Going from Soft Top to Short Surf Boards

Moving from soft top surf boards to short surf boards is a goal of many beginner surfers. In Oceanside Surf Lessons, I progress students in this process in a number of lessons. Most teens and adults start with a 9′ soft top board to learn the fundamentals.

Once a beginner can pop up in the right posture centered on the board and ride it straight, they are ready to move to the 8′ soft top surf board. The 8′ Wave Storm soft tops sold by Costco are excellent boards that last many for years. Surfers in Oceanside ride 7′ waves on them.

Advantages of a Short Board

The advantages of a short board are you can duck dive waves which is important on sand bottom beaches in which you have to paddle through breaking waves to get to the outside. In big surf, you can’t get soft tops outside.

Another advantage is it is easier to get short boards down wave faces without pearling. In beach breaks with steep or close out waves, like Oceanside, getting down the face and bottom turning into the pockets is much easier with a short board.

A third advantage is short board can be accelerated to gain speed for tricks and maneuvers. Whereas soft tops can be accelerated as well, they are clunky compared to short boards. Some Wave Storm riders can rip the lip and even do 360’s, but they are rare.

Why Convert Slowly

The importance of the process to convert is to move slowly. Once the fundamentals of riding the soft top are learned, it is not fun to move too fast and become frustrated. Surfers should move shorter only 6 inches at a time and maintain the width and thickness of the surfboard.

A good first move is to the 7’6″ fun board that is 21″+ wide and 2 3/4″ thick. What most surfers who move down to fast discover is they are tired paddling too soon, the board doesn’t catch waves easily, and the board becomes unstable to them on a pop up.

No reason to take the fun out of surfing. Slower progression allows paddling stamina to build. The shorter board has to catch a steeper wave which takes the learning of timing and more courage. The less volume a board has (shorter boards), the steeper the wave has to be to push it.

Short boarders allow the wave to come under the board and then paddle hard three times to get down the face. Beginners often try to paddle over the top and catch it from behind. This doesn’t work. The problem with trying to catch the wave as it rolls under the board is that mistakes cause crashes. It takes some time to develop.

Learn More:

For Oceanside Surf Lessons, see the Home Page

See the Post Surf Lessons Begin with Foam Waves

See the Post What You Learn in a 2 Hour Lesson

See the Post How to Progress in Surfing

See My Dry Land and In Water Demo video

See How to Catch a Green/Real Wave video