6 KEYS TO CHOOSE YOUR FIRST SURFBOARD (Part 2)

Hello friends!, WE leave you the second part of the article "6 keys to choose your first surfboard", I hope you enjoy it!

PART 1 (HERE).

To choose your first surfboard you must consider the following requirements:

4. A good "Bread":

wtf! What is bread!?. Ok calm down, the bread is simply the thickness of the board, it is also measured in inches and the ranges go from 2 inches (very thin boards) to 3,5 (very thick boards). The bread is another factor to give your board a greater volume (remember that volume is length x width x thickness), a bread between 2,75 to 3 inches, we consider it "a good bread", provides buoyancy but also allows you to diving into a wave (also called “the duck”). The latter is the main element that plays against when choosing a table with excessive bread. Greater bread implies greater buoyancy, which is good, but at the same time it implies greater difficulty to dive in front of a wave and enter the line up (place where waves that have not yet broken rise).

In any case, as we already said, the fundamental characteristic of a surfboard to learn is the buoyancy, when starting out you don't need to make big ducks to face waves, but you need to get up as many times as possible. SO ALWAYS CHOOSE THE BOARD THAT GIVES YOU THE MOST BUOYANCY (but not excessively).

5. Flat Rocker:

Hand in hand with the buoyancy of a board is the surface or area of ​​the board in contact with the water. The rocker is the curvature that the board presents if you look at it from the side. Note that the vast majority of the boards rise towards the tip or the curve becomes greater, some more or less, some even rise towards the tail. In the case of a board to learn to surf, we need the greatest amount of surface of the board in contact with the water, but as in all the previous points, without excess!

A completely flat board will not work for you, as it will tend to dig the nose into the water and slow you down. A board with excessive rocker will have very little surface in contact with the water, excellent for vertical drops (lowering the wave) and for maneuverability, but it is not for you either. What you need is a flat board, which rises up smoothly towards the nose of the board. That point should have quite a bit of area, usually rounded or semi-rounded.

6. Other points to consider:

The above are the basic and fundamental points when choosing your board, focus on them, ask your favorite seller, find out what it offers you. Once you have a board in mind, analyze the following points, how is the weight distribution of the board? Does it have more weight at the tip? In the tail? Is it the same throughout the entire body? Ideal, though hard to find, are boards specially designed for learning and progressing, with weight distribution slightly to the nose to give you that "extra" push you need to ride the wave.

Other equally or more important points of a good table are the rails (or edges of the table) and the tail of the table. The rails must have shape!, that is the main factor where the classic SOFTBOARDS lose points. The rails of a board allow you, in addition to going as fast or as slow as what they are designed for, to "bury" them in the wall of the wave to maneuver and affirm yourself in it. Note how likely they are "square" towards the tail; right angles, which become more and more rounded towards the tip of your board.

The ideal board for learning should have a square, squash (square with rounded corners) or rounded tail, thinner than the rest of the body. Unlike with the nose of the board, we want to have less contact surface with the water, for less friction and greater maneuverability.

Phew! Long article huh? Well, analyze it, read it, and consider it before choosing and buying your first surfboard! Never sell it! It will accompany you for a lifetime and especially in those small summer swells. Learn from your mistakes, think about them and analyze them. No session is bad and progress can always be made (even on cold days, with rain and bad waves).

If you have doubts about your particular case, do not hesitate to write to us!!

With perseverance you will achieve it!

DeWolf, for Flysurf Boards.