Surfing Waves

Hey guys,

I have ridden tons of boards in the past six years. With this board (I got it off my brother for free), the board feels like there is not enough weight on the nose at all. I know everybody's going to want dimensions but the board is almost as wide as my fish and has kind of a rocker. I'm guessing I need to try this board on at least head high?? I had a couple of ok rides yesterday, but nothing compared to what I usually get. The waves were about waist high maybe stomach at best. The board is a quad so it was going so fast that when I tried to lightly bottom turn the board basically sunk. I wasn't leaning too hard because I've done basic snaps on several types of boards. I'm wondering if the dimensions just aren't meant for me? I'm 5'8 and I weigh 135 lbs. Any suggestions on how to better maneuver this board? I only got a couple of floaters out of it yesterday and it landed really weird. BTW, my other board is a 5'5 19 1/4 lost round nose fish and it rides well in all types of waves and conditions.

well what's the thickness of the batwing. at least an approximation. what do you mean there's not enough weight on the nose? is it possible you were standing with too much weight back on the board? where were your feet? wide stance, narrow, back foot over top the fins, etc? is the lost a quad/twin? turning quads is kind of weird at first. i kind of think of it as a rwd car vs an awd/fwd car in the snow. it oversteers easily, meaning it's loose. i don't know, that's weird. maybe it's just a mental block thing? i've done that before where i think, 'oh, i should've brought the thruster instead of the fish, it's all wrong, i can't do anything with this board right now,' only to see some other people shredding with a fish. depending on the thickness it could just be too small. is it a traditional shortboard shape, just with a quad and battail? if so, it might be too small for you. i'm the same size as you, and if i was going for a board like that i'd be looking at 5'10" at the absolute smallest. 6'0" would probably be ideal

The thing is that the board is too small for you and for the waves you were surfing.

If you compare both of the boards, the RNF is sort of big for your weight/height.
Its more intended for an intermediate advanced 170 pound guy. While a 5´8 shortboard is borderline for your height/weigh. Its comparing apples to oranges.

For what you are saying it seems that the 5´8 board is just too short.
There could be 2 reasons for this:
1) The board may be intended for the waves you were surfing yet it´s just too small for you.
2) The board may be ok for your size/weight , yet it is not a small wave groveler so you are using it for the wrong purpose. Remember that not all small wave boards perform the same... some of them still need waves with some punch and to be ridden in the pocket to be able to perform well.

Having it sink at turns is a very clear sign of it being either to small for you or just too small for the waves you were riding.

The dimensions for the board are: 5'8 X 19 1/16 and 2 1/4 thickness. The tail is batwing shapes future quad vector 4 fins. Tradional shortboard shape /w a rocker. It's eithier a bigger wave board or too small for me. Tomorrow may be chest high @ pawleys island so I'm going to try it there. I am stabding on the board fine. Like when I pumped on a "set" meaning a crappy stomach high wave, the board went kind of fast but then didn't seem to keep up.

yeah, sounds like it's just too small for the conditions/you