Looking to start shortboarding, currently using 6'8 board, wondering if board with size / dimensions: 6'0" x 18 1/4" x 2 1/4" will be too small to start with? I currently weigh 160 and I'm 5'6'' tall. Been having some great rides on my 6'8'' but dont feel like i can turn/cut quite as fast as i would like. Also, and im fairly experienced surfer but just not on shortboards. Thanks for any input.
6'0" x 18 1/4" x 2 1/4" is a potato chip. Don't start with that. Most 160 pounders who have been shortboarding a long time aren't riding boards with those dimension in most east coast conditions. The 6'0" part is fine, but I'd be looking for a board about an inch wider, like 19 1/4" and probably 2 3/8". It doesn't sound like much of a difference but it is.
It's likely the difference between catching a lot of waves and few waves. OP, this is correct what mitch says. At your weight, that volume may work later but not if that's your first shorter SB. I have boards like he's describing and I'm stoked on them constantly. More info needed to comment grommet. How's that girl next door btw? You get up a sack with her or what?
Yea a little thicker! There is a lot more to consider then just size if you want to turn quicker... Rails... Tail ect
this voice of experience offers sound advice. for free. no strings attached. gotta love free things that help..... wish i grew up in an era where one taps a key and (has the opportunity to) learns stuff li'dat...
Listen to these men, more volume for that 6' and you should be good, find another one like it but with more girth.
NO don't do it I know it sounds like a good deal because it's cheap. My son intermediate surfer who had been surfing for like 4 years on a fish like board wanted a more hpsb. Bought it (6'0" x 18 3/8 x 2 1/4) for $100 bucks at the local shop Waterbrothers. Rode it like twice could hardly catch a wave resold it on Craigslist a year later. He's then got a 6 x 19 1/4 x 2 3/8 as his everyday board and loves it. That is the same size the pros are riding in France today only theirs are an inch ior two shorter. The wave there today are 6-?? foot faces.
Too small, period. My 6'0" is 20-1/4" W by 2-1/2" thick. I am 6 feet tall and 180lbs with a wetsuit on. Why do I like so much volume you ask? Well, I am not on the WCT, and I like to catch a lot of waves and have FUN. The more fun you have, the better a surfer you will be. Plus, the outline of my board still allows for performance surfing, a win-win. You're just testing the waters with a real shortboard. Don't go too extreme. Plus, figure-out where the foam is on the board. There's nothing like picking up a board off the rack and feeling how it holds foam. I could spend hours just looking at boards. If that board was 19" at the center and 2-1/2 inches thick with a traditional shortboard nose or a more beak-like nose, it would paddle much more easily and still allow for performance surfing. My advice? Go to a shop, find an older dude who knows a thing or two, and find out what you need to have FUN. Fun is key.
