Microgrom push in board

General Discussion
1

I am looking for some help with board design for very young kids to be used in microgrom contests. I’m not trying to be one of those freaked out little league parents. I just want a good stable design to push through the soup and have my daughter stand up on. I think that width is an important factor, but how about bottom shape? Would a deep rail to rail concave keep the board from rolling? How about a 3 skeg design for the fins? What type of rocker? Super wide tail?

Thanks in advance for any help.

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I garagedweller (I love these nicknames)

I’ve been doing this kind of board at a very long time. Most of them are in team crew since they were 8 years-old. If you need help, first of all, we have to consider the body aspect, in other words, the combination of height x weight. The kids can present interesting combinations of both these factors. I mean sometimes at tiny ages, the kids can have a little uggly bodies (strong legs, big heads, thin arms, and all sort of combinations). So, take this in account. After this, consider the surfing skills (paddling, drop, feet positioning, etc). I guess a good starting point could see to observe the other competitors boards and compare them with your daughter. With more information, I can help you more. So,…

3

She is just under 3 and fallen off of all the height x weight charts. She has no surfing skills to speak of, but can swim (with out flotation devices) and has good balance. I will be in the shore break with her laying on the board. I’ll push it into the wave, so paddling isn’t really a concern. My goal is to build her love of the ocean with out pushing to hard or freaking her out. So a nice smooth ride from the first or second sand bar into the shore is my goal.

4

I was thinkning something like this.

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Quote:
My goal is to build her love of the ocean with out pushing to hard or freaking her out.

my boys like to ride tandem with me on my longboard.

it is good for teaching respect and love of the ocean.

as for pushin board… 6’10" seems huge for a under 3 foot tall little girl

other inputs…

Keith, had a good input when I was planning my push in board that has not been used yet… his girls like to ride there board right up to the sand so small thruster config is good for greater fin clearence in shallow water.

I went with grom safeco safety fins.

I’d also think a pointier (not a short board) nose to reduce tip weight. something like a wide nose fun board shape but not a round nose.

just some thoughts

lets us know and see how it comes out

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I suggest you have a look at the photo resources, “up to 4 foot 11 inches” category: some fun young beginners’ boards in there. Also, here is the 5’1" I shaped last year for my son Christian: would you believe that I actually caught a few waves with it? With my weak arms, small beer-belly and, above all, 51 years… So much planing area with that wide tail, once you get it going, the lack of volume suddenly vanishes and you’re left with a fun, skateboard-like, VERY short board. What I mean is: if I can catch waves with this, then it must feel like a tanker to a youngster…

450×600 36.9 KB

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Thanks for the info. I was torn between small and long and chose the middle. I sounds like shorter will be better. I like the fin idea.

8

Thanks for the info and the pic. I’ll search the archives. I was thinking that a pushin might have different design elements from a paddle in.

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Have you considered a deck concave? I know they’re controversial around here for the experienced but I have some andectodal success with them for beginners…

My buddy has an old windansea. It’s around 7’6" or so, and it’s got the most extreme deck concave I’ve ever seen. We both love to ride it, but it does feel a bit like surfing a canoe. He’s been teaching his girlfriend to surf with it though, and I think I’m going to do the same. The reason is that it’s super forgiving in a couple of ways.

First off, it’s really easy to paddle. Frankly, you can be pretty sloppy with your weight and the extra volume at the rails and low center of gravity seem to compensate a lot. Plus it’s hard sink the rails, which can be beneficial to beginners tending to tip the board over. It feels very stable while your surfing. It’s pretty neat.

On this board there’s a little flip in the nose but very little real nose rocker. For some reason it’s still pretty impossible to perl. I suppose the fact that there’s a lot of foam in the nose and the tail is so narrow helps with that.

At any rate… If I was going to shape a board for my little sister or my girlfriend… I’d definitely consider some deck concave.

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a rare full I know ship response to retoric ?tion

as long as kid can reach up in the air standing flat

wider than shoulder span and narrower than reachh from armpit to clapsed hand

wide tail round narrower than width by at least x %

estheticly pleasing to cultural druthers

absolutely no fins concave v in tail 1/3 area lifting to flat thin in the tail

if concave in deck not more than a 16 th of an imperial inch

put a finbovx for later when you wanna fix fin damage

skip the fins

why stifle a budding talent

and longer rides always are dreamy on long shallow sandbars,

skimming any one?

hows that for clear consice non ambrozes communique?

engineers? need a cad cam?

all you get is a pencil and a saw

…ambrose…

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non ambrosian criptique

not a chance…

…ambrose…

in form…

blessings on the children of the light

12

my two & a half year old son has what we call in australia a ‘foamie’. most aussie kids learn on foamies. it’s a softboard, three small rubber fins. he’s not quite up for it yet, he just likes mucking around with it in the loungeroom, standing on it & waving his arms yelling “look dada, my burpboard, my burpboard”.

before we graduate to the foamie, we’re just spending time tandem riding on a mat. i love it but he still prefers making sandcastles.

i can’t wait to make him his first board, but first i’m going to give him a good few years on the foamie. in his teens, if he’d like, i’ll teach him how to make his own surfboards, just as my dad taught me, father to son.

