I have just bought a new TL2 5’11 stretch f4 shortboard and ridden a
few times in small waves of semi fat to semi bowly up to headhigh but
mostly weak stuff the odd bowl.
Im 65kg and 5’10 used to riding
fish,mini mals, and flatter longer shortboards in anything to dribbly
waves to grinding tubes…but was lacking standard shortboards in my
quiver.
I bought this board as i want to get more into
throwing the board around re entries aswell as more into shortboards in
hollow waves…and that sort of thing as ive been riding fish for a long
time…the odd bigger shortboard.
Im starting to worry i went too small.
I
could paddle ok, as im paddle fit but it was hard to get waves and on
cutbacks or re entries into a slightly fat wall i would just dig deep
slow down even though my other boards would cruise through. some waves
were even whitewashing and i couldnt catch them-
The board when im sitting on it floats me so im just up to- in water- below my arm pits a bit kinda around my pecs area.
At
first i thought the 5’11 would be TOO bouyant - reading reveiws with
people around 80 kgs riding the 5’11 TL1 version,…I later realised
the TL2 shape is NARROWER by half an inch, thinner by 1/4? and also
possibley --the new TL2 tech might not float as much as the TL1 tech.
Now this board was bought for good hollow pits and also just whipping it around easier than my flatter boards.
Do you think i should just wait and test it out in good hollow waves and see how it goes?
Do i have to be lighter footed through turns?
I was thinking at the time of purchase-
I have plenty of small to medium wave boards with great paddle speed
-a 6’ 6 flatter rockered quad that feels a bit too thick for performance…
The surftech website seems to have all the volumes wrong- it says 27
litres for this board but 27 litres for obviously bigger and much
smaller boards…27 litres seems perfect.
TL2 shape is NARROWER by half an inch, thinner by 1/4? and also possibley --the new TL2 tech might not float as much as the TL1 tech.
65kg or 143.3 pounds and your 5’11. For a fit surfer the TL2 would be perfect and very progressive. Give is some more time and your surfing will improve. I’m all for custom made boards however Stretch’s boards are some of the best designs currently available in a SurfTech. T. Patterson’s too.
I would think the board would be about 25 liters?
I don’t know how long you have been surfing? However is seems like you choose the right board for your body size? At this point is it the arrow or the indian? Don’t give up on it and try it in some better surf.
i’ve had a few and still have one of these boards - customs from stretch. the board was designed to be a good-wave board. not for shitty waves. wait and try it in good waves before you decide.
Part of developing a quiver is knowing which board to ride when. With that in mind there will be a lot of days that once you’re out in the water you’ll feel like a better decision could’ve been made. Once you find where each board you own excels and where it doesn’t you’ll be better informed to make a decision, but it def takes time. You’ll eventually get better, but this’ll never go away. Listen to pros talk about how their boards felt off in contests, and they do it for a living! I think once you have a day of good solid waves and you can push that thing off the bottom harder than any board you’ve ever owned, all doubt will be extinguished. Don’t let that amazing feeling trick you into surfing that board in knee high windslop the next day, you have a better tool for the job. I wouldn’t stress on it too much though…
Thanks i was hoping to hear some advice like that. I did get it for good barrelling waves but also hoping it could be thrown around in small waves. i guess it just needs juice, if its small and juicy or semi big and juicy it will probably go well imo.
(probably needs a good period swell- 9 second plus -no matter what size)
Its a little hard getting used to the takeoffs- i have to be under the lip more in the right spot. But thats fine.
Dont know why i keep getting logged out…my computers doing funny things…
There was a passage long ago in a surf magazine about the “Mind Machines” of the time squirting out of a tube like a bar of wet soap but one wrong move and you were dead in the water.
On the other hand, big longboards glide like mad even on tiny ripple waves that at times aren’t even breaking.