Surfing Waves

Hi I'm a beginner from north Florida. The waves here are generally small 1-2ft @ 5s on a good day. I bought a 8ft 7s superfish xl which was probably a mistake being a learner but i am having problems getting up on waves they seem to pass right under me, I think I may be too far back on the board. I have been before visiting family in Puerto Rico and stood up on my first try and many times after on a foam long board. Here I am having problems and I know the waves are different as well as the difficulty of the board, I have just been out probably 5 times and am getting frustrated because the longest I have stayed up is about 3 seconds.
btw I am 22years old, height 6' 1", weight 220 pounds, and am in decent shape I run 3-4 miles 2 to 3 times a week. Any help is appreciated and If anybody needs a not so good surf buddy around me (Liberty County, Fl) I'd be glad to meet up my friends prefer to hunt and fish instead of surf. Oh and Liberty County is right in the middle of the panhandle between Tallahassee and Panama City,

Hi , ebentley, I will simply tell you that a 7S 8ft board is suitable for you to learn on with its extra volume it is close to the bottom end of the size for your height and weight that you can learn on easily. Don't sell it though , persevere with this one it is actually a performance short longboard often used as a step down after guys begin looking for a little more in their surfing.
But it will work for you eventually

Puerto Rico has more power and the foam barges used as learner boards are designed to make it easy to stand up on the white water.

You are right you are too far back on your board ! 5 times not enough to master anything about surfing!
Read through all the advice ( there are posts and videos) in this forum, you are not alone in this stage of your learning

Thanks for your reply. I actually went today and despite the poor waves did a lot better I stood up and rode quite a few waves, I still have a ways to go but thanks for your advice