You must cover the basics when starting out, the first few steps you will need to cover are…

1: Find the perfect beginners board

2: 2nd learn to paddle

3: 3rd learn how to duck dive or roll

4: 4th catch that first wave

5: And finally how to pop up, or stand up

I would like to cover these steps in a few different articles, so in this article I will start at the beginning, how to choose the perfect surfboard for a beginner. Now unless you got money and time to burn, don’t go out and buy the best looking board in the shop, start out with a low quality board you can ding up.

You can get yourself a brand new surfboard after you got your balance on a big old board. So the first thing to look for is size, you want something with plenty of floatation. If the board is to small it will also sink and create more drag when paddling, the bigger the board, the more floataion you will have, and the bigger you are, the more floatation you will need.

If you start on a longer board, you will be able to learn your balance before moving to a shorter surfboard. Find a board longer then 6 feet and 10 inches, you can go right up to 12 foot or more if you want, there will certainly be plenty of floatation. The problem might be getting it out past the breakers and turning it around to catch a wave, I suggest around 7ft to 8ft.

Your first board can have all the dings in the world, it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to worry about how it will affect the board, you won’t be doing any turns or tricks. While dings don’t matter, or what the board looks like, you don’t want any foam showing through, or the fiberglass cracked or peeled off. If this is the case you will want to repair it with some resin. Water will soak into the foam and weigh the board down.

The shape of the board should not worry you, if it has a swallow tail or is square, it wont matter, you will be going pretty much straight ahead anyway. Just like the number of fins wont bother you, 1 or 3 whatever. You will not be doing tight turns, so shape and fins don’t matter, however whatever surfboard you choose remember it should be at least 2 to 3 inches thick and at least 19 inches wide.

Next make sure you get a good leg rope. You have to have a legrope, it will save your life. Stay away from big surf untill you get used to your board, and have some experience. The legrope can fling the board back at you in big swells, but you really should not be out there when starting out anyway.

A leg rope is essential for any beginner, and even the pros should have one. You see the ocean is a treacherous place, you may be a strong swimmer in a pool, but the ocean has hidden dangers. When you fall from your board, and you will fall, you wont have time to grab it before the wave takes it away, and you will be stuck without floatation.

You may get stuck in a gutter, where you can swim as hard as you like and feel like your getting nowhere, the board could be only meters away and every time you just get within reach, a swell picks it up and pushes it further. Worse yet, you could get taken by a rip right out the back, even the sideways sweep will lead you into rip. This is essential, besides the danger of drowning, it is a real hassle having to swim to shore just to recover your board every time, trust me I’ve done this several times and it will ruin your session.

Get yourself a brand new leg rope, so long as it is new it should be fine, but the higher the quality the better. You can use this legrope for your next board, don’t think it will be wasted on an old board. when choosing a length, the shorter the rope, the less tension it can build up. If you get a really long rope, it can stretch out and spring the board back at you. Just make sure it’s long enough for you to stand up the front of the board.

Now you should have a surfboard picked out, big, old, and cheap. So it’s time to practice, read the next few articles in the series, then head out with your mates.

Tags: Surfing

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