Surfing Waves

Right i want everyone to comment on this one , im love the style of longboarding the smooth lines the nose riding ,the attitude of longboarders .then there is the short boarders short aggresive rides sick manouvers and so on . i am considering what board to move on up to nxt year some time(probably after summer hols ,thinking ahead ya see) but then theres the + and - points like a long board is stlye/ smaller waves can be ridden/people can be hit over head with it/my preffered choice -then the long board is more exspensive at a shapers /unpraticle to put in the car /big jobto wax /

then the shortboard more common choice pratical in the car/cheaper to buy/easier to wax/ then everyones got one /dont paticuarly like the stlye /

please tell me what you ride and give me your argument on which is the best in your eyes and why im a lot more over on the longboarding side because i was influenced by the lad at my local break who taught me to surf but its props goin to cost me a bomb to get a decent longboard .oh and i currentl on a 7"6 mini-mal /

i rid a longboard and love it just crusing on those 1-3ft waves i have so much fun, but next year i want to drop to a smaller 7ft retro so i can still cruise and glide along the waves but have the ablity to throw the board about a bit more

plus ill keep the longboard so i can ride both

also if your tight for cash pick up a second hand board you can normaly get good deals on second hand longboards, also second hand shortboards for next to nothing

i decided to ride a longboard because i dont like the aggressive nature of shortboarding portrayed in magazines, the attitude towards longboarders, and people who live inland (im talking about surf europe, i read an issue of this which bashed both) i prefer the laid back flow of longboarding and the friendly non competitive atmosphere of my club. also, i have no desitre to ride big waves or paddle into them. so it doesnt bother me that its hard to duckdive, i figure if i cant get my board out then i dont want to be out there. i can however see the appeal of shortboarding and totally understand that not all (probably even many) of the shortboarders of the world share the views that anyone who lives inland or rides a longboard shouldnt be allowed to surf.
thats my opinion on the matter. if you prefer longboarding, then go with longboarding, do it for the love of it, if you decide to get a shortboard so you can stick it in your car even though you prefer longboards then some time down the line you may end up dreading surfing because you just dont enjoy it anymore. its your decision, why not try lots of different lengths, or a hybrid style? before you make your final decision. good luck and tell us what you decide

but isn't this kinda why fish and funboards were designed? to kinda have some of the longboard points on a shorter board? Like you got some of the volume, kinda cruizey ish... can get on the smaller waves, and don't have to kill everything, but you also get a shorter board thats easier to transport and wax and all that stuff...

but like babyboarder(?) said about if you like longboarding, stick wiht it. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I always knew I wanted to ride a SB soon as I was able to stand on a foamy and turn. If you are happy with a mellow turn then thats cool - stick with a longer type board but if you yearn for that more progressive faster more extreme carve then go shorter.

Personally I hate riding LBs. I get frustrated with their lack of manouvreability, response and limited prospects of moves that can be done on them. In general its easier to ride a LB in small waves but thats one of the things I like about the SB - that it keeps you on your toes and if you lay off a while and become less fit etc you will suffer by finding it harder to surf, but then again are rewarded when you get back into it and the waves pick up etc.

I wouldn't have thought anybody would have any difficulty knowing if they prefer long or short boards. You just know!

It 'seems' as tho LBorders are more interested in the lifestyle side of things, whereas the SBorders just get on with the surfing and the lifestyle is what it is .

And just to throw a spanner in the works of all the cliches of SB v LB, check out Rob Machado's surfing style. He rides a SB predominantly but kinda in a LB style. I'm sure there are LBorders who surf in a SB style but I don't actually know of any myself .

bonga perkins rides a longboard like a shortboard and can pull off some amazing tricks on a longboard ive seen videos of him taking on 20ft pipe on a longboard and makes it look so easy, i wouldnt say all longboarders want the life style for me its catching waves life style comes with it

i plan on riding both longboard and short board i do find my self geting frustrated some times trying to pull off tricks like off the lips and cut backs on a longboard becuse they are just so hard to pull off, reason why im gonna get a retro board next year so i can learn to do ticks easyer, go out in bigger surf and be able to throw the board about alot more

so many people just ride 1 style of board but i want to be able to experance both, to be able to get up look at the cams and see its 4-6 ft howling off shore and be able to grab the short board then when its 1-2 ft grab the log for some nose riding and crusing

Shortboards all the way for me for sure. Yeah, I started on a minimal, which was really great for showing you the ropes, but as people have said its what you look for in surfing, I think in someways its a reflection of your own personality, like Babyboarder was saying she doesnt see the need to go out in big juice, which is cool, its just goes to show she doesn't personally need big waves to be a 'surfer' and as a result she decided to ride a bigger board.
In contrast, Broosta wants the opposite, radical, progressive turns with more bite than what a LB has to offer, its just what you feel the best riding, and thats what surfing all boils down to.

I wouldn't have thought anybody would have any difficulty knowing if they prefer long or short boards. You just know!

Total agreement my friend!

The bottom line is ride what you want to ride!

Right heres what brought me too write this topic i did always know i wanted to ride a longboard , i read all the longboarding material i can get hold of but then i watched a short shortboard movie and i just thought Wow ,and it kinda made me appreciate shortboarding more and want to ride a short board but then i go back and read/watch longboarding stuff and get transfixed on longboarding again but im still i do love longboarding more than sbing i just wanted to see what you all ride and what you views are and if any of you do use diffrent styles of board like phil says ,

shortboard i like a lot of speed in my thrills!

I started off on a 6'6" shortboard and now still ride a 6'6" shortboard and also have a longboard. Most of the time I went surfing in summer, and the waves were small, like 2-3' so it made riding the longboard more fun and just nose riding/crusing was great. I only take my shortboard out now when it gets 4'+. I wouldn't really say I'm a short boarder or a long boarder as I like both in different ways.

ste

i dont know as ive never riden a long board, ive only got a 6.4 and 7.6 but long boards do look fun, guess its just what mood your in or what the surf is doing

I like ALL styles it depends on the mood/swell. Some days I'm feeling agro and enjoy a steep, fast, grinding beach break for the 6'2. Other times a nice long mellow point break for a good long cruise on my 9'6 nose rider, works good when you have a hang over and want to surf. Then the 7'6 fun board is just that, fun.
Late.

I'm afraid of a longboard, the people out there in mabye head high waves with 9 foot boards, i envy for their bravery. I borowed my friends 7 ft nsp for a few minutes, a little three foot wave came along, and i was scaried xxxxx, i couldnt turn that thing to save my life.

I started on a 6 foot 8 inch shorti/semigun and loved it but i felt i needed more speed and bite... so now i ride a 6 foot and i love it.

A major factor for me is im scared of riding a longboard because there is so much more glass you have to worry about. When i get dumped i dont really worry about getting hit by a 6 foot shrimp that weighs no less than a bag of feathers. And they are so much easier to manouver on and off waves (ie: duckdiving, turning around for a wave).

But i must say im damn impressed when LBers run up and down the board doing all kind of oldschool stuff