The right time to transition to a shortboard

[dtc]

"Progression" is an open ended word. What does it mean? A longboarder can 'progress' just as much as a shortboarder, just towards a different outcome

But that is being pedantic. Shortboards turn easier and faster, because they are short and lighter. If your style is lots of turns, doing airs or fin slides, then a short board is the preferred tool. Hence why the pros ride them. That said, on smaller waves in particular, short boards need a lot of work to get up speed (insufficient volume) and you end up with a lot of 'tic tac' style surfing (up down pumping). And, as you mentioned, they are harder to catch waves and have a lot lower margin for error re positioning, feet placement etc.

Catching waves is, of course, a skill; and after a few years surfing it becomes a much easier thing to do. The wave catching side of things isnt as important once you have the necessary skill and so the board you surf is not surfed for the purposes of catching waves, but for the purpose of what you want to do on the wave (on 'standard' waves - on particularly big or small waves, the board length/size can be quite important to catching the wave).

But there is nothing you can do on a shortboard that you cant do on a longboard at beginner/intermediate level. You absolutely do not need to go shorter to improve your skills - dont think its a wave count vs skill debate (not to mention its pretty hard to improve skills if you arent catching any waves). Many people will advise that if you can turn a long board, then you can turn a short board - but vice versa isnt always the case.

Once you can catch waves regularly, can do top and bottom turns and cutbacks, then you can decide whether you want to 'progress' down the style of harder turns or stay with the more drawn out turns of longer boards. Before you are at that stage, going much shorter is of little benefit (although you could, if you wanted to 'shorter' to mid length eg mid 7fts)

[Eraserhead]

"Progression" is an open ended word. What does it mean? A longboarder can 'progress' just as much as a shortboarder, just towards a different outcome

But that is being pedantic. Shortboards turn easier and faster, because they are short and lighter. If your style is lots of turns, doing airs or fin slides, then a short board is the preferred tool. Hence why the pros ride them. That said, on smaller waves in particular, short boards need a lot of work to get up speed (insufficient volume) and you end up with a lot of 'tic tac' style surfing (up down pumping). And, as you mentioned, they are harder to catch waves and have a lot lower margin for error re positioning, feet placement etc.

Catching waves is, of course, a skill; and after a few years surfing it becomes a much easier thing to do. The wave catching side of things isnt as important once you have the necessary skill and so the board you surf is not surfed for the purposes of catching waves, but for the purpose of what you want to do on the wave (on 'standard' waves - on particularly big or small waves, the board length/size can be quite important to catching the wave).

But there is nothing you can do on a shortboard that you cant do on a longboard at beginner/intermediate level. You absolutely do not need to go shorter to improve your skills - dont think its a wave count vs skill debate (not to mention its pretty hard to improve skills if you arent catching any waves). Many people will advise that if you can turn a long board, then you can turn a short board - but vice versa isnt always the case.

Once you can catch waves regularly, can do top and bottom turns and cutbacks, then you can decide whether you want to 'progress' down the style of harder turns or stay with the more drawn out turns of longer boards. Before you are at that stage, going much shorter is of little benefit (although you could, if you wanted to 'shorter' to mid length eg mid 7fts)

Thank you. that is a great explanation.

[Eraserhead]

So i have a new surfboard. I didnt completely listen to you guys but circumstances forced me. But then it made me realize i should have listened and it is not too late.

I got a 6-7 board, it is 22" wide and although the seller said it is 3" thick, it seems to me much thicker than that.

Here are a few photos

[Eraserhead]

The first day i went to diamond head and it was supposedly 2-3 footers but seemed more like 3-4. The first and probably biggest difference was when i laid on the board, my feet were sticking well out. I never had that feeling on the long board, that is a completely different feeling, almost like a bodyboard. It makes it way harder to position yourself on the board. I had no idea what the traction pad on the board was for either. It seemed way too far back to put your back foot on if that was the intended purpose.
Nevertheless, i think one thing that is a benefit of going out to surf for over year for 4-5 days every week is that i didnt have any hesitancy to go for waves. I kind of understand the basics of catching a wave, what it takes and how it feels to catch it even if i cant catch every wave. But i quickly realized what you guys mean when you said you always need to drop in the steep part of the wave on a shorter board. It felt like i was almost in pearl position whenever i caught the wave. It felt like it wouldnt matter how fast i would stand, there just wasnt enough time to stand. So i caught some white water and could stand up without too much problem but then i literally had no speed most of the time or stalled pretty fast.
All in all, it was one of the most frustrating sessions since the very first days i went out alone on the longboard. I couldnt catch an open wave, and stand or i could only catch white water, stand and have no speed. And then the duck diving or turtle roll. Neither worked. When i turtle rolled, the waves dragged me violently, even worse than with longboard. When i tried to duck dive, the board was too thick, it wouldnt dive. The guy who sold me actually told me I couldnt duck dive.

