Need a little advice on sizing a longboard for my girlfriend to learn. She's quite small, and can't even begin to carry a normal sized longboard (9'6 x 23 x 3) really b/c of the width. Would something like 9'0 x 21 be decently stable, or is that just too narrow and paddle/ride like sh*t? Any female longboarders out there would love to know what dims you all are riding and how you choose between something wide enough to be stable vs. being able to carry it to/from the beach. Thanks!
My wife is small and can carry my 9ft LB, also carries my 8'1" mini-LB no problems. Something in that range would be good. Also she has her own 7ft foamie which she's comfortable on and can catch waves with it. Still working on getting her to stand up and stay up though.
A 9'6" for a small girl (or small guy) is an aircraft carrier. Frankly, an 8'8" would be large enough, given proper width (22 inches give or take) and thickness 2 and 7/8th. just opinion.
Seems like you're getting some propre advise. Good thing you're not asking aboot a wetsuite for your short girlfriend. https://www.swellinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?26155-wetsuits-for-short-women
9' x 21" is too unstable. Go 8' x 21.5" (or 21.0" if you must) for easy portage, 3 inches thick, for properrre float.
Or you could get her a Board Buddy: http://www.surfboardbuddy.com/ My wife has a hard time getting her arm around just aboot any wave surf riding bort. She found this thing and loves it. It actually works pretty well.
good advice here. unless your friend is planning to learn in Waikiki or something, there's no need for a girl on the small side to be learning to surf on any kind of 9 foot board. there is a womens surf school all summer at a spot I sometimes check and they all seem to be on like 7'6"s
I second this. My shorty got a wavestorm last year and loves it. If it's knee to thigh high we will paddle out together and we've had some really fun sessions. She started going down the line this summer. Stoked for her.
You size a board for a girl like you'd size a board for a guy... by size, weight and ability. Go into a shop with a good LB selection and let her grope a few... boards, that is. Width isn't the only thing that makes it hard to carry a board. Weight, thickness and length matter, too. I recently built two identical boards for two teenage girls... 8'0 x 21 x 3ish. Stringerless EPS with carbon strip, 6x4 bottom, 4 deck. Super light for their spindly little arms, and they catch anything. I can ride my bike to the beach with that thing under my arm, easy.
I don't know when or why or how we got so soft. I am stared at like some freak because i bike longboards one arm up the beach. I see fat mommy carrying everything for her kids...when i was your age! If we can paddle, we should be able to carry. Used to wrap both arms around, or get a friend and use two people.
Same advice I give to all folks learning to surf: Costco Wavestorm. She'll be able to paddle into her own waves, and won't bang up her knees learning to pop up. Stick to the wavestorm for 6 months - 1 year depending on how often she gets out there. After shes getting down the line reward her with a local shaped custom built so she can carry it! I taught my g.f. about 3 years ago on a wavestorm. I "bought" it from her after a year and helped her get into her own "real" surfboard. I still take the wavestorm out when we're hanging on the beach.
