Transitional shapes

General Discussion
1

What are good shapes to make a transition away from longboards? I am getting much more sure footed on my longboard but I can’t get up and stay up on my 7’6" fish to save my life. Too whippy for me at this stage.

I have this 8’3 US blank sitting in the rack awaiting an outline … anybody have suggestions? Maybe an egg type shape? A fun shape?

Next time I’m at a surf shop I should look at some boards and get some ideas too … I don’t get to surf shops much unless I’m on the coast though … we only have one on all of the GL’s and it’s on the Michigan side.

2

Check out Rusty’s “Desert Island” shapes or something similar (Merrick M13). They will paddle into waves like a longboard but turn more like a shortboard. I think they would be a good transition.

3

If that board is a problem, I’d recommend eggs and mini-mals/discs in the 7’6" to 8’ range. Maybe bigger fish. The thing you need to keep in mind is the “wheelbase”, or where the wide point is, I’d think. A real fish in the 7’6" range should be workable for you at this stage, with a wide point at 4’–maybe you just need more time to adjust–I would probably recommend that actually–if you can catch them and stand up, I’d say catch a bunch more…it’s usually mostly all in the catching of a bunch of them for the practice, in my exp.

4

Check out the Flo Egg on the Takayama website- http://hawaiianprodesigns.com/ this board is easy to ride and not as “mini-mal” as a lot of eggs you see out there. I have 7’10" of this model and I really like it.

5

do up something like a Bing “Good Karma”. or maybe something like a Hobie “Mini Bird”.

6

Don’t invest in anymore boards, what you have will do you fine. Shape that board in 3 months when you have a better idea

Save your money and do the following exercises daily (Build up to them)

200 Situps/pilates

50 pressups

and at least 30 pop-ups on the floor (like on a surfboard)

Next you got to get use to squatting low and standing up ( This is how you generate speed on a surfboard)

Spend any spare time during the day doing bits and pieces of this stuff.

Swimming will help too as will indo boards and balance logs etc…

commit to doing this 5 days a week at least.

Seriously… do this for 3 months, if after this your still having problems then consider shaping a new board

7

I’ve got 2 of those 8-3 blanks in my garage right now. I may get to them in the next week or two. When I come up with my final plans, I’ll send you my dims. May give you an idea of where to go from there. BTW, how much to you weight?

8

225 and dropping. I’ve lost 25 lb since Ryan at Third Coast told me I was too fat for an XL :stuck_out_tongue: j/k

Supposed to be a big day on Friday. Might take the phish with again just to try … what I need is a good ocean day to try it out on. Haven’t been out on the coast on a good day since I got it done. A nice clean face might make it easier to stay up on … took off on many a wave with it up North on Superior, but fumbled and lost every one on the popup or shortly after …

9

a Big boy McCoy Nugget

or

Parmenter Stubb-Vector (Patagonia has a version called the Rocket Sled)

10

Your 7’6" fish should work. Keep surfing

and losing weight.