The second day, i went to rockpiles on a fun 2-3 footers. That session was way better. I stayed inside of the lineup and caught the smaller ones. This time, i could catch the open face waves and ride but again one wave i had decent speed and could do even some turning up and down and the next wave literally no speed. I did like that fact though i could stay inside and catch the smaller waves right when they broke and still have some fun. I couldnt do that with the longboard at least wasnt much fun.

I am still figuring out where to lay on the board. I read some comments saying that on the shortboard you need to stay close to the front and will almost feel like pearling. But to me it felt like i had to be back on the board and when i stand up, my back foot has to be on the traction pad, which on a couple of occasions when i did, the front would get off the water making it easy to turn but my speed was almost dead.

So, anyway for the time being i will keep and try this but plan to use my 9 foot custom board more and maybe in the next few months, get a 7-6 or 8 foot relatively thin funboard and will try to master that for another year or 2 before i try to get a shortboard. I think even though the shortboard looks to be a complete different ball game, the knowledge of the waves and understanding the feeling of catching a wave transfers when going from a longboard to a shortboard.

[Eraserhead]

[tomthetreeman]

That thing looks like loads of fun. Lots of volume, a little loose in the back... Nice! Report back!

[oldmansurfer]

Looks like an egg. Similar to the my newest board. It has a wide nose and a continuous rocker but mine is 7 foot long and I surf it with quad fins

[dtc]

Given how much you surf I'm sure you will get there. Its got plenty of volume and width. There will be good days and terrible days! new boards, particularly if quite different to what you are used to, always take everyone some to many sessions to sort out

A few comments
- where to lay on the board: same as all boards. Go to a flat part of the water and lay on the board in standard paddle position (head up a bit etc). Shuffle up and down until the nose is approx 1 inch out of the water. That is your basic 'go to' starting position. You may need to shuffle up and back, or arch your back more or less (which changes the weighting) depending on the situation. Personally I like to mark the go to position in the wax (fingernail) but others think thats a bad idea because it can mentally tie you to that spot even when it should be slightly different. So up to you.

- feet off the back of the board - make sure you arent trying the pop up using your toes. It doesnt work when they are off the back of the board.... and if that is your habit (which is fine for a longer board) and you are still trying it with a shorter board, then you can cause all sorts of contortions or really slow down the pop up

- traction pad. When you are surfing your back foot will (should) move positions depending on what you are doing. Going along the face and not doing anything - back foot is likely just in front of the traction pad (maybe a few inches - depending on the board). Doing a turn - foot is over the fin ie on the traction pad. So dont have the view that your foot should be on the pad at all times, that isnt the case for a board of that length. Your back foot will need to move up and back by a few inches. This is no different to a longboard or short board either - your back foot moves up and back (back = over the fins). Its just that the distance the foot moves may be less (eg short board - 1 or 2 inches, longboard might be 12 inches). On a sub 7ft board your front foot probably wont move much, but there are times when you move the front foot as well (eg to really weight the nose to get it down the face)

As an aside, note how the shorter the board the more important foot position from pop up is ie on a long board, if you pop up and your back foot is within (say) 6 inches of where its meant to be, then you have time to adjust or it doesnt even really matter. On a 6'7 board, if your back foot is 3 inches too far back, the board's nose sticks out of the water and you lose all speed (as you have found). Its not a bad idea to do an outline of your board on land (chalk on the floor or just a few key marks) and identify where you lay and where your feet 'should be' after the pop up. Then practice.

[Eraserhead]

Given how much you surf I'm sure you will get there. Its got plenty of volume and width. There will be good days and terrible days! new boards, particularly if quite different to what you are used to, always take everyone some to many sessions to sort out

A few comments
- where to lay on the board: same as all boards. Go to a flat part of the water and lay on the board in standard paddle position (head up a bit etc). Shuffle up and down until the nose is approx 1 inch out of the water. That is your basic 'go to' starting position. You may need to shuffle up and back, or arch your back more or less (which changes the weighting) depending on the situation. Personally I like to mark the go to position in the wax (fingernail) but others think thats a bad idea because it can mentally tie you to that spot even when it should be slightly different. So up to you.

