Mini mal for beginner?

[knights12]

Hi there,

Looking for a bit of advice, I learnt to surf this summer in Portugal and after a week was confident standing up in whitewater and started looking at catching green waves.

I'm contemplating buying a board as I'm living in South Wales at the moment, so opportunities to surf.

I've been trawling the internet but now not sure what to do. Do I just buy a beginners foam board or something else? Theres a Roger Cooper 7'6 mini mal for sale on gumtree down the road from me, which claims to be suitable for beginners. Would this be ok?

Also looking for something to fit in my fairly small car!

Any thoughts would be great,

Sophie

[knights12]

Perhaps I should add, I learnt on a 7'6 foamie when in Portugal, and have had a few lessons back in the UK on the same. I'm 5'6 and 65kg

[icetime]

That board would do wonders for you if it's a standard minimal, thing is, try posting the volume it has since that's a huge part, length isn't the only thing that matters, if they have width post that, also any beginner board you'll get will never fit in a small car so get used to sticking things on roofs or whatever gets you to the beach

[saltydog]

MINI MAL
Dimensions 7ft6" x 21.3/4
Description good for beginners (up to 13 1/2 stone)and regular surfers to use on small days.
colours purple/black floral fabric(nose)
Prices £460

This is one of the listings from Roger Cooper's website so that would work if you are fit. I didn't have enough core strength when I started surfing so I felt really unstable paddling on 7'10" x 21 1/2" x 3" minimal even at 105lb. For me going for a 9' longboard was a good choice after riding a 8' foamie. A hard board won't be as buoyant as a foam board of the same length so if in doubt a bigger board is a better bet. But if the board you are looking at has the same shape as the pic above that would be a great shape for a beginner. This would actually be a perfect board for me to transition to Don't worry, I'm in US so I won't snag your find

[icetime]

Looks good, even if you take it and aren't fit enough for it, if you paddle around with it for 2 weeks you'll get the strength for it, muscle builds surprisingly quickly, that's about how long it took my back muscles to stop getting sore when switching down sizes

[dtc]

Yeah, good choice. Perhaps a slightly longer one would be nice/a safer choice as mentioned but that one is perfectly fine. Cooper has a good reputation as well, so a solid board you can keep for a long time and progress

[knights12]

Thanks for all the replies! Might give it a go!