Surfing Waves

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum! I was hoping to get some advise on transitioning to a shortboard, I've been struggling a bit and would appreciate your feedback. I've been riding an 8'4" egg for about 2 years, and recently purchased a 6' 4" FireWire Spitfire. I think it's a solid choice for a first short board, and is about 41 liters in volume, so lots of float. I'm struggling to get into waves, and feel solid with my pop up, so my question is... Should I have opted for something a little wider or longer, like a fish, and then moved to an even smaller shortboard next? Or do I need to just get out more often and work through the struggle? Btw, I'm 6'0" and 170 lbs. and surf once or twice a week.

That Spitfire size is good for ur stats and level, but coming down from 8'4 is a big step and needs time to adjust.

Basically u need better positioning, timing and a bit faster popup.

The main difference is a bigger board is more forgiving for all those criteria, so for the shorter board u have to be a bit sharper at those. It's a normal process and u will get it if u put in the hours.

But if u don't like going thru this process u can get a size in between, and do it in steps.

1) Why and for what reasons did you decide to go for a 2 feet drop in size versus a 1 foot drop in size ? ( or what salesperson sold you or what internet site recommended you go that small ? ) I understand the 8'4" is like a mini-mal / mini-longboard, but why not go to and master a Funboard or Hybrid first ?

2) In your 2 years surfing, were you able to hit the lip front side and do backside cutbacks on that 8'4" ?

3) If you're trying to cross a river and jump directly to the 2nd rock further out, but fail to make it, shop you just keep at it ? Or maybe you should swallow your pride and just easily make it to the first rock that's closer ?

If you can't catch waves and even pop up, that's not fun. Goldilocks and 3 Bears answer. 8'4" too easy, 6'4" too hard, .........so........... 7'4" should be juuuuuust right. ( but save the 6'4" for later )

Thanks for the replies. I went with the 2' drop in size because I thought the volume and flat rocker on the Spitfire would help out a little more. It's a performance hybrid, and is pretty thick. I don't plan on getting rid of either board, and would gladly add the right fun board to my quiver. I've been riding both the 8'4" and Spitfire this summer depending on conditions (well... trying to ride the Spitfire). I don't think switching boards often has helped the learning curve.

The Spritfire was a suggested next step by a friend of mine... and he actually suggested a smaller one. I'm not actually too prideful to take a step back... that's why I posted here for advice . So what board you you add to my small quiver to help with the transition?

Also, the Spitfire isn't completely unrideable for me. I can pop up on it... my timing just sucks and I'm not as solid as I'd like to be. I was actually able to catch a couple waves this morning, just struggled to maintain speed and get much of a ride in mushy 2-3' surf.

Glassed wrote: I went with the 2' drop in size because I thought the volume and flat rocker on the Spitfire would help out a little more.

Glassed wrote:Also, the Spitfire isn't completely unrideable for me. I can pop up on it... my timing just sucks and I'm not as solid as I'd like to be. I was actually able to catch a couple waves this morning, just struggled to maintain speed and get much of a ride in mushy 2-3' surf.

As you found out, Liter volume is not the one all-end all. It doesn't matter rocker, fins, tail, eps/pu, etc. , if you do go shorter, what DOES change is where you need to take off. With your 8'4" you could take off BEFORE the wave breaks, giving you time to get to your feet and adjust your stance and look down the line. On a 6'4" you need to sit in the pit and catch AS the wave breaks and do 4-5 things in a split second. Everything happens much quicker and there's less room for error.

1300cc turbo Hayabusa isn't completely unrideable for me either, I can hold on for almost the whole block.

Catch a couple of waves? For the morning? Unless you can pinch a couple of waves off one set it's not worth mentioning. Spitfire as compared to the egg is not thick, it is not wide and it does not have a lot of volume, especially for your size. I'm out daily with 20-30 of "you"; a couple dozen "bobbers" who couldn't catch a wave on shortboards in the lineup again as always today....... today I took 20+ waves....Inwould paddle and either go or pull off if others were trying to get in deeper. They almost always missed as usual and I'd take the wave. Waves were small and mushy.....most of the lineup were on wide nosed shortboards....a couple of mini mals as well. I was on an 8'2" fungun because the waves were small, mushy, I'm big and out of shape after 3 months out of the water, and I knew that I'd be toe to toe with 30 others. Moral of the story is ride a board that you can surf so that you can learn to surf the wave. If you only get a handful of waves a sesh and those waves are short lived because you dig a rail, shovel the nose, bog the tail, fall off on pop up, miss the wave because of poor paddling and/or position, tire out too quick and have to call the sesh short, then what is the point? Why try to surf a board too short?

