Surfing Waves

I learnt to surf in Raglan (New Zealand) on a 9ft foamie and was recently gifted a 6ft something fibreglass board. It's still wide and thick so in theory should be okay to ride but I'm still nervous about switching to a shorter harder board and sucking, therefore being dishearted. I was just looking for any tips of pointers anyone could offer about switching to a shorter, less buoyant board? And how to survive my first time out there on it!
Thanks

More measurements should help like your weight and height and width and thickness of the board (also your age) My only comments would be to not get discouraged. Ultimately it is about putting in the time, if you are doing it all right (practicing the wrong thing doesn't help). If worse comes to worse you can go back to the foamie

Micsim12: I was just looking for any tips of pointers anyone could offer about switching to a shorter, less buoyant board?
billie: you must be better positioned, paddle later, paddle harder, and pop-up faster! you must also better center your body. You will not die, but you may wipe out more than you normally do.

Micsim12 wrote:It's still wide and thick so in theory should be okay to ride

If it like Darwin's Theory, then only some will continue and others will give up or go back to a longer board.

Going from a 9'0" longboard to a 7'6" fun board is a HUGE jump as it is.

Your take off area will change. The waves needs to be steeper and your reactions quicker and more fluid. You will be now "inside" of the longboarders that you might get in the way of.

Foamies are forgiving. Since they bend and flex, they absorb the wave, where on a hard board it would catch a rail.

you won't be able to practice turns and pop-ups in white water on a shortboard, so make sure you are able to catch green waves first