Board advice please - post-pregnancy & back injuries

[Aqualife]

Hi everyone,
I need some advice please:
I have been surfing for over 20 years and used to be a sworn shortboarder up until age 38 when I got pregnant. The pregnancy did my lower back in and twisted some vertebraes which made getting to my feet quickly quite hard initially. My son is 4 now and I have been surfing an 8'6 and an 8'1, 21 1/4, 2 3/8 since his birth (a performance mini-mal with a narrower nose and tail) . I live in Noosa in Australia where we have long pointbreaks and also tons of average 2-3 ft beachbreaks.
I surf roughly around 3 times per week, sometimes more. I am very fit, 173cm tall (5'8) and about 68kg. I am an ex-swimmer, so have no trouble paddling at all.
The log is fine for the points but I am not into longboarding. I love long walls and doing turns and I have been trying to whack the 8'1 around some and do alright on it, but I would love to get back to surfing a shorter board now.
I surfed my standard 6'4 swallow tail, 19 1/4, 2 1/2 shortboard for the first time in 5 years yesterday and it felt like a potatoe chip/skateboard. I was out 3 hours in 3-4 ft clean beachies, caught a ton of waves but had no fun at all. I got to my feet but it was all unstable and felt wrong and arkvard. No trouble catching waves but wasn't much fun in it and the board felt just too small.
I don't want to be stuck riding a mini-mal. My back has improved but with age I have lost my quickness and flexibility a bit (and put on weight).
I have been looking at fishes - never liked the boxiness of the rails on them and the fact that they are often so loose, I felt like they had no grip on the waves and were like surfing in oil and also been looking at BIG BOY surfboards for more length and volume but really have no clue whatsoever which way to go.
Everything I knew about my surfing has gone out of the window (gone are the annual surftrips to Indo and the Pacific chasing bigger reef waves).
I cannot afford to buy one board after another and tweak them until I have one I like.
Any advice would be much appreciated. My town is divided into longboarders and performance shortboarders and some retro guys but I haven't seen anything in the water that looks like it might be for me. No decent female surfers (over 18) here to look at their boards and compare notes either.
I am an ok surfer, comfortable in bigger surf and I would like something that I can do reos and cutties with and surf long lines. Something that is easy on my lower back but still ok to duckdive in 5ft.
Standard surf here would be 2-5 ft beachies, relatively clean with average power, nothing hollow or superfast.
Anything at all that could point me in the right direction would be super helpful.
A big thanks!!!

[jaffa1949]

Nice to meet you Aqualife.... Be glad you haven't stopped, top surfers like Lisa Anderson, is still surfing well after he pregnancies. My thoughts look at a slightly long shortboard than you used before, slightly wider and still a performance shape like you used before. You can go a little thicker too, the walls of Noosa will be kind to you with that formulas the slightly longer length will give a similar profile on the rail as the board goes wider.

If your board was locally shaped, go back to the shaper and talk about what you want, they can even spread the volume differently to make it work for you. I'll be back when I see who is shaping up there and recommend a couple.... Even if your shaper is not around when you get one take old board in!

Just went looking and there may be an off the rack board at Noosa board works... A Gordon and Smith 7ft magic fish... I have one and it is a great board, it is not a fat fish like most of the other type of fish, it is really what I'd call a swallowtail with stingers. Go and have a look maybe they have try model!

Oh! A thought on something else, I'm a retired Chiropractor, a good Osteopath or Chiropractor might be able to help you and if you are all clear I would recommend Plates and or Yoga ( yeah right she says in between being a mum)!
PM me or talk on forum if you want to ask questions about this.

Cheers

[Aqualife]

Hi Jaffa,
Thanks for this. I have been thinking along the same lines (longer, wider, bigger). My ex shapers are all unfortunately is NZ or overseas. Haven't found an Australian one yet who REALLY listens, especially to females (most think you can't surf anyway or are really really patronising), so recommendations gratefully accepted. Been looking at used boards, as I cannot really afford a new one. Budget is aorund $400.
Been doing Pilates for 4 years now - without it, couldn't even move - also brilliant chiro at least once per fortnight. Back strong again but weak spots need to be maintained, at least not in pain anymore. All good.
THANK YOU. Will check the 7ft fish out. Good karma to you!