Can you turn better if you can't get a wave? Forget your friend and whoever else tells you that 6'4" has a lot of volume......compared to what? And what does it matter if you can't surf it?

Big H wrote:Catch a couple of waves? For the morning? Unless you can pinch a couple of waves off one set it's not worth mentioning. Spitfire as compared to the egg is not thick, it is not wide and it does not have a lot of volume, especially for your size. I'm out daily with 20-30 of "you"; a couple dozen "bobbers" who couldn't catch a wave on shortboards in the lineup again as always today....... today I took 20+ waves....Inwould paddle and either go or pull off if others were trying to get in deeper. They almost always missed as usual and I'd take the wave. Waves were small and mushy.....most of the lineup were on wide nosed shortboards....a couple of mini mals as well. I was on an 8'2" fungun because the waves were small, mushy, I'm big and out of shape after 3 months out of the water, and I knew that I'd be toe to toe with 30 others. Moral of the story is ride a board that you can surf so that you can learn to surf the wave. If you only get a handful of waves a sesh and those waves are short lived because you dig a rail, shovel the nose, bog the tail, fall off on pop up, miss the wave because of poor paddling and/or position, tire out too quick and have to call the sesh short, then what is the point? Why try to surf a board too short?

Can you turn better if you can't get a wave? Forget your friend and whoever else tells you that 6'4" has a lot of volume......compared to what? And what does it matter if you can't surf it?

Right, I can't turn better if I can't catch a wave... Thanks Captain Obvious. I posted looking for advise on stepping down from my 8' 4". Are you all shredders from the womb? Never had to learn anything new have you? Well lucky you bro. Yes, I know I need to keep my wave count up. If you think my Spitfire is not going to allow me to reach my goals (catching more waves on my shortboard)... what board would you recommend as a transition? Or, do you have some tips for making the transition smoother? That's what I'm looking for.

I do surf both my 8'4" and my short board depending on the waves. I can catch loads of waves on the longboard. As you've all mentioned... short boards require different teqnique, timing, etc... so never riding a shortboard isn't going to improve my short boarding ability. So if anyone actually has any suggestions on a step-down board that's better than the Spitfire I own, I'd appreciate it. Which board would you learn to ride next?

If you want to ride that 1300 Hayabusa but you only own a cruiser do you next go to a Ninja250? Duke390? R6? R1?... or do you just go home and ?

It's been said; a funboard around 7ft would be a better board for you now.

It may be obvious but I surf among the deluded daily. 80% of the lineup are on boards too small. For ME that is obvious, but apparently none of them can see it. I see ads on Facebook where boards around 6'4" and 40L are being touted as "huge volume" and great for beginners......again, apparently not enough since I rarely see anyone one these boards doing much more than waiting on waiting.

Get a funboard and shelve the ego and the attitude.....you might just get a wave here and there.

Shorter boards have less glide so they want to stop as soon as you stop paddling them which makes for more work to use them. If you put in enough hours a week surfing and aren't easily disappointed you can learn to paddle better. Shorter boards require that you are laying more exactly in the right place on them when you paddle. An inch one way or another and it's much more difficult to paddle. You can learn where this spot is for your shortboard which will help you to catch more waves while you are building paddle fitness. Shorter boards get less push from the wave so you have to take off on steeper waves in more critical positions. This can be learned but the question is do you have the determination and time available to overcome these issues? We don't know but we do know if you don't make such a huge drop in size it is easier. I did a 1.5 foot drop in size and for a while thought I had made a mistake and ordered a bigger board but by the time it came in I was getting used to the smaller board

Most forums have been here for many many years. It's not that they don't want to help. You might feel that they are being sarcastic and unhelpful but you have to understand that they see the same question almost every other week and the people they are trying to help just wants to get a shortboard and shred. I too once made the same post a couple of years ago. I ignored all advices and went from 9'0 to a 6'3. Needless to say I wasted my money and my ego went out the window. I'm now considering a 7'6 after renting a bunch of smaller boards from 6'8- 8'6 over the years. My advice would be to try rent a board and see what you like.

