Surfing is mysterious to most people who have not begun and is experienced mostly by watching it in movies. Many buy a surfboard before they get to the water and should learn first How to Determine Your Right Surfboard. The surfboard is a tool and you need the right one.
There are general categories and within those few categories a person can choose a starting place. Boards are generally called short, mid long, and long. The short boards are shorter than 6’10”. Mid long are 6’10” to 9′. Long boards are longer than 9′. Boards are made of different materials including fiberglass, epoxy, and foam. They most importantly vary by volume. Volume is length x width x length.
The Right Board for A Beginner
The beginners want a high volume board made with foam. These are the easiest to paddle, pop up on, and ride. They catch foam waves where beginners start the best. The most advanced surfers are usually found on short boards that have very low volume and are difficult to ride for any other than advanced. The long boards are good for people who don’t go in the water often, are older with less agility, and for those who enjoy the riding style that goes with long boards.
After beginners have learned the fundamentals, it might be time to determine the board that would match their capabilities, their ambitions, and the style in which they want to ride. At the beginning a surfer will learn how well they catch on to surfing. Do they have the learning ability, the agility, the strength, the flexibility, the stamina, and very importantly, the courage.
The Right Circumstances for Short Boards
If a surfer has the above characteristics, they can consider moving to shorter boards with lower volume. Surfers should move shorter slowly because lower volume boards are harder to paddle, pop up on, ride, and require more courage. Surfers should move shorter no more than 6″ at a time while maintaining the width of 21″+ and the thickness of 2 3/4″+. Moving too fast makes paddling, popping up, and riding much more difficult. No one wants to lose the fun nor the longer sessions.
The difference between riding foam waves and real waves is mostly timing not to mention speed, size, and weight. A bigger real wave has greater speed and much more weight when it crashes on you. The real wave only arcs for a few seconds so positioning and timing are crucial.
How Boards Catch Waves Can Make a Big Difference
Next is the catching technique. A foam wave can be seen from a long way off and there is time. You can stand anywhere and catch it as it arrives. The real wave breaks in a particular spot and surfer must be in the right spot. The real wave lifts the tail of the board and the surfer lets it roll under the board and then paddles down the face. The smaller the board, the more power or size the surfer needs from the wave.
A long board can get on a wave earlier. Especially on reef beaches, the wave may start small and build. The long boarder can catch the wave when it is just a small swell and be up before the wave builds to full size. The short boarder has to wait for it to build to full size before launching. This is how timing is important or there are more crashes.
Do You Want to Drive Waves or Do Tricks
The long board can drive the wave from beginning to end and the long board has enough volume to stay ahead of the following lip. The short board has to be accelerated for speed and to perform maneuvers. The board is accelerated by moving the nose of the board up and down the face. The short boarder has to carve by pressuring the rails and doesn’t move much on the board. The long boarder moves back and forth on the board to make it carve.
As you can see, there are a lot of considerations necessary to find the right board and it cannot generally be determined until the surfer gets experience riding waves and experimenting with the styles necessary. The board selection that is right for a surfer becomes more obvious as time passes. Many surf both lengths and so they have two different styles. Also, days can vary and some are better for short boards and some better for long boards. This is why frequent surfers have both in their quiver. Have fun most of all and be patient with your progress.
Read Other Posts:
Beginner Surfers Learn on Soft Tops
5 Steps to Improve Surfing Performance
3 Ways to Catch Real Surfing Waves
Training to Ride the Surfing Short Board
Short Board Surfing Techniques
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