Surfing Waves

Hi all!
Reaching out to you from Switzerland.

I'm looking for a more maneuverable surfboard. I currently own a catch surf RNF 5'11 for the really small summer waves to play around and another one from the brand eleven (fun shape) with 6'0 × 20 x 2 1/2 @ 31.6 liters (EPS) with fat rails.

I'm 36years old, 5'5 and 154lbs, quite sportive. I can catch waves, go down the line and do bottom turns, but I'm far away from cutbacks. However, I want to learn how to do some decent turns with my next board, as I'm having a hard time turning the eleven.

Here's a really old video of mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CACX9RsNDF0
I'm still surfing in a similar manner manveuver wise, although a little more dynamic. Here are some videos of a break I surf:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxnmW5cvEFQ
https://youtube.com/shorts/_cSvDGpiAGY
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVTbu3flbMg ... MyMTA2M2Y= (this is not me)

Current boards are on my list:
- Firewire dominator 5'8
- MR x Lost California twin 5'7 or 5'8
- Pyzel Phantom 5'10 or even 6'0
- lib tech x lost puddle jumper hp 5'8

What board would you recommend to progress on and what size?

Cheers
Steven

I am not the person to ask about boards but my opinion is you need a bigger board and learn how to turn that thing then go smaller. Smaller boards might be easier to turn but not if you don't know how to turn

I think lots of people get caught up in looking for a board that will do what they want which only delays the task of learning to use the board under your feet.. In my opinion that is what surfing is about. It's not about the best waves or the best boards but it is about making use of the board you have with the waves you have. However there are many other surfers who are constantly looking for the right board/wave and many who are more familiar with off the shelf boards than me. Perhaps some of them will have some advice. While it's true that certain boards are better in certain conditions it is familiarity with the board you are using that will teach you how to surf. If you haven't figured out how to use the board you have now what makes you think you will be able to use the next board you get? But along this frame of thought perhaps you just need to be surfing bigger waves. It's much easier to surf bigger waves as you don't need to be adding power to your surfing because the size of the wave will do that. But you are still caught with the waves you have available to you.

oldmansurfer wrote:But along this frame of thought perhaps you just need to be surfing bigger waves. It's much easier to surf bigger waves as you don't need to be adding power to your surfing because the size of the wave will do that.

Not everyone lives in HI or Indo OMS…let’s count blessings. LOL

1) What is the fin set up you usually use on the eleven (fun shape) with 6'0 × 20 x 2 1/2 @ 31.6 liters (EPS) with fat rails ?

2) From your video 8 years ago, what size board were you riding ?

3) Do you still surf with your front hand / arm in the same orientation as you did back in the video ?

4) You say you can't cutback, but it looks like you were rolling from rail to rail and pumping out of turns.

oldmansurfer wrote:I think lots of people get caught up in looking for a board that will do what they want which only delays the task of learning to use the board under your feet.. In my opinion that is what surfing is about. ...

You are completely right and I agree 100%. But, with the right equipment things are more fun. And as I'm surrounded by mountains, I'm looking for the most suitable equipment to get the most out of the days I can spend in the sea.

waikikikichan wrote:1) What is the fin set up you usually use on the eleven (fun shape) with 6'0 × 20 x 2 1/2 @ 31.6 liters (EPS) with fat rails ?

Thruster, pretty stiff carbon fins.

waikikikichan wrote:2) From your video 8 years ago, what size board were you riding ?

this was a torq 6'4,

waikikikichan wrote:3) Do you still surf with your front hand / arm in the same orientation as you did back in the video ?

I try to keep it more in front and less on my back. I also try to stand a little lower in general.

waikikikichan wrote:4) You say you can't cutback, but it looks like you were rolling from rail to rail and pumping out of turns.

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For me cutbacks are more radical turns. My turns are more like a lying 8 than straight up and down.

How often do you surf? What happens when you try to do a cutback or a harder other turn? It's possible you may just need to put your rear foot further back on the board

stevenb wrote:

waikikikichan wrote:1) What is the fin set up you usually use on the eleven (fun shape) with 6'0 × 20 x 2 1/2 @ 31.6 liters (EPS) with fat rails ?

Thruster, pretty stiff carbon fins.

