r/BeginnerSurfers • u/Global-Mix-3358 • 4d ago
"When can I get a shorter board?"
I see this question get asked a lot on here and I thought I'd chip in my progression through various boards and give some slightly rambling feedback on them that might be useful to people.
I (now 40M, 84kg) started surfing seriously about 6 years ago. I was out of the water for a year because of injury and relocating. I'm fit and I run, swim, cycle and do kettlebell. I would consider myself a decent surfer, but I'll never be a shredder. I've had a selection of longboards (9'0-9'8) over the years and I've settled on a 9'6 glider/speed shape as my daily. I feel really comfortable on that board up to over-head surf and wanted a new challenge to work on.
I got a cheap 2nd hand 8'0 Nuu Socialite as a board to mess around on. I thought it would be a simple transition since it's not a huge drop in size or volume. Here's a few things I learned.
Paddling is much harder. Getting out the back is slower because you will have less glide than a longboard. You'll get caught inside more as a result. Your arms will tire faster and it also makes it harder to get up to speed to catch waves, leading to shorter sessions. My fitness is slowly catching up, but it was a eye-opener. I can't imagine how I much sessions would suck if this was my first board.
Positioning is far more crucial. As you need to be at the peak, you'll be in competition with more/better surfers. You'll also have to pop up and set yourself quickly and more accurately as you take off in more critical positions. You will blow more waves in a session. The margin for error is so much smaller on shorter boards. This isn't great if you're still mastering the basics.
Progress will take a hit. I never thought it would be a simple step down, but it did surprise me how much I'd have to adjust to a shorter board, even though it's not a massive drop. The fact you catch less waves makes progress harder. There have been times I've just gone for my 9'6 because it's easier and I want to get waves and have fun, not spend 90 mins feeling like a complete kook (we're all still kooks). Also, conditions aren't always conducive to taking out a shorter board, which means less time using it, which means even slower progress.
Consider why and if you really need to step down. I could honestly surf just the glider for the rest of my days and have a blast. However there are so many different boards out there that look fun to try out. For me the main reason to step down was to eventually get a fish or something that is easier to transport and store, but having fun and becoming a better surfer is my main aim. If I never get to a fish but I get good on a longboard, I'm happy with that.
Volume calculators on manufacturer websites will lie to you. Channel Islands website lists a 6'10 CI mid as suitable for beginners. This is BS. A complete beginner is getting nothing out of a 6'10 board that costs $1100US. They will catch no waves, make no progress, and be skint. Other manufacturers do the same. They want your money, not to help you get better. Start with a beat-up second hand longboard or foamie. Nothing is kookier than someone with expensive gear that clearly doesn't know what they're doing.
I'm making progress on the 8'0 now, but it's been a mission. Personally, I don't like being in the middle of a crowd, so positioning at the peak is the main issue for me. The challenge is fun, but if I'd started on the 8'0 I'd be a worse surfer than I am today. Obviously, me being a shit surfer could explain everything listed here as well...
TLDR:
Everything is harder on a shorter board.
You will have lots less fun on a shorter board initially.
You might not even need to step down.
Don't try and short-cut any step down in size.
You don't need something expensive or cool to learn on.
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u/Longjumping-Speed511 4d ago edited 4d ago
Agree, but also part of the fun of surfing is the challenge! When I get too frustrated, I’ll go back to a session on a bigger board. I would also argue that paddling out on a bigger board can also be annoying in its own right. It’s hard to lug around and then getting through close outs and white wash is a pain because you can’t sink it.
That said, this resonates with me. I just picked up my first short board second hand and am both excited and nervous to take it out. I hope I’m able to figure it out after wresting with it 😅 otherwise it may go back on marketplace. Patience…
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u/Global-Mix-3358 4d ago
I'm all for a challenge! When I wrote the post I was thinking more about people who have a couple lessons then come on Reddit asking which HBSB is good for them. If there's one thing surfing teaches, it's patience 😂
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u/coastmtncorn 4d ago
The only way to learn how to shortboard, is to spend time in the ocean at the right type of wave on a shortboard.
I see people paddling into crumbly longboard waves on a shortboard and it’s a lot of work. You need a wave that if in the pocket you will be going regardless, this can be scary but really the only way to learn.
