Beginner transitioning to hardboard

[SebyC3000]

Hi everyone,
I've been surfing all summer on a 7'6 foamie in Portugal. I can catch waves, stand and turn a little even now.
I'd like to get better and upgrade my board.
Ive generally been advised I'll need lots of volume, and some have said that a 7'6 minimal style hard board might be too difficult for me. However a minimal appeals to me as I can get the best of both worlds - longboard with an element of the shortboard.
I'm 192cm and 85kgs, but am of good fitness at the moment (thanks to a summer of surfing!) and am able to practice regularly.
I'd welcome any advice on what I should go for next .
And can you duckdive a 7'6?
Big thanks

[dtc]

As someone who is 189cm and 84kg, no I can't duck a 7ft4 board. Well, thats not quite true - I can get it about 15 inches underwater using the normal duckdive method (pushing the nose down) and I can get it about 2ft underwater using a scooping method if I manage to get it just right. But neither of those work whatsoever in a wave of any size, since (a) once I lay on the board part of me is still above the water and (b) the board is so bouyant that it floats up very quickly anyway.

There are people who can duck dive a long board, but not me

In any case, dont worry about duck diving. A good turtle roll technique achieves the same outcome and you can definitely do that on a funboard

As to whether you should get a fun board - no doubt at all that a long board (8-9ft) will be easier for you. What you will find is that the longer the board, the more margin for error you have. So if your paddling or pop up or stance are not quite right at the moment - the long board will allow you to be wrong and not fall off, or give you some time to correct it before it all goes badly. A shorter board has smaller margin for error. A foam board gives more margin for error than the equivalently sized hard board

Will a 7'6 be impossible - no. It may take you quite a few sessions to figure out how to catch waves again/not fall off, but it will be possible. Particularly if you get a wide (22 inches) board, it will give you a lot more stability. If thats what you want to go for and you understand the risks, then go for it. The worst that can happen is that you have to go back to the foam board for a while