hi reverb im 40 and 95 kilo i can ride a bannana and i see what they can do for easy turning. but all my boards are under 6 4. i leave volume and low rockers to keep me competetive on a shortboard. have never felt disadvantage on hollow waves as your into the wave faster anyway
heres something that i found from rustys blog
theres a section in there somewher in rocker entrys and reverse trend to lower entrys written by richard kenvin ( i dont know of him but the paragraph makes sense to me)
"After the longboard era ended in the late sixties, surfers
pursued a performance ideal focused on deep tuberiding, tight-radius
carves, controlled slides, and finally, vertical turns in and above the
lip. This performance criterion has dictated the evolution of the
shortboard over the past 40 years. The desire to perform precise
vertical turns and make controlled micro-adjustments on the face and in
the barrel brought about a narrow, stiletto-like board with continuous
outline curve, lots of rocker, and a canted fin cluster designed for
holding power and instant release up the face. All of these design
innovations make today’s incredible shortboard performance surfing
possible. The dreams of the late sixties have come true, and there is no
argument that the modern shortboard is a functional waveriding machine
that allows for spectacular surfing.
That being said, this shortboard performance ideal comes with a
price, and the currency that pays that price is drag. Quick lift,
paddling power, glide, planing speed, and trim have all been sacrificed
on the altar of maneuverability. For the strong and agile or for those
lucky enough to ride clean, powerful surf on a regular basis such
drag-inducing design elements as ample rocker and narrow curvy outlines
have more benefits than drawbacks. Even so, surfers are always looking
for new sensations, and in recent years many of us have been exploring
designs from the past that originated long before the contemporary
shortboard. Wide, low rocker, high aspect-ratio designs like the fish
don’t allow quite the same performance levels as shortboards, but they
do set us free, more or less, from paying the debt of drag associated
with ultra-rockered, narrow designs.
This growing movement towards experiencing “alternative” boards
like the fish is evidence of a widespread desire to be freed, at least
occasionally, from the shackles of over-specialized contemporary design.
In fact, these “retro” boards are now influencing shortboard design as
rockers mellow, outlines get straighter, and boards get wider and
shorter. As the design pendulum swings back in favor of wider and
flatter, it seems we are in for interesting times. With minds opening
along these lines, shortboard performance is about to take a leap
forward in a new direction. Relaxed trim and planing speed will be
possible on very short and maneuverable boards, and the dreaded
“Huntington Hop” will be eliminated from our repertoires. All along the
surf history timeline the prophets of width and planing speed have
appeared and blown our minds: the Paipo riders of Hawaii, Bob Simmons,
George Greenough, Steve Lis, and though we try to deny it, bodyboarders
like Mike Stewart and Danny Kim have all brought us a message we too
often fail to heed. With evidence of the virtues of flat and wide (and
finless flex!) displayed right before our eyes our tendency to
stubbornly deny those virtues in favor of convention is quite
remarkable."
