Just about to throw in the towel!

General Discussion
1

Hi all, first post on swaylocks for me. Story is I’ve been surfing on and off for 20 or so years…and I still suck!! My surfing is so inconsistent some days are gold (very few) and others I paddle around for and hour or two and all I manage is a close out or two. I surf with my son and as his grown he has become a great surfer however my progress seems to be going backwards. My surfing ability seems to be as good now as it was 10 years ago.

I’m just about over it but at the same time don’t want to give it away.

Can it be simply the boards I’m riding, I’m a big guy 185cm @ 120kgs. I’m riding a super fish custom 7’6 x 21 x 3. I just struggle to get waves on it. In fact all the boards I’ve ever had I struggle to get waves on them, its felt like an eternal search for the right board.

My question is about board selection, in particularly, “is more volume better”, my current board is a great shape and chunky but I seem to be skidding across the wave at times, sitting on it the nose is sticking out of the water and I have to sit way forward to get it down.

Second question ’ should I forget about short board and wait until I get a point break on a long board’. I think my ego is killing me.

Thanks

2

You’ll probably get a wide variety of responses.

I’m 62, with declining health and strength. I walk with a limp due to hip pain. My body is stiff. I only started surfing again about 8 years back after being away most of my adult life.

Volume is key for me - I ride fat, higher volume boards, and have a great time. I’m no ripper, I find myself going backwards in some ways, with little opportunity to work on performance issues. But I tend to consistently get at least a few good, fun waves in crowded aggro scenarios while competing for waves among much younger surfers.

I have a thread in errors and bugs where i discuss my approach to board design and other things - http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/old-man-and-sea


840×560 72 KB

3

Surfing is about having fun , if your not catching waves your not having fun , get a bigger board , find somewhere with bigger waves with more power to make you commit , and PADDLE HARD , you have a lot of body to move . get fit , build up your strength , if you cant PADDLE HARD enuf you cant catch waves and you cant have fun , stop whining , what the fuck are you going to do if you dont go surfing , watch nascar ?

4

Hi JP -
I’m not getting any younger. I’m not getting any lighter either. At some point it just makes sense to get a board that fits YOU. If you were to come to me for a board and just set me loose on it, I’d be pushing for a much larger board than you are currently riding. I’m talking about 10’6" or bigger… something that’ll float you, allow easier take-offs and will glide through the crud that might stop someone your size on a shorter board. Once that’s squared away, “the search” for waves goes on. Finding a decent break with anything less than crippling crowds isn’t easy these days.

5

Thanks bgzausa, your absolutely right, no Nascar here is Aus but similar and no not keen to watch this instead.

Yep stop whinging and get on with it, thanks for the reminder.

Hit the gym and surf more.

Cheers.

6

Thanks Huck, some great waves there man, killing ti.
Yep more volume, I think what Ive tried to do was cram too much volume into the board shape and size Im riding.

Thanks again for sharing mate.

7

Thanks John, Im hearing you. My other board ois a 9’6 log and on a point break I can get a few Im stoked with.

Im off to Bali with my family and want to surf with my young bloke so wanted something a bit smaller. Perhaps an 8 foot mid length may be the go??

And after reading my post I feel a tad embarrassed about my whinge, but have received some good advice and a bit a kick up the rear which was needed.

Cheers

8

I suggest you go for an 8’0’’ McCoy single fin Nugget.
It’s not about getting as much volume as possible, it’s about putting in as much volume as possible without it getting in the way of performance. And that’s what Geoff McCoy has perfected.
Even better, go for an 8’4’ Nugget, that’s the biggest he can shape from the available blanks.
You’ll love it.’

9

I agree, get a bigger board that can (hopefully) catch anything. Somebody mentioned getting into bigger waves. My advice is to do the opposite, find any waves: small, choppy, whatever. Those conditions might equal lesser crowds. Just get in the water and catch whatever you can. Somebody on here gave some of the greatest advice in another post that I’ve ever read regarding surfing and your attitude in the water: act like a golden retriever. Simply be excited at everything and have fun no matter what. Not catching waves? So what, you’re in the water, the sun, nature. Enjoy all of it. And if you don’t, then maybe surfing isn’t for you. Also, stop comparing yourself to the other surfers.

10

I’m a big older guy too. 48 years old 6’1 and 210 pounds. Tore up my left shoulder a month ago to go along with my right shoulder which I messed up 4 years ago. I’m screwed. Tried to surf yesterday for the first time since the injury. Pretty depressing. Other than a 40 pound longboard (which I don’t enjoy riding) I don’t have anything in my quiver that I can paddle well enough to surf. I’ve been on a shortboard since the early 80s and honestly don’t enjoy longboarding very much. Sucks getting old but I suppose it beats the alternatives.

