What Surfboards Should Overweight People Ride
Beginner surfers need high volume boards to make learning the fundamentals easier and overweight people should be sure they ride a large volume surfboard.
People can be overweight at any size from kids through seniors. Overweight is best determined using the Body Mass Index Calculator subscribed to by the medical and fitness industries. For example a person 5’3″ and 145 pounds is slightly overweight while at 135 pounds they are normal weight.
Everyone Should Begin on High Volume Surfboards
This runs parallel to the fact that heavier people even if they are not overweight should still ride bigger boards to learn. I put kids that are 50 pounds on a 5’10” board because they are usually about 5 or 6 years old and need a board that is easy to handle. At 70 pounds I use a 7′ board. Above that to 110 pounds for normal weight people I use an 8′ soft top board.
Above 110 pounds whether overweight or not, I use a 9′ soft top up to 180 pounds. These soft tops are 9′ x 23″ x 2 3/4″ thick. Above 180 pounds I like a bigger volume soft top. I have a 9′ x 24″ x 3 1/2″ board that is about 110 liters. This serves up to 240 pounds.
I have an old waterlogged 9′ board that holds weight the best and can use that for up to 260 pounds. Above that, I don’t take students. They need perhaps a small Stand up Paddle board that can be 9′ to 10′ x 28″ wide by 4+” thick
Learning the Fundamentals is Still Difficult
Even with a big board, overweight students will find the fundamentals difficult. As they gained weight and stopped exercising they lost strength and flexibility. Both are needed for the surfing pop up. They need to lose weight and build strength. The best exercises for strength and flexibility are push ups and squats plus dead lifts. The latter two build flexibility and strength in the lower body. The student has to be able to lift their upper torso off the board with one foot as they pop up.
The pop up is paddle, place hands on the board in a man’s push up position, push up and place one foot flat on the board under their butt so they can stand. A person without flexibility cannot get that foot flat so they can stand. That leaves them with both hands on the board as they put their second foot on the board. Now they are in the down dog position (yoga) with their upper body leaning on their hands and their feet at the back of the board. Not possible to stand in this posture.
A larger board is more forgiving which is what a new student needs until they can perfect the pop up and get into the correct stance. The correct stance is like pushing a tall box. The feet are shoulder width apart with both hands in front and hips and shoulders square to the front. This places the body weight equally on both sides of the middle stringer so the board will go straight.
Once a surfer can ride straight to the beach without falling off, they could consider a lower volume board. However, if a surfer does not get to the beach frequently, like every week, they would be most comfortable and successful staying with the higher volume.
More Posts
Oceanside Surf Lessons for Beginners
Beginner Surfers Learn the Pop Up
How to Progress to Surfing the Short Board
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