Later in life beginners

[jaffa1949]

Kuta has the joy of serious rips to help get out the back for aware surfers, and a cause of great risk to world wide surf newbies.
Nusa Dua can seem to have the entire Lombok channel moving through it.
Both can be sublime or ridiculous

[Big H]

Hahahaha.....rips in Kuta....I found one near where I planned to surf about one month into learning....carefully paddled out clear of it....then promptly discovered what a longshore current was and how that was the prelude to a rip once I realized the people on shore were getting smaller and smaller and the break I was sitting on the shoulder of was as well.....paddled down the beach to get out of it before reaching China but for a newbie it was a long paddle back.......

[pacificvibes]

for those who are interested, i started a blog/surfing diary to track my progress. i haven't accomplished too much but i do have my own board and suit now and go out 1-2x in the water and have a good time. my main goal is to build up my paddling before i worry much about popping up and riding.

http://pacificvibrations.blogspot.com/

[dtc]

for those who are interested, i started a blog/surfing diary to track my progress. i haven't accomplished too much but i do have my own board and suit now and go out 1-2x in the water and have a good time. my main goal is to build up my paddling before i worry much about popping up and riding.

http://pacificvibrations.blogspot.com/

looks good - but don't use 'I'm building up my paddling' as an excuse not to try and catch waves...

Interesting how many of the Costco boards there are. They don't seem to have them here, Australia; or there are hardly any costcos anyway so even if they do sell them, there aren't many people buying. I don't know how I would feel out in a line up with any size and 10 people on foam boards (well, 10 people in my line ups is a bit unusual as it is, fortunately)

[Jamiemead]

Hi I've been trying to surf on and off for years , but ive just brought my own board and gear and love going still learning but I enjoy the sea so it's really cool, and I'm 53 years old stil going strong love it , and I've read the book "kook" good read too so all you guys out there who think your too old don't give up .

[pacificvibes]

for those who are interested, i started a blog/surfing diary to track my progress. i haven't accomplished too much but i do have my own board and suit now and go out 1-2x in the water and have a good time. my main goal is to build up my paddling before i worry much about popping up and riding.

http://pacificvibrations.blogspot.com/

looks good - but don't use 'I'm building up my paddling' as an excuse not to try and catch waves...

Interesting how many of the Costco boards there are. They don't seem to have them here, Australia; or there are hardly any costcos anyway so even if they do sell them, there aren't many people buying. I don't know how I would feel out in a line up with any size and 10 people on foam boards (well, 10 people in my line ups is a bit unusual as it is, fortunately)

i do mix it up, i mostly try and catch waves and fail, thus feeling like i need to work on my paddling!

SO MANY COSTCO BOARDS. today i was surrounded by 5. just in my immediate vicinity.

[SkeBum]

I have been a lurker on this website for a while and finally thought I had something to contribute/ask so thought I would post. I have been bitten hard by surfing and I just turned 50 last week, I'm in very good shape and have very good balance from living in Lake Tahoe and being an expert level skier for many years.

Anyway, I was down in Santa Cruz this week and have gotten to the point that I can make most of the waves I try for going to the left or right and was trimming down the line both ways. (Man, if the hook wasn't set before, once that happens it is truly set, the green water is where it is at)

So my question is this, a surf instructor told me to get a 10' so I can catch more waves to progress faster, I have 9'6" on order. My goal is get good enough to ride shorter boards down the road. I weigh 220 with 4/3 wet suit on and I'm around 5'10". Other friends are telling me to get a floaty 7' board and go that route... Lol

Thoughts? Comments?

[oldmansurfer]

So you have 9' 6" board coming. I would use it till you can do bottom turns and cutbacks and off the lips then get one 6 inches to a foot shorter and repeat. At some point you may find you don't want to go shorter. If you drop to a much shorter board you will have a much harder time learning to use it. So 6 inches shorter is not too much of a problem but a foot shorter will be very noticeable for a while. Because you are older you are likely more susectible to overuse injuries and having more floatation helps to reduce that. Partly it depends on how often you will be surfing as to what you chose. The more you surf the shorter you can probably go. The less time catching waves then the less time you have to overcome the difficulty of using a board that is shorter .

[RoamingGnome]

SkeBum - both your friends and the instructor have an interest in you having fun and learning. However, which do you think has more experience with helping beginners? The instructor will know whats good for 95% of the people out there. Honestly, you're 50 and at your size, you're likely gonna struggle to get that board moving. That all being said, if you're determined, you can do anything (not that I would personally hold my breath on this one... sorry).

Why not borrow a 7 ft board from one of those great friends of yours and see if you really wanna go that route?

