Hi guys
First post on here so would really appreciate some advice to help me out. I’m a relative newbie to surfing (only 2 months) although seem to have picked it up really fast and progressed quite rapidly - now spending about 3 days a week surfing.I did my first lesson on a 9’ft long board and then got a 7’6 mini mal a couple of weeks later. After that, i got a Greco surf 5’10 Hosanna soft top fish with twin fins. After getting the hang of the fish and catching 2ft wave faces consistently I started to look for something more performance orientated to continue progressing on. I’m about 5’8 and 72kg so not a very big or heavy guy.
I decided to buy the below as it seemed like a good next step whilst still having similar width and volume- a 6’2 with 20.3/4, 2 5/8 thickness, a fish tail and lowish rocker. I also managed to get it in a rare quad set up. I thought that if i could handle the twin fin Greco fish then a quad would be great! http://www.surfstitch.com/product/liquid-lines-gliding-fish-surfboard-clear?cm_mmc=google_adwords--Dynamic%20Search%20Ads--Surf_Category-_-GWP%20Ad&gclid=CJHT8cyPnb0CFc7QpAodSEQAdQ. It came strandard with FCS g5 fins as quads.
I used it for the first time yesterday and I couldn’t catch a single decent wave in about 2 hours. Every time I got up, I would just wobble straight back off the board or if I waited a bit longer, the tip of the board would start to pearl on the wave and throw me off. The conditions were very choppy and about 3ft tops. This is the first time where I haven’t been able to catch anything! and just couldn’t figure out what i was doing wrong.
My question is this: I’ve done a sh*t load of research on fins but can’t really find anything specific to this. I was wondering if maybe the quad set up was just too advanced or fast for my ability at this point? I’m usually fine once on the board but it’s just that first get up that i’m missing here. Would I be better making it in to a thruster set up while I learn? Are my feet just in the wrong place for a quad or do i ride / stand on it differently than my other boards? Is this normal for changing to a different board ie. adjustment time? Please note that this is my first fibreglass board, the mini mal was Pu foam with polyethylene coated.
Some sites seem to say that quads are good for beginners as they encourage speed on smaller waves. I’ve not experienced a day like this where I just couldn’t do anything aside from get nailed by the waves consistently.
Please give me any suggestions, thoughts or ideas that may help!!