Petite beginner needs some HELP please!

[Emgem]

Hey!
I'm looking for some advice on board sizes as I'm struggling on the massive foamies that I keep being given.

I'm 5ft and weigh 95lbs. I'm a pretty strong swimmer and balancing/getting up on my board seems to be no issue for me but I really struggle paddling out and getting through the waves with this cumbersome learning board.

I know people say the smaller the board the harder to ride the waves but surely it's also better to have a board you can handle in regards to height and weight! I feel like I'd be more confident on a board I can actually handle properly. I won't be out there much more than twice a month at the moment so I know progress will also be a bit tricky!

Has anyone got any advice they can give me please.
Thank you in advance! X

[oldmansurfer]

I haven't ever used a foam board but I hear they paddle really well. They are probably harder to go through breaking surf with because they are light and flexible. Probably getting an 8 foot longboard would be good to start on. When you begin to learn to surf you find out that there are many aspects of surfing that aren't just riding a wave in to the shore. One of them is paddling and another is going through surf. There are many different methods to get through the surf but they are all helped by paddling better. Often we hear beginners who want to get a shortboard because they can't duck dive the longboards to get out through the surf. Everyone is different in their abilities to adapt to this new sport but most often it seems that beginners get a shortboard and find they still can't get out through the surf or if they do get out they can't catch any waves. The usual advice for someone is to start on a board about 3 feet longer than them so an 8 foot longboard design will be better than the foam board in that it will have more momentum going through a wave because it is heavier and it will be easier to handle because it doesn't flex appreciably. It will likely not paddle quite as good as an 8 foot foamie but it will paddle much better than a shortboard. There are many techniques used to get out through the surf duck diving is just one of them and even when I surfed boards that I could duck dive I avoided situations where I needed to duck dive. That should be a primary goal for any beginner surfer to learn how to avoid those situations. This is accomplished by first learning about the ocean. How the waves break, where the current are, the timing of the waves, all of these will help you to get out through the surf. So before you go out look at the ocean learn where the waves are breaking and where the currents are and how frequent there are waves. Then plot a way to get out through the surf avoiding where other surfers are riding waves. Then there are a variety of ways to get through waves that have broken.
I am advising you to so this yet I learned on a short board. I didn't use a longboard until recently when I had quit surfing and gotten out of shape and wanted to restart learning. When I learned on a shortboard I was not only in tip top shape I was already extremely familiar with the ocean and waves and currents and knew something about how to get out through the surf because I was a body surfer and a body boarder and a knee boarder before I started surfing.
I am 63 years old and need some extra flotation so I don't use any boards that can be duckdived. I have no problem getting out through the surf. You will only be surfing 2 times a month and that is barely enough to keep from getting worse and not too great for learning more so the more help from a board the better so a longer board would be better

[saltydog]

It depends on the size of the foamies that they are giving you... but where I surf 10 year olds learn on costco foamies and they can do quite a bit on those, so you are not too small for most typical foamies. Now, I'm a tad bigger at 5'2" and 105lb, I found it a little hard to learn on those as a raw beginner. It was a little too wide at 23" for me to paddle comfortably and I didn't need all the buoyancy that I had to fight against while trying to hold onto it when I wiped out. Having said that, I was surfing weekly on my own and stayed with that board for about 15-20 sessions before I switched to a 9' hard longboard which I still ride on occasion. I still take out the foamie as well and it paddles great and rides ok so it really isn't the board that's making things difficult but rather we don't have proper set of skill whenvstaroting out.

So with your frequency, you might want to stick with the foamie as long as it's around 8-9', until you can catch some unbroken waves on your own without help, after that you'd want a hard board of similar dimensions.

However, if the foam boards you use are taking in water or otherwise extremely heavy, you need a different board, even if that's another foam board.

[waikikikichan]

I'm a pretty strong swimmer and balancing/getting up on my board seems to be no issue for me but I really struggle paddling out and getting through the waves with this cumbersome learning board.

So maybe you should use that Strong Paddle to paddle AROUND the break and use your Brain Muscles to figure out When and What path to take to get back out. A lot of times it's more Brain than Brawn. Maybe wait for the 3rd wave in the set to paddle back. Don't fight mother nature or the wave.

I know people say the smaller the board the harder to ride the waves but surely it's also better to have a board you can handle in regards to height and weight! I feel like I'd be more confident on a board I can actually handle properly.

What does it matter if you can get out on a smaller board, but then not catch a wave due to float, stability and position in the line up where you'll be needing to sit ??
DUPLO blocks are much bigger than standard LEGO blocks for a reason. They're easier to connect and pull apart. Sure a longboard feels big and bulky, but there's a reason.

Why don't you try a smaller board from a friend or one of the schools rentals to see if you can get out and actually get up on one of those. Just make sure you aren't alone by yourself, please.

[kookRachelle]

Hey!
I'm looking for some advice on board sizes as I'm struggling on the massive foamies that I keep being given.

I'm 5ft and weigh 95lbs. I'm a pretty strong swimmer and balancing/getting up on my board seems to be no issue for me but I really struggle paddling out and getting through the waves with this cumbersome learning board.

I know people say the smaller the board the harder to ride the waves but surely it's also better to have a board you can handle in regards to height and weight! I feel like I'd be more confident on a board I can actually handle properly. I won't be out there much more than twice a month at the moment so I know progress will also be a bit tricky!

Has anyone got any advice they can give me please.
Thank you in advance! X

I'm 5'2", 117lbs and used to be a competitive swimmer (long and short distance) on a NYC Masters swim team. I am a beginner surfer as well and can tell you with great confidence that foamies provide the most volume and if you feel you're having a tough time paddling with those, you will absolutely not find paddling on a smaller board (certainly not a hard top) any easier. It really has nothing to do with how strong of a swimmer you are. I agree that these things don't duck dive and it can be tough to get out to the line, for sure. This takes practice though in terms of board maneuvering, that's all. You'll get used to it in no time. Paddling on a board is a bit different than freestyle actually as you dig DEEP and almost push the water under the board. A suggestion I got that really helped me is to bend your knees when you paddle as opposed to straight legs. This puts more weight on your chest and stabilizes the board. I usually do this while paddling out, and I also do it in faster waves that require stronger paddling. Another thing I do, to get into the wave if I need a few extra strokes is a double arm stroke, like a strong butterfly. Regardless, you might want to try out a narrower foamie if someone near you offers them. You're not going to learn, nor have much fun trying to progress on anything else. It took me a good 3 weeks on a foamie (surfing 3x a week) to progress to a 8'6 hard top.

Hope that helps - have fun!!

[kookRachelle]

Sorry OP, meant to say arching your back while paddling puts more weight on the board and stabilizes it. I have also heard that bending your knees puts more weight on your chest also stabilizing the board, but I find arching my back helps me more. Maybe someone could confirm this? I see a lot of surfers arch their back, lifting their chests off and with straight legs but the legs/feet are also lifted off the board slightly.