New to surfing. Need advice.

Stay away from people named Wayne, for starters.

The Florida surfers on this forum could pitch in some info for you.

Watch the videos from Surf Simply that are posted on youtube.

 

Best advice I ever got was, go visit your local surf shop and rent a board as often as you can to try a few and listen to what the surf shop guys have to say. Don't rush in and buy a board and maybe even take some lessons. this will pay off and you will enjoy learning instead of being frustrated, imo.

 

You are a girl I assume? Be ready to be stared at in the lineup, just a heads up


Your best bet is a longboard, I started on a shortboard and never really got anywhere till I picked up a longboard and suddenly my surfing went to a whole new level. It might not look as cool, but you will have much more fun, and it is always good to have a longboard because you will be able to ride smaller waves. Shortboards are meant for large waves.

I'm not expert on longboards but I'm sure people here can give you recomendations. I would say as your first board to get an epoxy, though some people probably won't agree with me. Epoxy boards are pretty indestructible. My fiberglass shortboard needs dings repaired everytime it hits a piece of gravel, or bumps into anything. Has also broken in half from a wave. My epoxy longboard has been blown off my car it was leaning on right onto the pavement and did not even ding. Not to mention the slams its taken into the sand and no break.

I have a South Point longboard, 8'9 I believe, and I would recomend that. While it isn't as long as other boards, so may be slightly more difficult to learn on, as you progress you will be able to turn it quicker and I believe have more fun then you would on say a 10'. I have a tri fin and would recommend that, for ease of turning. Unless you are looking to just ride straight down the line without much maneuvering.
I'm not sure the model, I will even check that for you later on. My board has performed perfectly in anything from 1 foot slop to pumping hollow overhead waves. But keep in mind this is my opinion. There probably are better boards, but I definitely think you should go with epoxy instead of fiberglass.

 

ah, umph, yeah, long and thick... yeah umph, and harrrrddddddd. No seriously, stay away from soft tops, they are crap.

 

As antoine said, it might be worth renting a board first or at least taking a lesson or two. There are a lot of great instructors in Florida who should be able to help you surf the right way. Instructors should also be able to guide you to a board that best suits your style.

If you're dead set on buying a board, I would begin the search in the foam top aisle. There's nothing wrong with riding a soft top; especially as a beginner. My girlfriend has one and she loves it. Hell, I love it. I take it out in shore pound all the time. No dings, no maintenance, no shame.

Stick with it, Kayla.

 

At 5ft tall 100lbs, you can get away with anything in the 7' - 8' range, that's either going to be a nice size "Fun Board" or a smaller sized "Long Board", as 9ft is regulation size for a LB (doesn't matter, you aren't competing), I recommend something more in the 8' range though, the more foam the better in the beginning. You'll be surprised how light an 8ft board can be if you get the right one.

I have a 8'1" McTavish 8 Ball that I picked up for like $475-500 if I recall. It's light and Epoxy, so it doesn't ding easily. It came with a tri-fin setup that I used for a while, it gave more stability. Now, I'm using a single fin on it, and it's turned into a whole new board for me and I am really digging it. It's making my skills on my short board so much better, and that's really what my goal was when I got the board, to improve my overall surfing, for all boards. Having a LB will do that, you'll spend more time up and riding waves then anything else you'll ride (except maybe an SUP, which I highly recommend too, but different ball game all together)

 

Just do it...

 

Go in to a good surf shop and tell them you're new to surfing and looking for your 1st board. I don't think you need to start with a long board, but definitely a bigger board. I think a Fun Shape in the 7 foot range would be good for you to learn on.
If they have something used go with that. Don't let them talk you in to a super expensive board that won't work for you.
Good luck.

 

In order for us to accurately give advice on things such as board length, thickness, foot placement, etc. you really need to post pictures of yourself, from multiple angles.

 

We all fervently hope that bc's nephew never actually posts pics of himself on here.

 

Get an 8ft Wavestorm. $99 bucks at Walmart. Start here, there's lots to learn. Once you're paddling into waves and catching them. Then get a real surfboard.

The Wavestorm can then be used to teach your friends. Plus they don't hurt when you get hit with them.

 

I'll post video of myself benching shortly

 

If you are fairly athletic, try a fun shape around 7'6" to 8", and FCS makes special fins that are kinda soft edged for beginners, but are still stiff enough to hold. This way you won't cut up your feet and legs. My daughter had them on her first board. If it is not a soft top, get a nose guard too. A fun shape will be a lot easier to carry down to the beach than a longboard, and will be plenty stable and float you well and will catch lots of waves as light as you are. Try going to a surf camp for a day or two if you have the $, they will give you lots of tips on safety as well as the basics. If not, just learn away from a crowd, plan on falling alot, and after a bit you will be catching and riding waves of pure joy! (And learn how to throw good stink eye at any creeps). Have fun!

 

Good word with "fervent".

How many bars of wax you want to bet that BCN was completely serious in his plea for photos? C'mon brah, it's Aloha Friday, the freakin weekend, summah kid. Girls everywhere want to get down. Even band geeks in your league. We know from pop culture they can be some of the weirdest out there.

 

I'd bet ten bars of wax that he was serious

 

Have you taken any lessons either from a friend of from a local shop? I'm new to the sport too and found that to be a really good way to get comfortable with the basics of etiquette, where to go to not get in the way of the good surfers, etc.

I've been wakeboarding for 15 years so this spring I started with a 7'6" fun shape, which was great in waist high and above. Kinda short for a beginner, but the wakeboarding definitely helped with the balance and feel of turning, etc. Any water sports experience helps. The hard part was catching waves...it was really frustrating at times. Your position relative to where the waves are breaking is CRITICAL. Learned that by watching the good surfers...another good thing to do when you're out there.

For the summer I grabbed a cheap 10'2" longboard through a friend of a friend. Nothing special, but as a beginner I'm convinced the characteristics of the board, aside from volume, has little to do with your ability to learn. I highly recommend you get a used longboard between 8-9'. Catching waves as a newbie is not easy...the bigger the board the easier it is to catch and ride, especially in the summer. Buying used boards is great because you can usually resell them for very close to what you paid.

You'll have good days and bad days. Stick with it and the good days will become far more frequent.

 

Tina that's weak! We both know your druncle will finance at least ten wax museums for your wagering pleasure. Don't short change us.

 

Wow dude, risky request. At 5ft, 100#'s she's either quite dainty, or in middle school.