Right after you’ve ‘learned to surf’ in your first surf lesson or first few surf lessons, your next question is most likely to be ‘what type of surfboard should I buy?’. Now we all know that the smaller the surfboard is the cooler it looks right? We all want to be like Kelly Slater, John John Florence and Jordy Smith don’t we? Well, there are a lot of other options out there, and one thing I know for certain from my 13 years of coaching experience and 24 years of surfing, is that you shouldn’t go short too quickly, if at all! Let look at why and what your options are.
The most important question to ask is, “what do I enjoy most about surfing?”. There is the feeling of the salt water on your face, being in the ocean, waiting out the back for a set to come through, that feeling afterwards when you have a smile on your face and then, of course, that feeling when you RIDE THE WAVE. Do you want to ride for longer on the wave? Get a bigger board! Do you want to catch more waves? Get a bigger board! Do you want to look more stylish and learn better technique? Get a bigger board! This doesn’t mean you have to ride a bigger board for your whole life, but starting out bigger will help you improve faster, more surf time means faster improvement, done.
Moving swiftly on, let’s get onto surfboards! I’ve skipped the foam board you may have learned on and jumped onto the next biggest board. We’ve used Ticket to Ride trip leader, Bluff ripper and digital marketing guru Chad Schwab as our subject because he loves his quiver of boards.
What: Longboard (Malibu)
Conditions: 1-2ft weak but running waves
Length: 9ft
Why: Two reasons why. 1) A longboard makes you appreciate the movability of a small board. It is also a throwback to what the guys rode back in the 60’s when longboards were all they had. 2) Small waves are difficult to ride because of the lack of power. Having a big board makes it easier to get onto the waves and cruise.
Chad’s blurb: “If you can’t catch them you can’t ride them.”
What: Minimal (mini Malibu)
Conditions: 1-2ft small conditions with a bit more power than when you would use a longboard.
Length: Range from 7 – 9 ft
Why: Still keeping the thickness to get onto the smaller waves, but the minimal is more manoeuvrable than the longboard. In case you feel the urge to smash a cheeky top turn. 😉
Chad’s blurb: “Great board to learn to surf on because of its stability and forgiveness but still easy to mover around.”
What: Mini Simmons
Conditions: 2-3ft weak waves.
Length: 4.10ft
Why: It allows me the opportunity to surf conditions I would probably not surf because of the lack of power.
Chad’s blurb: “My favourite board in my quiver at the moment. Super quick because of how flat it is and unbelievably responsive because of its size. It allows me to surf ” junk” surf and have fun doing so.”
What: Quad Fish
Conditions: 2-3ft bowl (steep) waves
Length: 5.8ft
Why: It’s forgiving because it’s a fish. Having volume to paddle into the waves easier than a regular board. The quad fin set up allows to fly through those quick sections of the wave with ease.
Chad’s blurb: “I love this board for its speed and ability to hold on barreling waves. It’s not too easy to turn because of the fin set-up but when you do get it on the rail it holds it’s line.”
What: Performance Fish
Conditions: 3-4ft from soft to powerful waves
Length: 5.3ft
Why: To have the forgiveness of a bigger board but performance of a shortboard.
Chad’s blurb: “This is my second choice within my quiver. It was shaped off an old Mark Richard’s twin fin I found at Anstey’s Beach Backpackers, growing up. I don’t know why more people don’t ride them. They are quick, responsive and so easy to put on the rail as well those snappy quick off the lips when the section presents itself! ( Buy one! You won’t regret it!)”
What: Chad Shortboard
Conditions: 4-6ft
Length: 5,8ft
Why: Because it was shaped by Clayton surfboards for Clayton, so I figured it would go well and trust me it does!
Chad’s blurb: This 5,8 that Clayton shaped for himself and unfortunately will never ride because I sneakily bought it before he could take it for a spin goes incredibly well! It has a half squash/ swallow tail. Which is unusual. And I hope by now you have gathered the weirder the board the more excited I get! 🙂 This would be my high(ish) performance, board. When I feel like pretending I’m Kelly Slater.
What: Shortboard
Conditions: 4-6ft barreling waves.
Length:5.10ft
Why: This board holds so nicely in the barrel, because of it’s pulled in squash tail. It holds so nicely in those Cave Rock barreling sections that my 4.10 Mini Simmons would not stand a chance.!
Chad’s blurb: “Although I don’t use this board often, I like to put this one on ice and bring it out when Durban winters are full steam ahead and the extra length helps to paddle into those round barreling waves on the Bluff!”
