Am I Too Big/ Old to Start

[bigstu]

Hi everyone, I am new on here and live in Devon UK. My son keep asking me to go surfing with him which is great as he is 19 and still wants to spend time with his dad (or is it he just wants a lift). My question is I am 44 and weigh 108 Kilo (238 pounds), am I too old and too heavy to learn? I would love to give it a go but want advice first before taking the plunge as it were.
Cheers
Stuart

[jaffa1949]

Uncle Jaffa suggest you start ASAP get a board around 9ft to 9ft 6inches, about 22inches wide and about 3inches thick. Please don't go shorter you will not be doing yourself any favours.
We have starters here in their sixties who wish they had started earlier.

[oldmansurfer]

It's never too late to start......I mean as long as you can still get to the ocean. It can be a good motivation to get yourself in shape. Once you get the thrill of it you'll want to keep at it. I suspect your son will learn quicker but don't worry. Hopefully you both can swim well?

[drowningbitbybit]

Get in there!

Plenty of gentle spots in Devon suitable for a newbie on a longboard. If your son is already surfing, he'll know which spots are good for the more mature gentleman

Saunton is the obvious choice - loads of room, mellow waves, loads of other newbies

And as Jaffa says - go big!

[dtc]

A good choice board for you would be an NSP longboard - 9ft2 or 9ft6. They are a bit wider and thicker than normal longboards and, because they are epoxy, are pretty tough. But they arent the cheapest (more mid range boards) - I'm not across the cheaper boards in the UK so can't help out there - Torq make cheaper boards but their longboard is a bit smaller and shorter

Learn up (ask your son) about board measurements, but the NSPs are

9'2'' 22 7/8'' 3 3/16''
9'6'' 23'' 3 3/8''

If you can find a second hand one, then that is perfect. Otherwise, there are plenty of other boards around, as jaffa says stick to something over 9ft and aim for 22 1/2 wide and 3 inches thick as minimums

Keep in mind that, amongst all the issues around learning to surf, there are two things you need to be able to do - paddle for a sustained period (so if you cant swim or cant swim very far, then this can be hard) and get from laying down to your feet (pop up).

Your weight per se isnt an issue, you can get a board that will suit you; but if it affects your mobility then you may have to look at some work arounds eg different pop up methods such as the 'aussie sprint' method

(hopefully that doesnt sound rude - I just know from my own life that mobility issues can occur when you hit lower middle age)

Highly recommend a few lessons first, even if your son thinks he can teach you...keep in mind he may want to get back at your for any driving lessons you gave him

[surf patrol]

Hi bigstu, welcome to Surfing Waves!

Too old? - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17676