11

I’m curious how strenuous kneeboarding is on shoulders. That’s my backup plan when mine go.

12

W T F is going on here today , im 74 225 had both shoulders repaired one hip replaced and I still surf ( maybe not so good these days ) I make boards to float me , a long board does not have weigh 40lb , mako make a long short board about 8.8x22.5x3.5 there are plenty of guys out there that dont want to ride long boards but cant ride short boards , and by the way 48 is NOT old .

13

Volume is only one part of a complex equation. Where the volume is so important for catching waves and then how the board rides. I ride high volume boards, so I sit high in the water. I think the area under your chest when paddling for a wave should be the thickest part, so I’m trying to keep the front third a little thicker, and I want to be able to be right up on the nose pushing down without pearling. Nose rocker and thickness have be just right. Rail thickness affects how well the board rides, I find that really fat round rails are dogs. I try to keep the diameter of the outer edge small, then taper up to the deck for fuller flatter decks (more volume) or crowned out for less volume but thicker center boards.
I’ll be 59 very soon, and I’ve been surfing over 50 years. Younger people are going to progress faster than older people. I’ve seen guys go from total beginners to very good surfers in about 2 years, usually they are high school age or younger.
I learned back when surfing was mellower and we weren’t trying to “rip” apart the wave. Instead, it was more like dancing with the wave. She was leading and we were following. I still don’t get real aggressive until someone drops in on me, then something weird happens in my brain and my surfing gets much more radical.
To me surfing is about enjoying that sliding across the water. The places I surf all have guys older than me, and many still ride shorter boards. I’m riding boards between 6’ and 10’2" right now, depending on the wave size and power. Been going through my quiver this summer and I’ve had quite a few days where I took out the wrong board, or have re-learned why I haven’t ridden a board for a long time. It’s been frustrating when I get out and after a few waves realize I can’t catch the waves with the board I have, or the board isn’t performing well in the waves I’m riding. Had 2 of those this week, but I also had an exceptional day with the right board and surfed some solid 8’ to 10’ faces by myself.
I was talking a friend earlier in the week, when I was on too small of a board and I was having a hard time getting to my feet. He said I had “oldage”, pronounced it like it was a Japanese word then laughed and said old age. He’s about 4 years older than me. I mentioned to another friend about not seeing a couple guys for a while. One is in his 70s and was riding a 5’10". He said that guy doesn’t come around much, and something about having some issues with other guys. I told him that I’d been trying to give him an older board I have that has a lot more volume, but he said the guy has been stubborn about wanting to ride really small boards.
Bottom line is, you have to catch the wave before you can ride it, and you have to be able to paddle back out. Once you do catch the wave, you want to enjoy riding the wave and not compensating for any shortcomings in the board. All of these things change with wave size and power, so if you only have one board, you want a good paddling, easy riding board. If you have to paddle out through waves, you’ll need to factor in that part.
A lot of guys I know just ride a 9’ high performance longboard. They ride it like most guys ride a short board, but I’m not that kind of surfer.
A McCoy nugget style board, or a big guy squash tail thruster would be good all around boards. Between 7’ and 8’ to be able to turn easy. The Nugget for mellower surfing and the thruster if you want more performance style. I’d place a priority on paddling.
We’re at the end of a week of swell and on the biggest day I surfed, I had to wait for the sets to break before paddling back out because the channel was closing out. I try to paddle out through a channel where it’s much easier, and stay out of the way of the incoming surfers. Another thing I’m seeing these days is that once I get tired, I start having much more trouble surfing good. I’ll have a harder time getting to my feet, or I’ll do really stupid things and fall down. That’s when I know it’s time to go in. I see that happening more as I get older. Some days you have a really good session, some days you have a mixed session, and some days, you wonder why you bother trying to surf.

14

My solution for this problem is 8’ x 24" x 3 3/4" thick.
Very full nose, wide tail, good tail lift, heaps of vee and single fin with side bites.
Works from 1’ to head high.

15

I guess it all depends on the kinds of waves you ride. The spots I ride will go from very soft waist to head high to very powerful overhead plus. It gets double overhead and barrels at it’s best, but it’s also very hard to catch when it’s like that. I use smaller boards as the waves gets rounder and the drops gets much steeper, but I’m thinking about using gunny longer boards again. I go back and forth, but as I get older catching a wave and getting to my feet in bigger waves gets trickier. I’m only 5’6" but up to 170 lbs.

