Surfing Waves

Hey all,
I'm new to this forum and everything and I signed up because I just wanted some opinions on what to do. I've been riding about 2-4 times a week for the past 3 months.

I currently ride a 7'4" fiberglass Source surfboard I purchased used in Santa Cruz... its kind of like a gun/funboard.. 2 15/16" thick and 21 1/4" inch wide, pintail with a pointed nose. I've been getting consistent rides and all in the small summer swell, still getting used to it. Issue is I'm leaving to school in LA (I live about half an hour away from Santa Cruz). Im at the point where I can ride the face of the wave, go down the line provided it doesn't close out, and do bottom turns. I was wondering if you all thought this board was maneuverable enough/small enough to do cutbacks on the face of the waves and other tricks? If not, should I get a shortboard to progress on?

I plan on surfing in LA and won't have the time to go to purchase a nice discounted shortboard down south. Any opinions/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Any board can be made to do a cutback, they are not really tricks but functional maneuvers that help you position yourself on the wave for speed and to stop the straight line running out to the shoulder. Cut backs after a bottom turn are so fundamental to being able to surf well.
How do you do one?Just try small direction changes as you move across the face and and then down the face from the top, when you are successful amplify both the size of the turn and the power you apply.
Thrusters were made to give power and drive through the entire range of turns modern surfing requires.
A rely for all new surfers; If you want to do something, try to do it and see, try and try again. Celebrate success.

I've been using an 8'6" single fin for a while, wide and thick. Great for long, carving turns and trimming along. Recently got a 7'8" thruster (funboardish), and was very pleasantly surprised at how easily I could do top turns and easy cutbacks, with really no practice at all. My experience very easily translated to the much more maneuverable board, which sounds similar to yours.

So, I very definitely second the notion of just giving it a try!