before you shaped something that outperformed (so it feels like) any board you ever bought?
Thats a very subjective question of course…what is “outperform”, how to judge it…who to call in with some objectivity in hindsight.
I can say with brutal honesty that my first several backyard shapes held my surfing back, though the stoke level made up for it. I thought that deep concave thing with the Cheyne Horan nose and the block rails was just rad!
The last “Shop-bought” board I owned, at age 13, was a “Force 9” , (Aussie label…) 5’10 chop squaretail by Wayne Roach. That was the benchmark for a long time, because it was the one that took me to floaters and snaps. I extricated myself from some mad contortions on that board, still standing…
After I had the chance to spend time watching pro shapers at work, and getting into the industry myself, learning from the ground up, I’d say I was able to control what I wanted to put into a shape by my late teens. They really started working for me when I stopped trying to re-invent the wheel with outlandish stuff and straight-out copied a mentors’ shapes. From the lessons of Gavin Carroll of “Mocean” I got a solid grounding and then proceeded to tweak it up.
How many? I can’t remember…more than 20, less than 50. It’ll be different for anyone you put the question to. 20 years on, the answer is still subjective!
Josh
my shaped boards outperform my bought boards…in the drop-on-the-floor test.
as in…they don’t break/crackle.
does that count?
NO…now you must light them on fire and measure the height of the flames. The lower the flame, the better the board.
Now go and be one with your epoxy.
Ok, I spewed all over the screen…LMAO!
I notice too that my boards don’t ding as easy as those that I used to buy.
hahaha thats hilarious, I just do the which board has the better poo stance feel, lol