Surfing Waves

I know me and BigH go around with this topic but let me explain my current thoughts on using multiple boards. First of all I have 3 boards that I intend to use regularly now 8 foot fungun, 7'6" average joe knockoff, 7' egg. However I only have a small window of time to dedicate to surfing so I just go to the beach a mile from my house and surf whatever is there. There are several breaks with in the bay that I surf and the waves can vary from steep tubing waves to mushy cruizers and from 15 to 20 foot faces to 2 foot faces. I love my 8 foot board and it works well in the range of 2 to 15 feet steep or mushy. It catches waves better than the other two boards so when it is inconsistent I like the 8 foot board because I can be more out of position and still catch waves which is important for me because I am only giving myself 30 minutes to surf so I want to catch as many waves as I can during that time. I have used this board much more than the other two boards so I kind of have instincts or react to the wave as if I am riding the 8 foot board unless I ride one of the other boards for several sessions in a row and even then I want to react like I do with the 8 foot board but may change it because I am getting used to the other boards. If I don't know which particular break I am going to or how big or consistent the waves are prior to going to the beach I will take the 8 foot board. However if there are consistent waves with 12 foot or less faces I may take one of the other boards out. If I do take one of the other boards out I will try to ride it every time I surf so I can develop those instincts about what to do when with that board. Unfortunately there just haven't been much waves lately and they have been inconsistent so I have been riding only my 8 foot board. This is what I currently do however if I was learning I would stick entirely to one board. The reason why is you have to learn to use each board and if you switch boards it is going to slow down your learning. Hey but if you don't care if you learn slower then whatever. Everyone has their priorities and mine has been to learn as fast as I can given my other limitations. I think too if you are just learning you may try a board and think it is *expletive deleted* but if that was your only board you would be forced to learn to use it and once you did you might find you like the board. Some board you have to do things differently especially in some kinds of waves. So like my two smaller boards aren't meant for 12 foot face waves but I enjoy surfing that size and I enjoy using them at that size. they are both different and different from the 8 foot board which is easier to ride at that size so a good change of pace for me (when there are waves.)

If I was living close to a nice break with a car and places to put my boards. I'll have more boards than my shoes.

But 12foot face, I can't even imagine what that look like. I would be so frightened.

By the way due to snapping off a fin on my 8 foot board I have set it up as a thruster something I haven't taken the time to do all these years but I bought an adapter to use FCS fins in the fin box and figure since I was switching out fins I would try to make that darn thing fit which it didn't but after a bit of sanding I now have a thruster so maybe after surfing that board as a quad for more than 5 years I will notice a difference surfing it as a thruster But here is my take on quads and thrusters. I am guessing that if you ride quads all the time then switch to a thruster there is little difference but if you go the other way it's more noticeable. Just making a guess but I haven't really noticed a difference on any of my other boards switching from quad to thruster however I haven't tried this board as a thruster yet.

I completely agree that it's best to stick with one board while learning regardless of the condition. Too many variables to adjust to makes it very hard to learn, I personally noticed especially since I usually spend the first half hour warming up and trying to pinpoint the right position. But no matter what, you won't catch me in a lineup with anything bigger than OH

The surfboard industry goes thru phases. If it wasn't for the collapse of Clark Foam, we probably wouldn't be surfing as much EPS boards now. There was the "one board" quiver phase where you rode a single board in all types of waves. Then there was the ride "all board" phase - short, long, fish, alaia.
I look at it as a golf club set. 75 yard = 9 iron. Off the tee = 1 driver. on the green = putter. Longboard = small point break. Shortboard = steep reef break. Fish = mushy beach break. That said if your swing sucks ( super cocked elbow chicken wing ) it doesn't matter what club you use. But if you have good technique, you could use almost any club or someone's borrowed clubs and do well. Tiger Wood can out drive me with his putter.

Not quite the same as golfing. But ultimately you want to learn to use all the clubs for golfing however with surfing it depends on what you want to do. Some people are shortboarders some are longboarders some SUP some foil some windsurf some kitesurf. No need to learn stuff you don't want to do. A beginner golfer won't get very good using just a 5 iron but a surfer can get quite good just riding a longboard or a shortboard . Surfboards all have limitations but the biggest one they have is the surfer using them. I guess if you want to learn to use all the different boards then go for it and it will take you longer to learn than if you only use a single board. If not then no reason to use them all. People have some idea that Oh you can't ride those kinds of waves on that kind of board and that might be true maybe you can't ....but someone else can

I'm a chef....have been for a long time at high levels. I can make an entire meal with a bread knife including fish and meat butchery IF I HAD TO. And I would say that I'd do it better than any of you could regardless of the equipment that you used. But just because I can break down a chicken and brunoise shallots faster and better than most with any knife if I used a bread knife doesn't mean it's the best tool for the job or is it what I would recommend to be used by someone who will or will not ever reach my skill level.

I was out yesterday in 2OH waves that were on the fat side....the 8'2" fungun was perfectly suited to paddle in easily, take the steep drop then make the fat section to get to the inside wall. It was so good I took it again today on 1.5OH fast jacking reef break where there are no channels and getting in early is muted since the wave goes from uncatchable to breaking in a narrow area....flat out easier on a shorter more rocketed board to get in and fit the wave once riding. Could I surf what I had? Yes I did, but I would have surfed it better had I taken a smaller board. Could Gerry Lopez or the instructor at the warung at the end of the beach surfed the wave better than me with the board that I had? Of course they could, but they have more experience and talent than I will ever have.......the question is IF I can surf a given wave in a given condition better with a certain board, WHY would I want to force myself to use only one board for every wave? If I was 15 and had a lifetime in the water ahead of me then yes I could see the benefits of leaning how to shred any wave in any board, or if I had been surfing nearly daily since childhood I imagine I could do that without trying too hard (cutting chicken with a bread knife). I haven't, I won't and I will continue to subscribe to the theories that underly building a quiver of boards.