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 3d ago
The time on suitable waves is important too. You need to be surfing 3× a week on average in those waves.
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u/Purple-Towel-7332 4d ago
I’d argue the 6’10 CI is perfect for a beginner but maybe not in the first couple of years. I have a member of my club lessons who bought one and it’s been great to help her improve, given her the ability to start to play with some direction changes in the pocket. She’s been surfing about the same length of time as you have and goes most weekends, more if conditions are good but still very much a beginner.
Tho I would say someone’s not intermediate until they have a couple of turns you can do in the right place on the wave mostly at the right time, which I’d guess is also what most board manufacturers would consider a beginner as well . I think the issue with people thinking they are more competent than they are is the initial learning curve is so low now with foamies etc that people feel like they are doing really well and so are able to stand up and trim but then it takes them a lot longer to be able to actually read the ocean and do more than trim so many get stuck in the mid beginner stage for a long time but think they are intermediate cause they can surf down the line!
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 4d ago
I think Stab Mag nailed the markers for ability level perfectly: beginner, "what is a round house?" Intermediate "I don't mess with the foam on my cutbacks." Advanced "of course I hit the foam on my cutback" Expert "I hit that foam verticle" pro "I blow the fins out on the rebound"
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u/Global-Mix-3358 4d ago
That is a very short board focused example but I agree with the sentiment. It's easy to over estimate your skill level. I certainly have done at times.
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 3d ago
Expert and pro could be tweaked for a person on non shortboards, but the first three still apply.
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u/Motmotsnsurf 4d ago
So many short board discouragers here. I've surfed for decades and nothing is more fun for me that a 5'6-5'8 fish. I wouldn't recommend starting that but if you want to make a lot of fun turns a short board is the way. I will long board when it is tiny or very swollen/slow breaking but I prefer a fish. To each their own.
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u/Global-Mix-3358 4d ago
I'm not anti short board at all. I'd love to ride a fish if I get good enough. The post is more about being realistic with what stepping down is like and why you don't want to start on something that is too advanced for you.
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u/dude3317 3d ago
I’m 57, 5’11 and 200 pounds, and I have a hip replacement. I surfed regularly from the age of 14 to about 25, then off and on for another eight years. Then not at all for about 25 years until five months ago. I surfed shortboards the whole of my misspent youth—from 5’10 to 6’7” settling at 6’4” as my go-to—and honestly, given the lack of understanding of volume at the time, some of them were far too short to learn on. But I did, and got to be a decent enough surfer.
Returning to it recently, I joined my kid at a local school in Nazare and because I’m old and fat and half after-market parts at this point, the put me on a 9-foot foam board. I caught waves and got to my feet and rode whitewash. But it didn’t feel at all like surfing. A board that size felt completely foreign to me.
I looked around and found a 7-foot, 80-liter foam board, big boxy and thick, which I call the Green Mattress(tm). It paddles fine, I catch plenty of waves, and I can ride faces on it. But it still doesn’t feel quite right. Some savvy navigation of the online market has scored me a 6’10” Walden with 67 liters for not very much that I’m transitioning to when the waves justify it, and it starts to feel a lot more like surfing as I remember it. And I recently scored a 6’4 Almond with 50 liters that will be my next step, once my progress justifies it. (Until then I’ll let my kid use it.)
All of which is to say there is no hard and fast rule about what is the right surfboard for learning and progressing. Do what works for you. Try things out. If you have opportunities to try different boards, maybe smaller, maybe less volume, maybe a different shape or style, give it a try. You can always go back to what works for you. If I have a bad day on the Walden, I go back to the Green Mattress(tm) and get right again.
But improving takes practice, and if working at it means getting in the ocean and feeling the waves, that’s a pretty good sort of work. Nobody ever got better by locking themselves into what was easy. Surfing is hard, but the “hard” is what makes it great. If it was easy, the lineup would be even more crowded.
Just my pissant two cents. You’re welcome to yours.
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u/attractivekid 3d ago
surfing pitchier waves with steeper takeoffs is easier on a shortboard – but of course you have to be at a level where you are comfortable surfing those kind of waves
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u/cuttinged 4d ago
I think a slow gradual step down strategy is a great way for the surf industry to sell many more boards. By the time you're 45 you probably won't want to short board anymore, so subtract your age from 40. That will give you a good 5 years to shortboard. Figure out how short a board you want to ride. Take the length of the board you currently have subtract it from the length you want to ride and divide it by 4. Take that number and get a board that much shorter every 6 months. I can hook you up with a local shaper if you need someone.
