Foam board to Hard Top Progression

[BluePineapple]

Hi all, lurker here, first post.

I’ve been surfing for about a year, most recently in the past 6 months going 3-4x per week.

I’ve been surfing on a 6’6 foam board, 55 L. I can comfortably catch 50-75% of waves under 4ft. I have been working on bottom turns but haven’t been gaining much progress. My goal is to perform maneuvers.

I’ve got a 6’2 Channel Islands shortboard 35 L sitting in my room, took it out a few weeks back and struggled to catch waves. Decided to recede to my foamie.

Now that I’ve gotten more comfortable in catching waves and would like to get into maneuvers, I’ve got two questions.

1. Can I perform maneuvers on my foam board? Some people can obviously, but seems like either I don’t have enough speed, my technique is wrong, or a foamie just isn’t the best choice

2. Would it be worth taking a stab at getting up on the shortboard? Since it is a performance board maneuvers should be more manageable if I have the skill level? I’ve been holding off as long as possible to build up my skills on the foam board, but it seems I’ve hit a blockade.

Not sure which way to go, any input appreciated!

Edit: Forgot to throw in my person dimensions. Height: 6’1
Weight: 155 Lbs

[dtc]

You can perform turns on a foam board, but they generally have big fat rails that are great for stability - but stability is the opposite of maneuverability. That said, you may not yet have the 'back foot over the fins' thing down quite right as yet or may not be technically doing the right thing to turn - catching 50% of waves and not doing much in the way of bottom turns suggests you arent as advanced as perhaps you think you might be (which is totally fine, I mean you are learning so you are not meant to be advanced. But be realistic about where you are and what you can actually do, rather than what the board 'cannot' do).

If you have a shortboard then just give it a go - whats the worst that can happen? You dont catch anything? Thats hardly the end of the world

A 6'6 foam board is really more akin to a 7ft or even 7ft6 hard board (certainly volume wise its a mid 7ft equivalent, although volume isnt everything). So a 6'2 standard shortboard is a much bigger jump down than the 4 inch different might first appear, and chances are high you will have problems again. But you have the board so you arent wasting your money giving it a go

If that completely fails again (which I suspect it will, but as said, may as well give it a go or two and see) I suggest looking at a funboard/egg/fish style board around 6'6 - 6'8 as your next board (or even a touch longer). 6'8 x 21 x 2 3/4 and around low 40L would make a reasonable next board. Although, having said that, going for a 7'2 or 7'6 board for a few months will likely speed up your skill development, but having surfed a 6'6 for quite a while you may find the bigger boards to take a while to get used to.

[waikikikichan]

If you “can’t” bottom turn, you shouldn’t be riding anything less than 2 feet over your head. So for you being 6’1”, that’s about an 8’0”. Once you can bottom turn and do simple turn ups / turn down and start doing cut backs frontside, THEN you can go to something a foot over your head. ( a funboard ).
Trying to ride a board 1 inch over your height, not a good idea at the moment for your current skill level.