Choosing the right surfboard is one of the most, if not the most important purchasing decision you’ll make when it comes to an enjoyable wave ride.
Whether you’re a complete beginner learning to surf, beginner intermediate or ready to break out in the pro scene. Understanding the fundamentals behind board design, sizing, shape is important. The engineering that goes behind board design is invaluable information. You’ll never truly know what a board suited for you really feels like.
Choosing the right board comes down to your surfing skill, surf conditions, types of waves, and believe it or not, your fitness level.
It all comes into play when buying a board, not to mention paraphernalia like choosing the right surfboard fins, leg ropes, and traction pads.
We’re going to take a look at the various board designs, sizes, and models in this article. So as a surfer, you know what to look out for when buying your first, or next board.
Things to consider when choosing a board
There are a number of factors that will need consideration when you’re choosing the right surfboard on any given day:
Skill Level – Are you a beginner, intermediate or advanced surfer?
Fitness Level – Even when you reach higher levels of surfing, fitness levels are going to play a role in what kind of board you’re going to surf depending on the conditions.
Height and weight – This will help to determine how much volume you would need for a particular style of board.
Wave Type – What type of waves are you going to be surfing? Hollow and fast – soft, slow crumbly?
These are all essential factors to consider and can directly impact your surfing performance.
No. 1: What’s your Skill Level?
As mentioned above, a surfer who’s just starting out may only need one good beginner surfboard to get them to a level where they start to progress.
The new surfer is going to want a board that has plenty of volume and stability. For most people, this surfboard will be something around the 7-8 foot mark and about 22-23 inches wide and 3 inches thick.
A board around this size will provide plenty of volume to ensure they can paddle into waves. A soft top surfboard is a good option for a beginner as they provide lots of float and stability while being safer in the lineup.
The added width and thickness combined with the general outline on these boards (wider, rounder nose and wider tail) provides plenty of stability when trying to stand up on the wave.
After you get the fundamentals sorted, you can start to look into fiberglass boards and begin to refine your preferred surfboard shape to suit your abilities and your favored wave types.
No. 2: What’s your Fitness Level?
Your level of fitness is also going to play a key factor in determining what board will give you the best surfing experience. For example, while someone may be better at surfing today than they were ten years earlier, they may also have lost some of their stamina.
This surfer may decide that they want a board that’s a little thicker and slightly wider to ensure they still have enough paddle power to avoid missing waves or not being able to paddle into waves.
A good compromise may be to find a slightly thicker board that tapers down into a nice rail. This means you can continue to paddle into more critical waves while the board still offers a good amount of performance.
In this case, you can see how fitness levels can impact on your ability to paddle into waves. For this reason, choosing the right board can ensure your wave count doesn’t go down on account of your surfing fitness.
Age can also factor into this. Imagine two surfers on the same wave. A 25 year old at an advanced level with the same height and weight as a 45 year old at an advanced level may have a completely different surfboard.
Most likely, the younger surfer is going to have more endurance than the older surfer. While they might both be strong paddlers, the older surfer is likely to tire quicker than the younger surfer.
With a little more volume in his board, the older surfer could stretch out his session to the same length as the younger surfer as he won’t need to spend the same amount of energy to paddle into waves.
No. 3: Your Height and Weight
Your height and weight will definitely play a key role in determining which boards are best for you to ride. Because these are the most obvious elements, many volume calculators rely heavily on these details to find your perfect surfboard volume.
However, often these calculators won’t take anything else into consideration.
This aside, height and weight will always play a crucial part of choosing your perfect surfboard. These factors should certainly be used as a starting point for finding the right board.
Obviously, the bigger you are, the bigger your board will have to be.
No. 4: Your Wave Type
Finally, we get to one of the more personal questions. Which wave type do you like to surf? This is the main reason most surfers own a quiver of boards. Wave types and conditions can be so different from beach to beach and even day to day and there are different types of surfboards to match.
If you plan on surfing a lot, you’re going to need a selection of boards to help you surf your best in everyday conditions.
When there’s swell and the wind is off-shore these waves tend to light up some of the best breaks in the world.
When it’s pumping at 3-6ft and barrelling, ideally you’re going to want a high performance shortboard or something that’s going to fit nicely in the pocket of the wave or the barrel.
These points are still plenty of fun even when the waves aren’t firing, but you won’t get the same experience sticking with a performance shortboard. If you go with something a little more fishy.
No. 5: The Recap
If you’re wanting to maximize your wave count and spend more time in the water progressing your surfing, it’s important to look at all the factors that contribute to your surfboard selection.
Your skill, fitness and body shape are great initial factors in building your dream quiver, and when you keep in mind what kinds of waves you want to surf, nothing will stop you from getting out there in all conditions.
All of these important factors should be taken into consideration and it really comes down to you determining what you want to get out of your surfing.
If you’re only getting out once a week or even less around the same spot, pick a board that will suit the spot as well as a few conditions that you’ll find there.
If you like changing it up and surfing different spots, a quiver is for you. Build your dream quiver and you will find that no matter what wave conditions you find, you’re going to have something to ride.