Plus I live in Bali and surf everyday just about.....20+ breaks within 30min access that on a given day span a range of conditions. If the only reason not to change boards for the different waves and different condition each is in when I choose to surf it is that I will impinge on my learning curve then I'm not worried about that since I don't think I could learn or develop much faster than I am.

I have no problems at all riding a variety of waves with any of my boards. So I guess that is where I am different. I haven't ever been unable to ride a wave because of the board. If there were ever waves that I couldn't ride with whatever board I had then no one else was able to either. so maybe it's just me

oldmansurfer wrote: I guess if you want to learn to use all the different boards then go for it and it will take you longer to learn than if you only use a single board.

I agree with you that a beginner ( or more so the half-good beginner intermediates ) shouldn't be jumping around boards to be able to turn better or duck dive. So many are relying ( hoping ) that the different board will change / solve their problem. That's the point I was trying to make. A surfer with the good basics technique can surf ANY board. A surfer that sucks (weak paddle, bad stance, glue foot, stiff deep arms, no knowledge of the wave) won't be able to surf well on ANY board too. So best for him to stay on a proper board for his/her level until they're ready to move up.

If ur past the beginners phase more in the intermediate+ then in general it's good for ur development to mix things up. Be it different waves or boards, the new experiences add to ur skills.

But surfing is an individual sport, that u can do the way you like it.

The day before I went to a popular reefbreak at the Bukit with 7ft@16s swell, hadn't surfed that wave for years. So because I didn't know what to expect I brought 2 boards: Submoon 8'2 and Hashtag 6'2.

One look at the hollow and fast conditions made it clear the 6'2 was the (much) better choice. It was great!

Would I have had the same nice session on the 8'2? No way! Much more difficult in those conditions. Possible? Sure. Other days in other spots with slower breaking waves populated with longboarders it would be the other way around. Possible with the smaller board? Sure, but much harder to get a wave.

So in my surfing development, learning about the different boards is just as important as anything else. But that's me..

oldmansurfer wrote:I have no problems at all riding a variety of waves with any of my boards. So I guess that is where I am different. I haven't ever been unable to ride a wave because of the board. If there were ever waves that I couldn't ride with whatever board I had then no one else was able to either. so maybe it's just me

Yes but your boardsare all very similar.

This whole conversation is funny to me.....so if you ride a shortboard and decide you need a step up for bigger waves and a groveller/step down for soft conditions you're somehow either less of s surfer or hurting your development?! These are not concepts made up by me......I take drops like I did on Friday with a longboard with a wider nose and there is one line I could take....the board I used could handle a more vertical drop and tighter bottom turn, narrower tail sinks in easier more more speed control,....shorter length means easier fit into the wave. These are real and tangible advantages for the conditions on the day.

Boasting that you could ride all the boards you have equally well in any condition is hollow for me.....I believe you could ride all your boards in a variety of conditions......I don't believe you could ride them equally well. Admit it or not; keeping the ability of the Indian as a given, different boards just ride better in different conditions.

For a given wave each different boards requires a different lineup, different paddling tactics, different angles for both paddling and dropping down the face. Once you are on a wave then each different board requires different mechanics to make turns and do maneuvers. This means that if you are riding a lot of different boards then you have to stop and think ok I am on this particular board so when I bottom turn on steep lurching waves I have to not lean too much and let the board grab the wave a bit then lean into the turn or whatever but really you often have no time to think at all unless you are just cruising along then whatever ride any boards since you have lots of time to think about which board you are riding. I guess I came from a time where you knew your board. You knew everything about your board and how to ride every wave using it. Even if other boards were more suited it was better to use the board you were most familiar with because you knew exactly what to expect (particularly in tricky or dangerous conditions). People got hurt using new different boards in difficult situations. When the dinosaurs came up out of the water we could beat them down with our clubs as long as we were on our favorite board. But then they discovered fire and next thing wheels and it all changed. Of course what you want out of surfing varies from person to person unless you are a caveman I can imagine it's a nice day and mostly crumbly slow moving waves are what is on offer but a set comes in and it's a steep tubing wave so you obviously don't have the right board and because you are trying to match up boards with conditions you haven't learned to use this board in steep tubing waves so do you sit it out and wait for another crumbly one or go for it and have your rear handed to you on a platter or paddle and can't take off because you never learned to take off on steep tubing waves with that board? I guess to each their own. If I am out their I am going to ride whatever wave comes in but then I will already have ridden that board in a variety of conditions so I will know how to approach it and if I see dinosaurs I know what to do because I am a caveman. But I do surf mostly in crowdless conditions so I don't have to fight for position very much. But if I did I would pick one board that offered the best advantages and use that one mostly. Yes and my boards are quite similar although they do work differently enough that I make mistakes if I switch them out frequently

About different boards for different waves. A few session ago I tried my shortboard in the softer wave (OH swell) close to my house where I usually take bigger boards, and I struggled with the wobbliness on takeoff. I thought I'm getting to old for shortboards.. But when I took that same shortboard out last time in the faster and more hollow wave at the Bukit, the board was perfectly stable at takeoff.
I realize it's the bigger speed generated by the deeper drop of the steeper wave at takeoff that makes this shortboard feel so good, but the slower takeoff speed on a softer wave makes it so much harder..