fish or funboard

[surfernoob]

i've surfed 4 times now on my friends 5'11 shortboard and its been difficult catching waves. i just feel like the hours i spend out in the water im not getting enough chances to practice standing up on the waves. i know i'd be having so much more fun on a board i could catch more waves on. im looking into fishes and funboards (mini mals?). which is easier to catch waves on on 3-4 foot waves that are common at my local beach? Which is easier to stand up on, i assume the minimal would be, but is the fish a pretty hard board to learn on? any opinions on the two types of board would be helpful in terms of a beginner surfer. i plan to surf at least a few times a week to give an idea of the dedication level.

[Surfdoc]

First off how tall are you and what do you weigh? A 5'11 is going to be difficult for any one to learn on. I would reccomend the fun shape or a jump to a full longboard. I have been looking at some fish for a while and I understand that they catch waves easy but can be fast and loose down the line. That might be a little much for a beginner.

[kitesurfer]

Retro fishes do catch waves easier than minimals but they would be a very hard board to learn on. Learn the basics on the minimal or longboard first. Rent one for your first few times out, then see if you can rent a shorter board and see how you get on before you go ahead and buy.
Retro fishes ride a certain way which is different to most other boards and learning on one may well get you into bad habits with your technique.

KS

[surfernoob]

cool thanks for the feedback. i'm 5'8 140 lbs. yea the shortboards been a hell of a time learning on. i would love to rent a few boards to try as many as i could out, but money is a BIG issue for me right now as im a poor graduate student (which is why i'm thinking about going straight into buying a board). interesting to hear fishes feel a lot different. i'm really attracted to the egg shape mid sizes. a long board sounds fun but i know i wanna get into something shorter at one point so i can't afford to get one then move on to a shorter one. i don't necessarily want to eventually go to a shortboard, thats not my goal as of now. but i do want something i can start with, get on waves more often than not, and use for a long time even as an intermediate surfer.