you mentioned anything about the fin setup you’re using. That has a effect on how the board turns, turns in, holds a line, etc. Plus most people tend to “over fin”.
Having a problem taking the drop ....... hmmm ....... are you using a QUAD fin setup ??

Thank you all! It has being a lot of help.

Answering... I use all kinds of fins...as I got back in surf one and a half year ago I got myself a 7'0 evolution EPS Thruster. After two months I swapped it for a EPS 5'8 Twin Fin and rode it so far.

Now I changed both for a EPS 5'8 that I use either as tri or quad, and this would be my groveller board and a 5'5 TwinFin (intended for those windy days because here in Rio we get loads of afternoon ESE-ESW winds).

About my issue with bigger boards...as we all know, small boards are less stable, but even though, I find that bigger ones in overall are more of a hurdle than a help. Sure, they improve the wave counting, but if believe they are too forgiving at my mistakes and I can't give myself that luxury: you don't need to make a big effort to paddle in or out, nor step properly on the board neither weight your body accordingly, and these are the main issues with my surfing right now, about all, the thing is: except for their paddling power, on medium to bigger sized waves on beach brakes they make it harder to get out on the lineup and, on wipeouts, they are kinda scary - duck diving it requires lot of energy and so do turtle rolling.

My biggest question is: how small a performance board should be for someone like me?

I misspelled the lts, the ones I'm looking for are
5'8 x 19 1/2 x 2 3/8 29 lts (if I counted it right) EPS Thruster Round Tail (this one's follows the HyptoKrypto shape)
5'9 x 19 1/4 x 2 3/8 27,2 lts PU Thruster Squash Tail (this one has exactly the outline mentioned https://www.tpattersonsurfboards.com/poolparty)

Both have a midpoint close to the nose.

thanks !

What kind of performance are you looking for? A committed surfer generally requires 3 shortboards.

If you are talking about sizing a true HPSB for good waves (shoulder+ with push), then get something with a knifey nose, fairly pulled in tail, 19-20" wide. I would say size the length at your height, or +1 or 2 inches. My good wave shortboard is a 6' 19" 2 3/8".

DD shortboard, the one you use most often, maybe 1 or two inches less than your height. My DD is 5'10, i use this from waist to head high, if it's not too punchy.

Groveler, you are going to want it pretty short to fit into small, tight transitions, so 4 or more inches less than your height. If it's micro sh*t i jump onto something more cruisey.

This is just a general guide, but through years of trial and error tends to work for me. Don't get too caught up in liters and decimal points, rather, find a range that works for you. This requires surfing lots of different boards. I'm 165 so 29-31 for hpsb, 31-34 for dd, then 36+ for small waves.

You can also rip on bigger boards too, and as many have said on this site, it's far easier to develop good technique on something bigger. Until you can bottom turn, top turn (off the lip), cutback and do floaters, then it isn't advisable surfing a shortboard, unless you are 11 years old and in the golden years.