Surfing Waves

my friends 12 year old son comes to visit every other weekend and we have started him surfing. he is coming on a lot faster than I did as expected. so far he has only been out in 1 to 2 ft waves on his dad's longboard but is already hitting the green face and shooting the line. we are trying to decide what board to get him and know nothing about kids boards. obviously he'll be heading out to slightly bigger waves soon and his dad's 9fter might be a bit too much like alligator wrestling if it gets messy. not sure of his weight exactly but he's up to my shoulder height wise but is pretty lean for his height. he has a pretty good level of fitness (swims a good bit, going for his black belt in karate pretty soon). any suggestions from parents of groms greatly appreciated?

Just buy the next size down softboard, the 8ft are usually cheap and found everywhere.

If not, maybe it's time he went down to a shortboard. I bought my 11 year old nephew a used 6'8" shortboard in great condition for a cheap price. Easy enough to carry, big enough to still be super easy to use and cheap enough that no one cares if he bangs it around. Not much science to my suggestion.

I also suggest an NSP epoxy board, the kid can drop it, bang it, throw it and nothing will happen to it. Not great performance, but for durabily and price you can't beat it.

Hope that helps