Long board to short board?

Question

i want to learn to surf im going out to tofino b.c canada to learn. i understand that its best to learn on long boards then switch to short boards, once u got the technique. im going to take lessons

-what i want to know is how long does it take for a person to stand up on a longboard and ride a wave, with lessons?

- how much practice does an average person need to move from longboard to short board?

- after the transfer to shortboard how long does it take to get the technique of that, or can you get on and ride without feeling much difference from the long?

anwser best you can or how long it took you

Answer 1

it will take you at least an hour to stand up.

dapending on how long your board is .

i recomend about an 8" 8.5" footer.

thats perfect to learn on.

and you really wont need to switch for a wile

at least intell

you good enough to ride a short board.

if you get anything over 8",9" feet long its guna be difficult

to learn , because with a board longer than that its

guna be hard to turn it around, to get enough

time to catch a wave...

From my experiance i think that within a week to a mounth you will get the short board technique down.

it all dapends on the time and effort you wana put in to learnig.

well good luck hope i helped.

Answer 2

I started surfing on an 8 foot funboard. Surfed a couple times a week for a year or so, learnt to turn, trim, paddle hard and catch waves etc. So in other words, got the basics sorted. I then bought a 6'10 shortboard and I found the transition quite easy. Your skills progress even more rapidly once you move to a shorter board. A year or so later I was down to a 6'6. By this stage your development slows and you just gradually get better and more confident the longer you do it.

Enjoy the ride!

Answer 3

You've got a bunch of questions in this one. First of all, it's important that you are at home in the ocean, like David T told you he was when he started surfing. I started at 14 in the summer of '66, on a longboard, because that's all we rode back then. When the shortboard revolution really hit, we (most of the guys I surfed with), would trade in our old boards for new shorter ones each summer. My last real short board was a 6'4" twin fin custom shaped for me around '70/'71. I was standing on my longboard the first day (not well, but standing), but I had been swimming and body surfing and body boarding in the ocean from about the time I went to first grade. NOW, that's enough about me, let's get on to your question. If you are at home in the ocean, and taking lessons, I don't doubt that you will be standing probably by the end of the week (or less). Most instructors start newbies out on long boards, or fun shape softboards (softboards do lots less damage when you smacked in the noggin, as happens a lot with some beginners). In my day, because of the short board revolution, most of my pals transitioned gradually from long to short boards over several seasons. I went from 9'6" to 8'6" to7'6" t0 6'4' (at a time when lots of hot surfers were riding boards in the 5'2 to 5'8" range). I have also seen LOTS of surfers buy a short board for there first stick, go out in the water, and master it in a couple weeks, and never ride a longboard, ever. I guess if you are really at home on a longboard (or funshape/mini-mal) you can transition to short (short, but enough board for you to be able to paddle and take off) pretty much at will. I ride three different boards regularly, a 9'4" longboard, a 7'8" custom twin fin fish and a 'big guy' 7'8" Lost SDII (performance board). So, you see you don't have to just ride one board or type of board. You can switch depending on the conditions at the break, or just your mood.

You are doing the right thing taking lessons. The instructor will help you make some choices. Also, go to a real surf shop (not a bathing suit store that sells some surfboards), and talk to the folks there about where you will be surfing, and they will help you get the right board for your skill level, weight and the break(s) you will be riding. Your instructor will also teach you surf etiquette a very important thing. Now, get going, go surfing!

Answer 4

If you are getting lessons, they will pretty much always use large foam padded long boards. These are generally very easy to stand up on but there is a big range depending on your natural skill (age, athleticism.. ect) and the conditions (but the surf school should be helping you out there with a good location). I started surfing by going to a surf school for two days, I wouldn't say I learnt much but its good to get a taste and see if you'll enjoy it. I personally was standing on the first day and consistently by the second day. I had body boarded for about 2 years before though and was a 17 year old male. Other people found it harder but I think pretty much everyone had caught at least one wave by the end.

I went straight to a short board but quite a large and wide one (e.g 6"8 - 7"2 long, 19" - 21" wide, 2.5" - 3" thick), if you feel confident I would recommend this but standing is harder. From long board to short board, I would say 1 summer. So anywhere from 4 months to a year. Its hard to estimate this though and depends of course a lot on how often and regularly you go.

Hmm, I don't have any experience with the last question but my knowledge and little experience is this: its hard to exactly compare long and short boards, the style of surfing, the waves you catch and the feel is all quite different. I think the skill transfer that you will get from going from long to short board wouldn't take that long, a month or two but there will be a lot of new skills to learn which while it of course helps that you can surf on a long board, don't directly transfer/correspond. My analogy would be that long board to short board is like roller skates to inline skates, not like a bike with training wheels to a bike.

In summary though, in my experience, if you go regularly enough (at least once a week, two or three), then getting to the stage where you can consistently surf on a short board takes about one season. So first summer your falling over, learning the basics, by the next summer you should be standing up all the time on the easier waves that you should be learning on.

Anyway, hope it helps but I'm not a very experienced surfer and didn't go the path this question involves so im sure someone else can answer better.

Answer 5

Your lessons are going to be the best insight for you. Your instructor will be able to give you a good idea of how to progress based on your body composition, athletic/swimming ability, and demonstrated learning curve in class.

It's really hard to tell you how long this is going to take. One of my buddies was surfing the first day. His brother who has been surfing a year longer and goes twice as often still struggles to make a bottom turn.

What you can do right now is research surf etiquette and safety. And practice pop ups. Popping up is the key to progression. If you can do that easily your learning curve will be short.