Is there a recommended order of fin setup to try ?

[waikikikichan]

For a guy like me who's just trimming trying to get to OP's level of surfing (horizontal maneuvers), is there a recommended order of fin setup to try? thruster > quad/single? single > thruster > quad?

In my opinion, I would first master all the basic moves and more to a high level of degree before trying out a quad.

What about things like 2+1?

It's very rare to see a 2+1 set up on a shortboard. So if you are talking about a longboard, then I highly recommend that "setup" , a center box with two side plugs. It's a versatile because you can run a Single, 2+1, Thruster, and Twin-Stabi all on the same board. The 2+1 takes some aspects of a Single and some aspects of a Thruster and combines them in to one package.

But as things go, most beginners learned on a Thruster because that's how Costco Wavestorm's come setup as !!!

[waikikikichan]

I don't know about quad vs thruster vs whatever. This is what I am pretty sure of and that is if you only surf a thruster or a quad or a single fin for years and years and then try to change it will be difficult to alter the way you have been surfing to fit the fin setup. It took me a long time to get over a single fin mentality. I find it difficult to change fine setups once I switched to surfing quads. I just can't see what the advantage of a thruster or single fin is because there doesn't appear to be any. It's not that I can't surf a thruster but it just doesn't seem as good as a quad. I don't plan on changing from a quad ever. If I were going to learn surfing all over I would start with a quad and avoid having to learn to use thrusters first. But of course this is just me and I am sure others will have specific fin setups for you.

But that's the point, you OMS had put in the time and honed your skills on everything before finally settling on a Quad. You learned before there were Leashes, so you learned to control and stay on your board and not fall off and swim to get your board. But now, there are kooks that shoot out their boards since they don't worry since " I got on a leash anyways " mentality. Your time on singles and thruster have paid off, so now you can enjoy the benefits of riding a Quad.

[oldmansurfer]

Well I rode a single fin long ago. I quit surfing for 12 years and it took me around 5 more years of surfing on a thruster or a 2+1 and then a quad to get rid of my single fin habits and develop new ones. Of course I was only surfing 26 hours a year at first (30 minutes a week). Now that I have been riding a quad I really can't see why anyone wants to ride thrusters because when I switch fins to thruster configuration it just doesn't seem to work as well. I just can't see the value in thrusters but there must be something or all the pros wouldn't be using them. Still I wonder if the pros are only using them because that is what they learned to surf on and it's difficult to change. At that level you probably don't have time to think "Okay I am riding a quad configuration therefore I am going to do this type of turn." However they can spend a lot of time getting used to the other fin configurations still mostly they don't so .... not sure but maybe there is some advantage to thrusters and I am not yet a good enough surfer to tell.