[jaffa1949]

My old shaper is on the central coast of NSW , he also has a range of boards in the global surf industries,
The 7S boards, there may be one in that range that will suit, they are mass produced but they are quite good, and have number of shapes in standard PU construction and new epoxy construction, I know the shapes and I'm sure some of those might be in shops in Noosa.

[dtc]

Aqualife - my first thought was 'you havent surfed that board for 5 years and you are now used to mals, so of course it will feel strange'. Maybe a few more sessions and you wont need a new board?

Anyway, what you are probably looking for is something with the width more forward than a traditional thruster but a bit wider tailed than a fish eg santa cruz pumpkin (although you might want to surf that shorter than your current board!). Or, as Jaffa has suggested, a 'modern fish' - the 7S or like this
http://www.vernjacksonsurfboards.com/su ... /solution/

Another option, although I'm not sure if its quite what you want, is a smaller/thinner mal type board such as the Mctavish carver or clearwater malibu or even the Channel Island M-13. This would be great on the Noosa points, although whether it allows you do do what you want I'm not sure. These are 'mal' sort of shapes (parallel rails) but pulled in nose and only about 7ft long. The M-13 is a bit higher performance than the carver - by reputation (I dont know anyone with an M-13)

A website I saw today is http://www.boardcave.com/ which pulls together a bunch of different Aust shapers and boards. Not suggesting you buy off it, but it does allow you to look at a variety of boards in the one place and see what is around.

[Aqualife]

Hi DTC,
Thank you so much for your suggestions.
I know what you mean. I expected the first surf to feel strange, that was ok, but it felt all wrong like this is not something I could ever get used to again kind of way. So, I do need to go up in size/width and volume due to my dodgy back.
I really like the look of the Vern Jackson board - thank you for that - that gives me some idea will what to look for.
I have been out at Tee Tree today and managed to talk some guys into me using their 7'4 and 7'6 and that was a start to the board quest I just need to meet more people that have a 7ft in their quiver to try out.
But really I appreciate the suggestions, as this is new territory for me. Thanks so much.

[dtc]

I should have prefaced my comments with 'I'm not a shortboarder', so any suggestion I make for boards under about 7ft is not from personal experience (indeed, I havent ridden that many boards, so based on talking to people and reading stuff etc)

If you like the Vern Jackson board, then Grant Miller makes a similar one but with a touch more volume

http://www.grantmillersurfboards.com.au/vskate.aspx

I know new boards are out of your price range, but if you did want a shaper then I would be extremly surprised if you found Grant to be one of those guys who didnt listen or was patronising. He does tend to specialise in boards for us heavier guys, but I've no doubt he can customise for you (sorry for suggesting NSW shapers, but thats who I know!). Grant actually has suffered a back injury himself (recovered) and I know he is feeling the slow pop up as well (I recently got a board from him).

There are a couple of Miller boards on gumtree - one is the v-skate mentioned above, but at 6ft10 may be too large. The other doesnt have much info but is a 6ft4 which could be worthwhile. Grant would probably (I'm guessing) be happy to discuss whether either are suitable, even if you are buying second hand and not off him (he claims to keep records of all his boards).

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/petersha ... 1019150654

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/east-bal ... 1018274207

[Aqualife]

Hi DTC,
Thanks so much. I actually looked at the Waterskate on the Miller Board website - so great minds think alike The M13 Al Merrick looks like sooo much fun but then who can afford an Al Merrick these days. I remember being in his job in Cali when his boards were only $300 and no waiting list - long time ago. These answers have helped enormously and pointed me in the right direction. My own board is on gumtree now and as soon as that's sold, I am going to look out for one to come up. Funnily enough, this post has gotten me to talk to people in the water I would have never spoken to before and I have met some really cool guys who let me try their boards and gave me their 2 cents of knowledge and now everyone in the line-up knows I need a new board and they all promised to check with their mates and let me know. Good stuff. Thanks again. Shame I don't live in NSW anymore, otherwise I would have gotten that 6'10 Miller one, it looks sweet. Thanks again. Good karma to you )))

[billie_morini]

Aqualife,
you must be the coolest Mom ever!
billie

[Aqualife]

Hi Billie,
What a nice things to say. Thank you so much. I just hope that my little guy will come surfing with me one day, as I have lots of favourite waves in the world I would like to show him.
Fingers crossed.