Finally got some footage of myself...

[Big H]

2 ft hawaiian PM

[oldmansurfer]

I would say that if you want to ride shortboards and are still learning like you are then don't venture into longer boards. It won't help you learn to ride shortboards and it will slow down the process by forcing you learn to ride a completely different board. With a bigger board the paddling will be different as will the positioning for the lineup and process of going through the surf and just about every aspect of surfing will be different. if you ride similar boards then it will be less adjustment. Those size waves can be ridden with your board but if you want an easier time learning then go for a bigger board and skip the shortboard and stick with a bigger sized board. People have this obsessive compulsive mentality like "Oh you can't ride waves like that with that board or those fins" But really what is true is that it might be more difficult to ride those waves or not and either way you can learn to ride them. I suppose if someone is surfing and they have a big set come in they think "Oh well I don't have my big wave board so I will let it go by" Or they have their small mushy wave board and a steep tubing wave comes in they think "My fins are wrong for that wave so I will just let it go by." NOT ME! I just learn to surf the waves that are there with the board I have under my feet. There has not been a type of wave that I have not been able to learn to ride with whatever board I have. I think if you are putting in multiple surf sessions a week then it becomes less important to be consistent in your board choices but riding different boards is still going to slow down the learning process. Once you learn to use a particular board to your satisfaction then you might get another board. But then again maybe I am not like everyone else when it come to learning to surf.

[IanCaio]

The next to last wave looks like a good wave but you fell? Do you recall why?

I'm not completely sure, but I think on that wave there was a guy paddling further forward on the wave line. I thought it could be risky to try to push it further so I bailed. I did pick the wrong side of the wave so don't think I can blame the guy for paddling there..

I don't see what the problem is but your video has me thinking I should make use of my gopro by putting it on the nose. I guess if I break it off then I break it off maybe before that happens I can get some video off it.

So far I didn't hit the camera, but I think that mount is the one that puts the more chances of you hitting the camera by accident. I wanted to try some head mount, but I think I'll look silly, which is a price I don't want to pay considering I'm not surfing that well to get some really cool footage..

looking at your quiver in your signature, none of those boards were appropriate for the mushy waves you were in. You can see that it takes you a lot of extra paddling down the face to get to the pop up, so you waste a lot of wave, and then it closes out on you.
you need a longer / floatier board for those conditions.

I agree some of the days I surf in that spot would be much easier on a board with more volume or a long board. This day in particular was in between, not completely mushy not really steep, I just think I didn't manage to make the best out of it (not that I expect I'll be like some guys here that can shred small conditions with a slim shortboard ). If I had the space to keep (and money to buy!) it, I'd probably have a 9' longboard for the mushier days. Who knows in a while I manage to get one

2 ft hawaiian PM

Not sure I got it! Do you mean it doesn't look 2ft hawaiian or that I missed to say it was in hawaiian scale?

I would say that if you want to ride shortboards and are still learning like you are then don't venture into longer boards. It won't help you learn to ride shortboards and it will slow down the process by forcing you learn to ride a completely different board. With a bigger board the paddling will be different as will the positioning for the lineup and process of going through the surf and just about every aspect of surfing will be different.

I mostly agree with what you're saying OMS. I rode a longboard maybe 2 or 3 times (for a very small amount of time) and it does feel very different. It probably would be a much faster learning than starting from scratch but it would require some time for me to feel comfortable on a bigger board (guess the same applies on the other way around, which is why it's mostly advised that people start on a bigger board). Specially going through the breaking zone and dropping steeper waves.
I do have a big curiosity on experimenting some more classic surfing (both classic longboarding and lately growing some interest in trying a mono-fin). Just didn't have the opportunity to go through with it yet!

[IanCaio]

By the way I had an unexpected cool session today (didn't think there would be waves, but it was about 2ft hawaiian on series that would take a while to come). Went out with a friend, had the camera with me but the waves were taking a while to come and sometimes they would trick us looking steep and suddenly getting mushy. So I didn't bother to worry about turning it on before surfing to avoid missing a wave because of the camera (which would be a greek tragedy! ).

I didn't surf any exceptional waves, but I liked how I could generate speed on some waves. I felt like I made miracles on some waves, that would start steep then suddenly get really chubby. I would hit it hard, stomp my feet ("smashing cockroaches" ) and go through those sections, then get a steeper section on the inside where I would try at least a carve on the closing wave. I also did a small sharp carve on a b/s wave (guess I put some more pressure on the back feet so it was a bit sharper, right as the wave was closing).

Important part is I had some good fun! (and broke my old johns zipper -.-)

[Big H]

I was just mentioning to PMCaero that when you say barely 2ft that it's not barely knee high but barely shoulder high....enough wave for a shortboard in other words.

[pmcaero]

I was just mentioning to PMCaero that when you say barely 2ft that it's not barely knee high but barely shoulder high....enough wave for a shortboard in other words.

always hard to tell with a fisheye lens, but they seemed kind of crumbly. That's not to say guys cannot shred on tiny boards even in 2ft -not Hawaiian -crumblers (I watched this guy do just that at my break a week ago, amazing) , but there is a certain progression to getting to that point in skill level, and I think a bit more foam would have helped in this case. One day I'll be curious to try a so-called groveler board, see if the flat rocker makes it go faster than a shortboard in such conditions.

[IanCaio]

I was just mentioning to PMCaero that when you say barely 2ft that it's not barely knee high but barely shoulder high....enough wave for a shortboard in other words.

Oh, I get it now!

always hard to tell with a fisheye lens, but they seemed kind of crumbly. That's not to say guys cannot shred on tiny boards even in 2ft -not Hawaiian -crumblers (I watched this guy do just that at my break a week ago, amazing) , but there is a certain progression to getting to that point in skill level, and I think a bit more foam would have helped in this case. One day I'll be curious to try a so-called groveler board, see if the flat rocker makes it go faster than a shortboard in such conditions.

Yeah, the GoPro angle and lens don't really help. The waves in that spot are a bit mushier though, 2ft there can be good or bad for shortboard depending on the formation/wind/tide. That day in particular was in between (not good neither bad).

About the groveler board, usually my boards have some rocker, but sure a flatter bottom would make it faster! Maybe it would suit this spot, though if I went out with it on one of the good "shortboard days", where the waves are steeper there, I'd probably have a harder time with no rocker.