- feet off the back of the board - make sure you arent trying the pop up using your toes. It doesnt work when they are off the back of the board.... and if that is your habit (which is fine for a longer board) and you are still trying it with a shorter board, then you can cause all sorts of contortions or really slow down the pop up

- traction pad. When you are surfing your back foot will (should) move positions depending on what you are doing. Going along the face and not doing anything - back foot is likely just in front of the traction pad (maybe a few inches - depending on the board). Doing a turn - foot is over the fin ie on the traction pad. So dont have the view that your foot should be on the pad at all times, that isnt the case for a board of that length. Your back foot will need to move up and back by a few inches. This is no different to a longboard or short board either - your back foot moves up and back (back = over the fins). Its just that the distance the foot moves may be less (eg short board - 1 or 2 inches, longboard might be 12 inches). On a sub 7ft board your front foot probably wont move much, but there are times when you move the front foot as well (eg to really weight the nose to get it down the face)

As an aside, note how the shorter the board the more important foot position from pop up is ie on a long board, if you pop up and your back foot is within (say) 6 inches of where its meant to be, then you have time to adjust or it doesnt even really matter. On a 6'7 board, if your back foot is 3 inches too far back, the board's nose sticks out of the water and you lose all speed (as you have found). Its not a bad idea to do an outline of your board on land (chalk on the floor or just a few key marks) and identify where you lay and where your feet 'should be' after the pop up. Then practice.

Ok that is good advice. I had the belief that on a short board there is no walking or moving. You pop up and ride it with your feet planted all the way other than changing toe or back foot pressure. I did make some adjustments by walking a little forward or back and wasnt sure if i was supposed to move around at all. I did more to understand at which point i got more speed or at which point i got more maneuverability. But the window in the short board is so short that, if i made a positioning mistake, i immediately stalled and was done unlike in the long board, you can still salvage a ride if you stall. I guess that is main argument that a short board is less forgiving in every way.
It makes sense where the initial position of the feet after the pop being very important. That is probably why i felt no speed after some pop ups and had speed on others. I felt it intuitively it had to do with my positioning.

Regarding the pop up, i dont believe i am used to using my toes to pop up. I usually use the hands and gravity to stand up. But i did see a video where a guy was showing a way to pop up on the short board by first putting the back foot toes on the raised part of the traction pad while bending the knees to the side while pushing the board with the hands. I haven't consciously tried it but it doesnt feel natural to do that.

[IanCaio]

Ok that is good advice. I had the belief that on a short board there is no walking or moving. You pop up and ride it with your feet planted all the way other than changing toe or back foot pressure. I did make some adjustments by walking a little forward or back and wasnt sure if i was supposed to move around at all. I did more to understand at which point i got more speed or at which point i got more maneuverability. But the window in the short board is so short that, if i made a positioning mistake, i immediately stalled and was done unlike in the long board, you can still salvage a ride if you stall. I guess that is main argument that a short board is less forgiving in every way.
It makes sense where the initial position of the feet after the pop being very important. That is probably why i felt no speed after some pop ups and had speed on others. I felt it intuitively it had to do with my positioning.

Regarding the pop up, i dont believe i am used to using my toes to pop up. I usually use the hands and gravity to stand up. But i did see a video where a guy was showing a way to pop up on the short board by first putting the back foot toes on the raised part of the traction pad while bending the knees to the side while pushing the board with the hands. I haven't consciously tried it but it doesnt feel natural to do that.

You'll not move back and forth as much in a shortboard than in a longboard, but you'll still definitely move. I ride a 6'0" or a 5'10" depending on conditions, and sometimes have to move forward (if I'm on a chubbier section of the wave, or a quick section that needs more speed) or backward (if I'm too far forward to do a narrower turn). The movement is more subtle, but it's there.

This spot you tested the board on, are the waves more chubby or moderately steep? You'll have to be more careful maintaining speed, but with the volume you have on that board it shouldn't stall that easily unless the waves are weak (too small or not steep enough), if you are running too far away from the pocket or if you are positioned too far back on the board.

The pop up you described can be a starter, but as you get more comfortable you should practice making the pop up an explosive movement, everything in a single move. Instead of setting the back foot first, jumping and setting both foot under you right in that moment between your arms being stretched holding the rails and you releasing the rails. It's faster and will enable you to make some more critical drop ins, where you have less time to get your feet on the board.

[Solodun]

Waves vary and an angle take is not always nor the only answer, what ever happens to go across the wave you have to set the rail...