What type of surfboard should I ride?

What type of surfboard should I ride?

We think that everybody has their own preferences when it comes to picking your equipment. We recommend the following guidelines if you are starting out. When you get better and more advanced you can actually pull away and diversify from these rules.

 Flat to 2 Feet.

When its small or even Flat you can have fun on  Long board, Fun Board or a Fish. Just make sure you have a lot more volume in the board since the waves aren’t going have much push. 

Chest High Surf:

Well this is kinda fun size for Southern Cali and you should be able to diversity a bit with these conditions:

Wind Swell: Since wind-swells are fairly week and not much push power,  you are going to need a bit more volume in the board. You can get away with a fish or even a short board with lots more rail. I personally hate wind swells since they don’t have much push and I end up doing a lot more work just to generate speed.

Just make sure you have a bit more width in the board to compensate for the lack of wave push!

Ground Swell:

Ground swells are something surfers really like since the waves offer lots of speed and power. Ocean swells are coming from long distances and gain power as they hit the shallow waters. This is a day for surfers to rejoice and get maybe even call in sick to work. For these type of days you can definitely get out the traditional thruster short board. Thrusters ( 3 Fins)  offer lots of drive and speed to make those fast sections. For beginners you want to have approx go 2 inches above your height. So if your 6 foot tall you can ride a 6’2″ short-board. Again, when your ability gets better you can go shorter and thinner.

Overhead Ground Swell: 

Unless you are not a beginner you probably want to stay away from days like this. This is where the currents are strong and the waves are hollow. So if you are more advanced you can brush off that pin tail you have in the garage. General advise is to ride something a bit longer it bigger surf. The bigger the waves the bigger the board. So if the surf is pumping overhead you can ride a short-board if you are really good and if not I would be riding something approximately 4 inches taller then you are. So if you are 6 foot tall I would recommend riding a 6’4″.

In the last 5 years surfboard design has changed and so has the equipment we can choose from. Make sure you understand that surf conditions play an important roll in choosing your surfboard. Remember, every condition will require a diff type of surfboard so choose carefully.

Have fun!
Stru

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