The main reason for my question is that I have made decent progress on the Spitfire. But then we have weeks of mushy 1-2' surf, and I go back to the long board to catch more waves. Unfortunately, getting back on the Spitfire feels like starting over because they are so different. So I am looking for that shortboard feel to keep me progressing when waves are small. I'll look into some 7' fish options, or a crossover board like the FireWire Addvance or Greedy Beaver. Thanks for everyone's comments. Any thoughts on those boards are also appreciated.

Glassed wrote:a crossover board like the FireWire Addvance or Greedy Beaver... Any thoughts on those boards are also appreciated.

I (54yo, 6ft, 165lbs) have the 6'6" 48L Addvance, it's great! It paddles really well and it catches waves easy because it holds a lot of the volume in the front so u can put ur weight forward to make the drop while the shortness and strong nose flip prevents pearling.

I also have a 8'2 Submoon I like a lot and a 6'2 Hashtag for steeper waves. After surfing the SM for some time it's hard to go down to the 6'2 # because the takeoff can feel very wobbly, but stepping down to the 6'6 Add is no problem because it's almost as stable as the SM in takeoff because of the width in the forward area.

With small thruster fins the Add offers a surprising lot of performance in oh+ and I can connect to inside sections by stepping on the nose to trim tru the weak stuff. I can even duckdive it in medium (Head high Bali mind you..) whitewater walls, it's a matter of timing the 48L goes under in slowmotion..
Now you could go for an 6'8 or 6'10, but I think the 6'6 is the one. It's already huge and thick for a shorter board.

I had a Dominator 6'6, that's the exact same shape as the Spitfire apart for the step down tail. (at the time I went from a 7'9 malibu to the 6'6 Dom without any problem. Was up and surfing the walls first time out) But the wide tail of the BIG Dom was too much for the Baliwaves so I sold it.

For your weight surfing 2-3' mushy waves (I assume you mean 2-3' from the back of the wave right?) the Spitfire 6'4 is perfect.

I cannot speak from experience surfing the Greedy Beaver but as it happens I was feeling up a 6'0 (37L?) the other day in the shop, I liked what I saw a lot, I would love to try one some day.

If ur interested in a GB the go to Boardformula.com and compare it to ur Spit. Look at the tail width especially, the narrow tail of the GB needs a wave with some push. The wide tail of the Spit is perfect for those 2-3' mushies, just put in the effort and the board will come alive

But like I said earlier if u want to make it easier on urself get something in between like the Add or something longer and less bulky.

I (54yo, 6ft, 165lbs) have the 6'6" 48L Addvance, it's great! It paddles really well and it catches waves easy because it holds a lot of the volume in the front so u can put ur weight forward to make the drop while the shortness and strong nose flip prevents pearling.

Thanks for all of your feedback! That is all very helpful info, just what I was looking for! I think the Addvance sounds like the way to go for me. I feel like the Dominator isn't quite different enough from my Spitfire, and when I'm a little more confident in my shortboarding I'll end up only using one of the two... might as well be the Spitfire since I already own it. Now I just need to find an Add and GB demo to try out this weekend. Thanks!

Glassed wrote:Right, I can't turn better if I can't catch a wave... Thanks Captain Obvious. I posted looking for advise on stepping down from my 8' 4". Are you all shredders from the womb? Never had to learn anything new have you? Well lucky you bro. Yes, I know I need to keep my wave count up. If you think my Spitfire is not going to allow me to reach my goals (catching more waves on my shortboard)... what board would you recommend as a transition? Or, do you have some tips for making the transition smoother? That's what I'm looking for.

I do surf both my 8'4" and my short board depending on the waves. I can catch loads of waves on the longboard. As you've all mentioned... short boards require different teqnique, timing, etc... so never riding a shortboard isn't going to improve my short boarding ability. So if anyone actually has any suggestions on a step-down board that's better than the Spitfire I own, I'd appreciate it. Which board would you learn to ride next?

If you want to ride that 1300 Hayabusa but you only own a cruiser do you next go to a Ninja250? Duke390? R6? R1?... or do you just go home and ?

Glassed wrote:Now I just need to find an Add and GB demo to try out this weekend. Thanks!

Demo, is the way to go. I did a demo of the Add 606 and was sold.