well i guess i should start off saying that i bought a 8' 4" bic magnum at the beginning of the summer and i have been surfing 5 times so far and i really enjoy it. i really like my bic but it doesnt turn that well. now i understand thats the nature of a long board and everything. i was wondering if i wanted to get a board to whip around a lil bit, would a short board be a lil to much for me being a beginner and all? i am 6' 1" and weigh between 180 and 190. also i will mostly be at holden beach since thats where my parents have a place, so thats the type of waves i ride. so bascially i want to know what type and size of board would be best for me and the conditions i'll be in. thanks for any help AJ
id say that it depends on whether or not you can paddle well or have good balance. im your weight, and i started out on a 6 foot rocket fish, but after years of snowboarding and swimming...not that it really transfers over. i'd get a fish style board, maybe like 6'4" if you have trouble paddling, or like 6;2" if you can swim well. just dont get a twin fin, they suck.
I had a few friends about your height/weight who are marines. I taught them how to surf when they were stationed out here. They both started on 9 foot logs. Once they could stand up and ride fairly well, they wanted to shorten things up. The guys in the local surf shop talked them both into getting these really fat, wide little fish things. They were like 6'1 and about 20 inches wide and pretty thick... Theoretically, the boards were great, but the guys were really akward when they tried to surf these boards. It was really though, cause once they coulg get up on them, they balance was really bad. Those little boards are pretty squirrly for beginners... So, to make a long story somewhat short, the glass slipper, the perfect boards that these guys found for pretty mediocre surf, ended up being about a 6'8, 20+ inches wide with a nice big fat round tail on it. The nose was also very wide... Basically, it was a shortened version of a "egg" or "fun shape". It is basically your standard 7.5-8.5 foot funshape that they chopped a foot or so off of... Now, these boards allowed the guys to get up very easily and paddle into all the waves they wanted, and once they got a little speed up, they were able to whip the boards around and start cutting back etc... Its just a much easier transition, especially if you are surfing mediocre little beach break surf thats 1-3 feet. If you don't have time to dedicate paddling out every day and surfing a lot on the new board, you dont want to go too short... And don't take the advice of your local surf shop. In my experiences, all the little grommets will recommend what works best for them, or their friends who are usually like 5 foot 3 and way 90 pounds.... Thats just my advice... Do what you want, but my begginner surfing friends had SOOO much more fnu once they dialed in the right board. There is nothing worse than paying $500.00 for something that really doesn't work out well for you.
thanks for the help, those were really helpful posts. i have one more question. i was looking on the forecast and it has some big waves coming up this weekend due to that tropical storm. my dad and i always go body boarding when the waves are big from them and i'll see guys surfing but they are always on short boards. can you use a longboard when the surf is rough like that? or is it to hard to get a long board out when the surf is that rough?
Yeah, but riding large beach break surf on a longboard is not the best scenerio for a beginner. Yes, it's easier to get into, but those closeout sections race up pretty fast, so if you dont know what you are doing, it could be a really difficult session. Many-a-longboards do I see going over the falls when it gets overhead at my local beach breaks... So, yes it can eb done, and longboarding is actually MUCH MUCH better on larger waves, but not really beach breaks... Small beach break days are perfect for longboarding, but if you are a beginner and its overhead, you might want to stick to laying down until you get used to it... Its worth a shot though. Just cover your head as you plunge towards the sand repeatedly...
yeah man you can give those big waves a shot with ur longboard but dont be real surprised if you get your **** rocked. stay safe out there though. it can get real gnarly and **** could happen so play it safe
