When Surfers Should Buy Soft Tops and Short Boards
New surfers are often asking When Surfers Should Buy Soft Tops and Short Boards in their progress. This is a great question and not understood by beginners. Some make the mistake of buying a short board before they have learned to surf.
Surfing is more technical than most people expect. It is about timing and rhythm. Beginners have to learn to slow down their instincts to race to standing up. They have to learn the timing sequence.
Learning the Fundamentals
Surfing looks fast to the eye, but there is a sequence in catching waves and popping up that must be patiently and perfectly applied. The mechanics are best learned on a high-volume board in foam waves. The board should be higher volume than the surfer will surf on after he has mastered the mechanics. Only mastering the fundamentals allows him to move competently to lower volume boards.
I start most teens and adults on a 9′ soft top for their first lessons. Only when they can land the pop up in the middle of the board in the perfect stance do I suggest moving to a lower volume board. In this process, they have learned to time catching waves and when to put their hands on the surfboard. They have learned how to pop up in the right sequence to land in correct stance. They can ride straight to the beach without falling off.
Progressing to Real Waves
At this point, they have been paddling out through the foam waves and catching bigger foam waves. They are learning judgment about waves and have become comfortable in the ocean. They realize how tiring is the paddling. Only frequent trips to the water will improve paddling stamina. A weightlifting program would be a good complement to build upper body, shoulder, back, and arm strength.
After learning to catch bigger foam waves, it is a good time to look for smaller real waves in the mix. The beginner starts with 2′ to 3′ waves to get the timing. He uses the same pop up timing and sequence. As he builds skill, confidence, and courage, he can move to bigger real waves.
Once he has learned to ride bigger real waves and bottom turning into the pocket, accelerating, and cutbacks, he might consider a hard board. The first hard board can be 8′ and still maintain the high volume with added maneuverability. If the surfer does not visit the water often, this board might remain comfortable.
Getting Shorter Slowly
If the surfer wants to move to shorter boards for maneuverability, he should only drop 6″ of length at a time while maintaining the width and thickness of high-volume boards. The paddling becomes more difficult, and the sessions will get shorter if the surfer is not paddling fit.
It takes a long time to get to the technical size short board of 6’10”. The surfer should not be in a hurry. The shorter boards are harder to paddle, harder to catch waves, and harder to ride. The surfer does not want to lose the fun in the process. The only thing that waits from dropping too fast is frustration.
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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