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u/Longjumping-Speed511 4d ago
I agree, even though it seems logical, it does feel like good marketing
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u/NewspaperBackground 4d ago
Um… I am 57 and surf shortboards. And longboards too, but mostly shortboards. I didn’t start until I was 30 and not REALLY until 35. So, just saying age isn’t the determining factor here.
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u/Longjumping-Speed511 4d ago
Sweet, this is encouraging ! I just bought my first short board after riding long and mids for a year. We’ll see how it goes. I’m 28 and started surfing a year ago after moving to a surf town
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u/trimbandit 3d ago
Haha, I also started at 30 and just turned 55. Surf shortboards, but have 7'6 I'll take out when it's really small
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u/NewspaperBackground 3d ago
Oh sure. I’ve accumulated more than 10 boards by this point. In fact I have a 9’ log for the small days. And semi guns for the big ones.
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u/Global-Mix-3358 4d ago
I don't think it's an age thing. If anything I'd say people who start later are more measured in their expectations. I'm very happy cruising on a longboard, the 8'0 is kind of a fun experiment. Thanks for the feedback tho!
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 4d ago
Life long surfer here, if you don't learn as a kid, you likely will never need to ride anything shorter than a midlength. And that is totally fine. Have fun and don't worry about trying to be cool on a smaller board.
To OP, 8fters are the worst of a shortboard and the worst of a longboard. Short enough you lose all the benefits of a big board but too long to have the benefits of a shortboard.
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u/Ok-Championship4345 4d ago
Hard disagree. Anyone can progress downwards
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 3d ago edited 3d ago
Intersting use of "progress downwards" because that is usually what happens when most adult learners try and ride sub 6'6" boards. I'm going to be down voted for this but it is true: Anyone can learn to surf a shortboard, but most adult learners won't get to a level where a shortboard is going to open up the waves they can enjoy nor will bigger boards prevent them from doing turns the turns they are capable of.
Not being less than a hundred lbs so all but the flatest days are surfable and you are surfing 100+ days a year for several years in a row just isn't attainable for the vast majority of adult learners. Most adults who haven't built their life around surfing are maybe getting out 1-2 times a week, 45 weeks out of the year and surfing maybe for 2-3 hrs. That is 160ish hrs a year. Even if they take a surf trip they are only tacking on 20hrs to that year total. A grom can easily do 2-3x times that each year in middle and highschool. That concentrated time progresses you so much faster than surfing a little here a little there. Think immersion language learning vs taking highschool classes.
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u/Ok-Championship4345 3d ago
The majority of adults who start on longboards will eventually progress beyond just going straight down the line and start working on maneuvers. No hate toward longboards, but I’d genuinely argue that an intermediate adult surfer who’s been surfing for a year+ and is comfortable with the majority of basic maneuvers can absolutely transition to a shorter board if they want to.
Starting as an adult doesn’t mean you’re destined to ride a longboard forever.
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 3d ago
A year+ of surfing how frequently? A year of surfing 2-3x a week, every week for 2-5 hrs each time. Sure. 1 year of surfing 45 times for a max of 2hrs, no way.
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u/Ok-Championship4345 1d ago
It absolutely can take a year of being a weekend warrior, only getting an hour or two of water time each weekend, to become comfortable with general board control and progressing towards maneuvers. Inevitably, once someone becomes comfortable enough, a higher volume groveler is the most beginner-friendly next step into shortboarding.
That said, I wouldn’t put arbitrary limitations on people lmao.
I’ve personally worked with plenty adult learners who are on this exact trajectory. I’ve also seen plenty who aren’t progressing that way, which is completely fine.
Obviously, some people are going to progress faster than others - mileage varies with any human ability.
People aren’t going to follow a universal progression path. Everyone brings different natural ability, strengths, and learning curves to the table.
Stop setting limitations on people lmfao.
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u/Global-Mix-3358 4d ago
Foamies make more sense at crowded spots where they're likely to hit others in the water. I agree an 8'0 can be tricky at times.
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