[IanCaio]

@oldmansurfer,

I agree with you on the go bigger advice. But I'm curious and need to ask you that have experience with both short and long boards. Isn't carving and snaping actually easier on a shortboard?
Poping up and paddling are more obvious easier on a bigger board, because of the flotation anf everything, but I always thought after you passed that stage a small board would maneuvear (did I write that right? ) better than a longboard, because a longboard seems to require much more positioning change on the board to make sharp turns.

[oldmansurfer]

Small boards are easier to turn than bigger boards because they weigh less and in general they have a shorter turning radius and less drag but until you can feel that weight it's probably easier to ride a longer board. I actually learned to surf on a shortboard. I also never bothered with riding whitewater which both of those facts make me a minority and sometimes not too good at advice for beginners. Anyway I surfed for a long time on shortboards and then quit. I love carving turns and when I restarted surfing that is what I wanted to do but I was an old man and out of shape so I found longboards were better for me. Gradually I got into shape and relearned to surf. I was only surfing 30 minutes a week due to being on call for work all the time. So at a rate of 26 hours a year and three years of that I found that I was carving the longboard and doing cutbacks and off the lips and I was starting to feel the weight of the extra length of the board. Then I went to a shorter board (8 foot fungun). I know it is likely that it will be easier to carve a shorter board but I haven't found the extra length a problem yet after another three years at 52 hours a year. If you are a big guy then a long board will go where you want it to. Here is a funny thing after restarting surfing I got my only standup tube ride on a longboard. I am sure I have had coverups in real radical situations with my fungun but not where I could see the lip (I could see the shadow of the lip but it was too intense of a situation for me to look for the lip.) So I guess why I said that is there is a tradeoff between catching waves and easier to turn. I knew when I restarted that it was just a matter of time for me to learn to ride a shortboard but I chose the longboard because I wanted to ride waves not struggle learning to ride waves.

[IanCaio]

Thanks oldmansurfer,
I'm included in that minority, I thought riding whitewater was actually harder when learning, so I skipped them. Also started (and currently ride) on a shortboard. I still want to feel what it is like to ride a longboard, maybe I will find someone to borrow one from someday .
But I was curious because when I saw pros on videos riding longboards, they move along the board a lot when doing sharp turns (getting closer to the tail), and it doesn't look easy for a begginer. Of course seing pro shortboarders riding doesn't seem easy aswell .

[oldmansurfer]

yeah so you have to move around to ride longboards..... much less movement required for shortboards. All of that slows down your response time and makes longboarding a slower process but not more difficult. My current board is so wide I am having to move my feet side to side to do some things so even width may require movement but if you can't catch a wave then you can't turn on it either.

[oldmansurfer]

So for younger surfers who can spend lots of hours in the ocean, I have different advice but for older surfers I think starting off a longboard makes the most sense unless you are completley healthy, fit and have lots of time to spend surfing. Skating skiing snowboarding makes no difference as far as I know. But if you are an avid swimmer, bodyboarder, bodysurfer that might help. At least you will have the right muscles for surfing.

[IanCaio]

Agreed!
Maybe those boards sports help once you're up, since they improve balance. But it stops there, paddling, reading waves and even carving (because of the different response of a board on water) will be skills you need to develop surfing.

I also kind of like that classic feel longboards give. You can't hang 10 a shortboard, at least not without looking silly while you head plant on water

[oldmansurfer]

They make short longboards that you can hang ten on. For some reason they aren't very popular, I guess a 5 foot long board looks weird.

[drowningbitbybit]

You can't hang 10 a shortboard, at least not without looking silly while you head plant on water

I've seen a guy at Snapper that can hang 10 on a ~5'8 old-skool fish. And not just for a moment, but for several hundred metres along the Superbank

[dtc]

I've seen a guy at Snapper that can hang 10 on a ~5'8 old-skool fish. And not just for a moment, but for several hundred metres along the Superbank

That's why its called 'Superbank'...you can do anything

Where I surf its just called 'where the bank used to be'

[texassurfergirl]

Hey ya'll !
I'm a new surfer....actually I've been studying online and am planning my first go on the waves. I'm totally psyched( I mean "stoked") .
Anyway, this is embarrassing but, I've got you all beat! I'm 48.....Oh well.
I was worried about surfing my first time in front of others and didn't want people saying look at that old chick trying to surf...and while I'm still planning my first time for a weekday (fewer crowds I hope) and at an empty beach too I must say that simply having this topic on the forum makes me feel better! Thanks..
Studying surf etiquette and practicing my pop-up for my husband.
Texassurfergirl

[oldmansurfer]

Welcome to the forum youngster. (I am 61)