And that is probably one of the reasons you have a hard time turning it. Better to you the standard FRP fins like the FCS glasflex or the Futures Thermotech stock fins which have more flex and are more forgiving.

Putting bigger stiffer fins will not help unless you have the thrust behind them. Like putting wider stickier tires on your car, if you don't have the motor behind it, it doesn't matter.

stevenb wrote:

waikikikichan wrote:4) You say you can't cutback, but it looks like you were rolling from rail to rail and pumping out of turns.

For me cutbacks are more radical turns. My turns are more like a lying 8 than straight up and down.

So you can "cutback", you just want to do more radical SNAPS, and BLOWTAILS ?

Can you do a ROUND HOUSE cutback ? ( first frontside cutback on the shoulder immediately followed by a backside cutback on the curling lip )

your surfing looks fine.. you're better than lots of surfers.. steeper waves, better turns imo.. especially for snaps.. you look like you can do cut backs from your video i watched..

fins make the turning radius tighter if thats what you are looking for.. but most of surfing imo revolves around speed.. either generating, or utilizing off the wave.. if you surf a high rocker board in flat surf its hard.. you have to be really good surfer to do so and have fun..

if you are a weekend warrior like me, flat to medium rocker boards are good, with perhaps a staged rocker, so you can have lots of speed for your turns.. only thing when the waves get bigger, the turns are harder to control as those boards project you straight with lots of drive, then go a bit out of control on rail..

check out Noel Salas on surf show and tell.. but remember its only one opinion.. I watched another guy surfing fins and he said he didn't like carbon fins as they weren't so forgiving.. it made me think perhaps thats why i like the toledo fins at the moment, because they aren't as stiff.. I'm going to pick up some pc performers with the same template as my carbons to see the difference..

if i had to pick a board on you list i'd go the dominator 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEqBvKB1zGA

heres a review of that board but depends what waves you are going to be surfing.. when buying boards I use the volume as most important and then the dimensions as I want to make sure the board can float me

stevenb wrote:You are completely right and I agree 100%. But, with the right equipment things are more fun. And as I'm surrounded by mountains, I'm looking for the most suitable equipment to get the most out of the days I can spend in the sea.

stevenb wrote:I can catch waves, go down the line and do bottom turns, but I'm far away from cutbacks. However, I want to learn how to do some decent turns with my next board, as I'm having a hard time turning the eleven.

What you WANT to hear - Go with the Pyzel Phantom 5'10". John John is a 2-time world champion and if it good enough for him it should definitely make you rip.

What you NEED to hear - ( and please take this as constructive critisim and that I want you to improve and progress. But sadly most will get their feelings and aspirations hurt not accepting the truth and runaway from our advices )

The boards you have are plenty fine for cutbacks. Are they buckled ? No. Is a fin box ripped out ? No. You want a "more maneuverable surfboard". Think about what you are saying, you want things to be "easier". Nope, when the time comes when it is too easy to turn your current board and you start overpowering the rail / fins, THEN it is time to move down in size.

If you can't drive a Formula 3 car, will getting a Formula 1 car ( which of course is faster ) make YOU faster. No, you probably just crash harder.
( I can guarantee I can get around a race track faster in my family van faster than I could trying to drive an F1. Hell, I wouldn't be able to get it out of pit lane without stalling it or crashing into the barrier )

If you can't contact the bat with the soft ball, why are you making things harder by putting the setting on "fast pitch" ?

All the boards you listed have no potential on their own, they need the riders input to go. You already said you don't have a good cutback, but getting a more high performance ( more maneuverable ) board means you need even more quicker reflexes and more technique. ( and these boards are less forgiving if you don't get things just right ).

If you live in the mountains and don't get to the beach much often, then get a board that allows you to catch more waves. If you move down to a 5'8", you will be catching less waves. My advice is to stick with the 6'0" "eleven brand" board, put on normal FRP fins ( thruster not quad ) and learn the basics on how to turn a surfboard. Once you start "destroying, tearing up and maximizing what you can do on it, then it will be time to think about another board.

Take care of your board….scrape that wax and give it a wash every now and then, LOL.

