Beginner surfers learn easily on a soft top board because they are good for both foam and real waves. The beginner starts in waist deep water to catch foam waves and ride them to the beach. Oceanside has a good beginner area at the Pier.
A soft top board has high volume and floats the surfer on top of the water to make the board easy to paddle, catch waves, and ride. As boards lose volume, each of those 3 become more difficult. The advantage of a hardboard is sometimes more speed catching a real wave and then better maneuverability. It takes a long time for the surfer to learn enough to need these two advantages.
Master the Fundamentals Before Changing Boards
The beginner masters riding to the beach after learning to time waves, learn the timing and rhythm of catching and popping up, and then riding without falling off. Ater this he paddles out to start catching bigger foam waves and then smaller real waves. The smaller real waves on some beaches are reformed waves after breaking on the outside. This gives the surfer an opportunity to learn on an easier wave.
Once the surfer starts paddling out to real waves in the line up, the soft top still performs well. It can catch up to 7′ waves, accelerate in the pocket, do bottom turns and cutbacks. If the surfer wants to rip the lip or do 360’s and aerials, the soft top is not the right board. Most surfers transition before this advanced stage.
The idea is not to go too short too fast. You lose all the advantages and fun of a soft top and make everything difficult. The first step is to a fun board at 7’6″ long, 21+” wide, and 2 3/4″ inches thick. The surfer can do most anything he wants on this board and have a lot of fun. If he wants to go shorter, then it should just be 6″ at a time maintaining the width and thickness. Don’t lose the ease and fun. There are still big challenges. Perfect the style. Shorter boards do not make surfing easier. A surfer has to have better skills to take advantage of the lower volume.
Learn More:
How Surfboards Are Constructed
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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