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Quote:

my two & a half year old son has what we call in australia a ‘foamie’. most aussie kids learn on foamies. it’s a softboard, three small rubber fins. he’s not quite up for it yet, he just likes mucking around with it in the loungeroom, standing on it & waving his arms yelling “look dada, my burpboard, my burpboard”.

i love burping on my burpboard too…

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"…standing on it & waving his arms yelling "look dada, my burpboard, my burpboard ".

“they” say that ‘sons take after their fathers’…

so, do you show your wife footage of you surfing , and say “look ‘mum’ , my burpboard” , too ?

at least YOU don’t surf it straight to the beach eh Nat ? [I guess that’s why you put four wood fins on it ?]

ben

…jokes , sorta [sorry , Cheyne , I WON’T do it again ?! …heheehaha , yeah right]

15

Hi again,

I can understand your worries in relation to your daughter being caught by the “love of the ocean” syndrome. As someone said, softboards can solve the problem, but I know you need to giver her a gift (something more meaningful than a “sponge”).

When my boy was about 3, he started to ride some little shore whitewaters on his mother’s bodyboard. The stylish way he used to ride these waves called my attention, and in the following week, I was pushing him on an 6’4’’ three fin squash tail shortboard (1993 model). He could ride easily 2 foot waves since the peak to the shore. It was amazing. I only made his first board in the next year (I’ll try to post pics of some of his boards later). It was a 4’6’’ microcomp shortboard made using the foam of an old striped board.

Nothing against other type of surfboard designs, but in his case, he showed an interest in this kind of board. The fact of using recycled foam gave me the chance to try with very thin designs (around 1 1/4’’ to 1 1/2’’ ). I always had to help him to catch the waves because of his weak paddling, and I could ignore his weight at that time.

I observed that the narrower boards I made for him were more responsive and easier to ride than the wider ones.

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and now …

for those who prefer SERIOUS replies only ,

here’s a 4’11 I made for [a mate on the east coast] Ross’s son Dane , three years ago …

“entity” , look familiar ??

… perhaps you could scale down these dimensions for a three year old girl , make it a squaretail , and , per Amby’s suggestion , no fins ? [no sharp bits for her to cut herself on]

Also , here’s a thread from a year ago , when another adult rode it [I also couldn’t resist getting at least ONE wave on it , after having spent all that time shaping it in my bathroom , and glassing it in my lounge]

http://www.swaylocks.com/…STOKED%20%21;#217965

I hope this helps !

cheers

ben

…personally , I still think a “foamie” is the best / safest idea for young kids [but then , that and a mat were what I grew up surfing on , prior to my first “fibro” board , so I am biased , I’m sure !]

17

Thanks for all of the input. I was thinking too big. I am going with something small, and I will skip the fins until later. I’ll post pics of my progress.

18

Well, I’ve taken a lot of beginners out, and watched them croak, or pearl, get scared, or run out of gas. So at this late date I’ll add my 2 cents.

What does a beginner do, or not do, that we want, or want to eliminate?

One, they can’t paddle, so a really wide board (much wider than their shoulders) is out. If they aren’t required to paddle, then wide is okay.

They pearl a LOT. So a board that doesn’t pearl easily is essential. Light in the nose, wide with lotsa area, a good deal of rocker, and think about what foil makes a board less likely to pearl.

They take off at a slight angle and catch a rail/pearl, and it’s all over. So the nose has to resist catching and then rolling them over - wide with a high rail line.

Stability is essential - how many beginners get sold the latest Joe Hotrock model at the surf shop, then wonder why they can’t paddle or catch waves? There has to be enough board there for them to paddle, unless you are pushing and retrieving them all the time.

More fins on a board not made for high performance are a joke. One fin will be enough to keep the board going in whatever direction it needs to. More fins are more opportunities to catch a sharp edge somewhere it will cut, bleed and hurt their bodies and their feelings.

They will run their boards right into the beach. A strongly glassed-on fin is essential.

It has to be light - micro-groms can’t carry much, nor steer a signigicantly larger mass. Also, a light board hurts a lot less when it blips you on the head. AMHIK.

They’ll get hit by the board no matter how many times you warn them. Both my daughters have. Soft boards!

All in all a light, soft, round, single fin, board sounds like it will do the job. But such a board isn’t “cool”.

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3’ 11" I also put a leg rope plug under the nose so you can pull the board around without pearling, instills a bit more confidence in the little rider.

What ever you do, DO NOT SCARE HER IN THE WATER…they never forget…

Good luck with your board…

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…the fin on that is a soft polycarbonate , and is removeable , by the way …