16

"Can it be simply the boards I’m riding, I’m a big guy 185cm @ 120kgs. I’m riding a super fish custom 7’6 x 21 x 3. I just struggle to get waves on it. In fact all the boards I’ve ever had I struggle to get waves on them, its felt like an eternal search for the right board.

My question is about board selection, in particularly, “is more volume better”, my current board is a great shape and chunky but I seem to be skidding across the wave at times, sitting on it the nose is sticking out of the water and I have to sit way forward to get it down."

Your stature and your choice of boards as it related to your stature is of more effect on your wavecount than your age. Simply adding length and thickness can actually ADD to your problems in certain wave conditions. Ideally, you want to match the length and rocker to the speed and curve of the waves you’re surfing, and then adjust that design with widths and foil to get your float and paddling.

In terms of float and planing, adding more surface area at tail, middle and nose > adding thickness and length to a narrow design.

There are some shapers who specialize in big guy shapes, and you might consider doing a little research on their designs to get an idea of what they’re doing for the big guys.

Like Joe Blair (he has a lot of explanation about design for big guys)
http://jblairsurf.com/surfboards/big-guy-surfboards

Ben Aipa is known for his big guy designs - his website has little info on it but if you google his boards you’ll see what he’s doing for big guys in Hawaiian conditions.

Proctor does big guy boards, albeit mostly aimed at the younger guys
https://proctor-board-shop.com/collections/big-guy-shorties

Rusty is a big guy and he has design ideas for that
http://www.surfline.com/blogs/talking-design-the-board-blog-with-rusty-preisendorfer/rusty-offers-advice-to-the-larger-set-on-how-to-order-a-hig_27888/

Geoff McCoy knows about high volumes and fast conditions
http://www.mccoysurfboards.com/

Long story short - you want a design that is specific to your stature, with the volume and foil aimed at getting the board on plane where your natural foot position is, and with a fin setup and placement that also fits with where you are surfing the board from - which for MOST surfers of average or lesser ability will be almost anything other than a thruster setup.

17

BTW, I should mention that my youngest son (31) is a good surfer and has a slightly smaller stature as you (118kg), and I strongly doubt he’d enjoy surfing a board that is doing what you say your board is doing. If he was doing a performance shape he’s probably do a smaller version of the board at the top of the Joe Blair link I posted above, something like 7-0 x 23-24. His sweet spot for volume is in the 55-60 liter range, so 70+ is excessive for him.

Joe Blair favors round and round pin tails, quads (no thrusters) and he sets his fin clusters well forward of what most people do so the board will drive from a trim point that’s further forward. Which makes sense for people of larger stature.

Geoff McCoy uses massive volumes, wide point and center of mass that’s way behind center, and his domed vee. So his boards are designed to float you and turn from right where you stand. That design combo holds in bigger conditions, too.

I was just thinking, and Bruce Fowler does high-volume boards, too. He’s got a massive thread on his boards right here on Swaylocks.
http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/fountain-youth-surfboards

18

Don’t go to Bali on holiday with the crowds come and stay with me on a beautiful little island (or two islands) in the pacific and ride a city break with nobody in the water at 3ft and clean on a Tuesday afternoon. Sadly you would be swapping warm water and sunshine for sub 10 degree water and some notoriously changeable weather. All I know is I’m a pretty average longboarder and even more average short boarder, but I agree volume is your friend combined with some regular surfs with a decent wave count in a fun and friendly environment.

19

Board will not make up for time in the water. You say you’ve been surfing “on and off” for 20 years. What exactly does “on and off” mean? My personal experience…be in the water (not just surf) at least 3 times a week, even if it’s a 45 minute session. You’ll get better no matter if you’re surfing a log, HP longboard, fish, McDonald’s food tray. If you’re in the water body boarding, surfing, boogie boarding, hand plane, etc, you’ll get better. If you’re a summer and spring surfer only, you’ll never improve unless your a naturally gifted athlete, which I think is safe to assume you are not. I make crap backyard boards but I commit to them and surf them as much as possible and see improvement.

After all this ranting…get a bigger board. 9’+ and surf it in every condition. Point breaks, beach breaks, close outs, double overhead. Commit to a board and just surf more.

20

I don’t get into today’s mentality of " how short a board can I ride?" I prefer the idea of " how big a board can I ride, and still get the performance I want?" Don’t place limits on yourself.