I browse the local buy and sell pages and am constantly running across persons who are selling boards because they are “progressing”. It seems like a race to get to as short a board one can surf that is possible. This is only among the tourists; super proud to sell a board and declare they are selling because they are progressing. It’s tempting to believe that choosing the right equipment is the key to unlocking potential, but it’s just not how it works.

My advice is don’t get caught up and make this a goal.

I surf mainly with Balinese who are way better than me. They use boards bigger than Westerners do comparatively.

And they rip.

Like Waikiki said, once you start to feel like when you hit the bottom turn there is a delay and you can’t sink the rail enough to give you the bite to make the section, that you are bouncing off the wall and not digging in like you wish you could, can’t sink the tail on steep takeoffs, that everything is muted and you wish everything was just a little quicker and would happen faster, you don’t need a new board. If anything I think you should go bigger again to hit those limiting points mentioned sooner and feel like board is getting in the way. Then go back to your current board. No disrespect, but as a holiday surfer that’s going to be a long time. Lineups here are full of surfers who are in too short boards that have “progressed” that get in the way because they just paddle and miss waves all the time or just bog out and fall in the middle of the next surfers line.

I’m teaching my 13 year old daughter now. She just started catching waves on her own a few weeks ago and is already on OH waves; a couple feet overhead the last couple times out. Not big deal for here, that s how waves are. I have her on a 9’2” board. We tried a 6’10” dominator a couple weeks ago and while she caught waves, she bogged out and became tentative after some mistakes. So I told her that would be later down the road. We are working on speed control now; how to speed up and slow down, how to make turns to stay close to the foam ball. She’s been trimming with slight bottom and top turns until now but is starting to move on the board and make a more pronounced bottom turn linked to a top turn…..little bit more but the seed is there and starting to grow. It all takes time which unfortunately mountain bound as you are don’t have but at least don’t hamstring yourself and fall into the trap of trying to surf the smallest board you can stand up on.

oldmansurfer wrote:How often do you surf? What happens when you try to do a cutback or a harder other turn? It's possible you may just need to put your rear foot further back on the board

I surf couple of times a year, maybe 1 week every 3 months.. To be honest, most of the time I'm too slow to do a hard turn because I feel I need quite some space to move my board. To put my foot further back is for sure a thing I need to work on.

Geezer wrote:Take care of your board….scrape that wax and give it a wash every now and then, LOL.
No disrespect, but as a holiday surfer that’s going to be a long time. Lineups here are full of surfers who are in too short boards that have “progressed” that get in the way because they just paddle and miss waves all the time or just bog out and fall in the middle of the next surfers line.

Yeah, it's hard if you want to be a surfer but live in the mountains. But we now got a wave pool, thus I only need to drive 1.5hrs to the next wave https://alaiabay.ch/de/

waikikikichan wrote:..
If you live in the mountains and don't get to the beach much often, then get a board that allows you to catch more waves. If you move down to a 5'8", you will be catching less waves. My advice is to stick with the 6'0" "eleven brand" board, put on normal FRP fins ( thruster not quad ) and learn the basics on how to turn a surfboard. Once you start "destroying, tearing up and maximizing what you can do on it, then it will be time to think about another board.

I'm not too much into the pyzel, I just read a lot about it and a lot of people were telling, that it's a good board to progress on. But I'm honest enough to myself, to accept that it's probably too high performance for me.

Just a thought for you….Alaia Bay nice Swiss wave expensive , and misses the full recycling you have to go through paddling back out in oceanic surf!
Quite a lot offered in advice and your earlier video ( the go pro ones) don‘t show your techniques adequately, if you can get someone with a little video skills to video from shore, will show us and you where you need coaching.
Ocean waves 6ft board and lots of waves go smaller your wave count will drop and when you catch a wave the drops will have to be more technical and critical.
Simple unless you have frequent surfs a longer board is the answer to falling surf fitness between beach time

My suggestion is try a cutback on the end of every wave. This allows you to surf the wave and then if you fall at the end that is okay (as long as your board doesn't hit anyone and you aren't in the way of the other surfers). Another way to learn to do a maneuver is to try it on every 5th wave you catch. This way if you fall then it's only every 5th wave. I can cutback with any of my bords including my 9'6" longboard. I'm pretty sure someone else could do a cutback with your 5'11". My opinion is you should learn to do a cutback with the board you have and then if you are still having problem, try another board.